If you’re experiencing hair loss, don’t rule out stress as a contributing factor. Current research continues to explore the links between chronic stress and hair loss and the ways in which it can be reversed, treated and cured.
If you’re experiencing hair loss, don’t rule out stress as a contributing factor. Current research continues to explore the links between chronic stress and hair loss and the ways in which it can be reversed, treated and cured.
Understanding the types of hair loss due to stress is a first step in exploring the best treatments for any thinning, patching or damage to your scalp you may be experiencing.
Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease that affects both men and women of any age. It can be triggered by stress, and can result in hair loss. Your immune system attacks your hair follicles, often resulting in hair lost in round patches on the scalp, or across the entire scalp. In a more severe form of AA known as alopecia universalis, hair is lost from the entire body.
The second most common type of hair loss due to stress, TE, as it’s referred to, occurs when there’s a change to the number of hair follicles that are actually growing hair. This thinning may not occur all over the head. It’s often seen in patches, as people affected by TE usually don’t lose all of their scalp hair. The good news is that this condition is fully reversible because it doesn’t cause permanent damage to the hair follicle.
Trichotillomania is also known as the hair pulling disorder. Considered an impulse control disorder, it involves the urge to pull out the hair from your scalp or other parts of your body. Those with this disorder pull their hair as a means to relieve stress or other negative emotions, as is most often develops in youth.
