Getting On Your Nerves: Can Stress Lead to Hair Loss?

Stress is a part of everybody’s lives. Every day, people encounter situations that can be disappointing, exhausting, and stressful. Studies show that high-stress levels have a domino effect on your health; it can cause one health issue, resulting in another problem. No matter how ordinary it is to run into troubling matters, one must never disregard stress.
 
Anyone and anything can stress a person out. What’s even nerve-racking is the fact that you can lose your strands because of stress. Experiencing hair loss is everyone’s nightmare. Thus, you need to know how to curb anxiety and prevent this hair malady from happening.
 
What are the most common stressors in someone’s life, and how can they affect your hair growth? Get to know more about stress-induced hair loss and how to treat your tresses.

 
Stress can hit you anytime and anywhere. What are the most common life stressors? Check out the following list.

 
Befriending other people is not easy. It takes effort and time to build connections, make friendships, and strengthen bonds. It’s innate for people to have relationships. However, people have unique personalities and different viewpoints, which can sometimes result in conflicts, may it be with your family, friend, classmate, or colleague. Arguments and misunderstanding among your family and peers indeed can stress you out.

 
Each workplace has a unique culture. You get to meet people from all walks of life in your company. You get to work with supervisors or colleagues who always put you under stress. The workload may also seem overwhelming that you don’t get to rest and enjoy your job. Dealing with many work-related issues can drain you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

 
A financial problem is another stressor in any household. Adults always worry about finding funds to pay expenditures so that life can go on. Students are also troubled when they are short in money for school-related expenses. In general, people can get stressed when it comes to money matters.

 
People also worry about physical surroundings because the environment affects your mood and concentration. 
 
Urban life means having to face the city’s hustle and bustle. The honking sound of the cars, the never-ending line of cars, the hazardous smoke from vehicles and smokers, and a swarm of people in public places can sap your energy. Even a messy working station can also get into your nerves.

 
A phobia or an extreme fright of someone or something can stress a person out. For example, your fear of speaking in front of the people may cause you to shake terribly, feel nauseous, or vomit terribly, which are after-effects of extreme stress. Thus, exposing yourself to a situation that you fear the most is not only be bad for the heart, but it also puts your body in a state of shock.

 
Traumatic events, such as injuries, accidents, and deaths, won’t put your mind at ease. These haunting moments can recur in your memories and even in your dreams, which can trigger chronic stress.

 
Grief is a typical response when someone close to your heart dies. However, feeling down for a prolonged period can cause adverse effects on your physical and mental health. Worse, being overly stressed over a loved one’s death may lead to depression or other psychological conditions.

 
Having an illness can also make you anxious. You become tremendously concerned with medical bills and worry about your loved ones, your career, and your life in general. Illnesses can also disturb the psychological state, causing extreme anxiety.

 
Now that you have reviewed the everyday life stressors, how do these factors affect hair growth? Read more to learn about the hair growth repercussions of stress.

 
Telogen effluvium is a hair loss problem triggered due to extreme stress, shock, or trauma. High-stress levels can push your anagen or growing hair follicles to shift into the telogen or resting phase untimely. As a result, you experience diffuse thinning in certain parts of your scalp. Strands start to weaken and shed, leaving you with sparser and duller-looking hair. 

 
Severe stress can also stress your immune system and push it to target your healthy hair cells, a condition known as alopecia areata. This autoimmune disease can aggravate your hair follicles and cause hair loss problems. Symptoms include having bald spots on your scalp, sudden thinning of hair, and total hair loss.

 
Stress plays a significant factor in triggering androgenetic alopecia. This hair loss condition occurs when stress messes up your normal hormonal production, resulting in a surge of the super androgen called dihydrotestosterone. High-DHT levels can tightly bind on the follicles’ androgen receptors and limit them from receiving sufficient blood supply. This constriction can push them to miniaturize, causing premature hair fall.
 
Besides hormonal imbalance, mechanical and oxidative stresses are also significant factors of androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Oxidative stress is present when there’s an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. Free radicals can weaken hair follicles, which make them more susceptible to DHT. Meanwhile, scalp injuries or deformation can mechanically stress your strands, making them more androgen-sensitive.

 
Being too anxious can urge you to tug your hair or scratch your pate abrasively to ease your emotions, a condition known as trichotillomania. However, aggressively pulling your hair can irritate follicles, which may force them to shed hair strands. It can also damage your follicles, resulting in slower and poorer hair regrowth.

 
How will you solve your hair loss problem triggered by stress? Here are some helpful ways to manage your stress levels.

 
Exercise has substantial health benefits. You not only get to improve your physical stature, but you also get to relieve stress and tension. It can also enhance blood circulation, which is beneficial for follicle nourishment. You can start your journey by trying activities such as walking, sprinting, and cycling. Doing sports will also be a big help to reduce stress and anxiety.

 
Meditation is a practice that trains your mind for attention, awareness, and concentration. By doing meditative activities, you can enhance self-awareness and stabilize your mental state, helping you focus properly. As a result, you become more efficient and productive while being stress-free.

 
Time constraint plays an important role in triggering stress. If you don’t know how to handle your time, you won’t be able to finish tasks and achieve goals, which can strain your mind and drain your energy. 
 
So, how can you manage your time efficiently? First, you need to set your priorities. Second, create a timetable of activities and organize them according to urgency and importance. Third, plan out how to finish each particular task. However, not all plans go as intended. Thus, you can prepare back-up plans if you have more time. Fourth, it would be best if you stay away from distractions that might hinder you from finishing your goals. In short, avoid procrastinating. Lastly, do not forget to enjoy yourself while doing the task to prevent stress and anxiety.

 
The inability to express your ideas, opinions, and feelings is a significant factor of stress. People who bottle up their emotions tend to suffer from stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, and other mental disorders. Thus, it is of utmost significance to communicate openly with your family members, loved ones, close friends, and work colleagues. It would also be best for you to choose the most trustworthy people to share your ups and downs in your life. 

 
Insufficient sleep can also increase your stress levels, resulting in the upsurge of cytokines and cortisol in the body. Research shows that cytokine’s inflammatory effects can intercept with the hair growth cycle and slow down hair growth. On the other hand, cortisol hormones prevent adrenal glands from producing hormones that promote hair growth. As a result, your hair’s quality deteriorates, making it prone to strand breakage and hair shedding.

 
Anti-hair loss shampoos and conditioners can help your hair fight against stress-induced hair loss. It will help if you choose products loaded with natural DHT-blocking ingredients, such as coffee, green tea, tea tree oil, and fenugreek seeds. You can also reap other hair growth benefits from these ingredients.

 
Your mental state is always interconnected with your physical health. Being stressed is not healthy because it can create hair growth ramifications. Say goodbye to hair loss by staying away from stressful situations, managing your stress levels, and keeping an optimistic attitude.

 
Is your hair falling out? Ease your worries over your alopecia problem by using the best shampoo for hair loss. Include hair growth products with DHT blockers in your hair care routine so that you’ll never have to deal with hair loss again.