Hair Dilemma Answered - HAIR LOSS - Telogen Effluvium

Hair Dilemma’s answered

My Hair is falling out!

For a woman, unexplained and excessive hair loss can be a very dramatic, scary experience. The great news is there is often a way to fix it. A lot of women find the subject hard to speak about so we thought we would put together the most common causes of hair loss in women and how to treat it. This week we are looking at a very common condition.

Telogen Effluvium

a.       Occurs after pregnancy, major surgery, drastic weight loss or extreme stress.

This condition makes you lose large amounts of hair every day, and is noticeable when shampooing, styling and brushing. This condition can also be a side effect of certain medication such as antidepressants, beta-blockers and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

With this condition the hair moves faster than normal between its growing phase into the ‘resting phase’ and quickly moves on to the shedding (telogen) phase.

Symptoms: Women with telogen effluvium typically notice hair loss 6 weeks to 3 months after a stressful event. At its peak you can lose handfuls of hair.

Tests: There are no tests for telogen effluvium but your GP may ask about recent life events. They will look for small ‘club-shaped’ bulbs on the fallen hairs roots. By seeing a bulb it means the hair has gone through its complete cycle of growth and a new hair will be forming. This suggests that the cycle has been sped up due to stress.

What can I do: In cases where the main reason looks to be pregnancy or major surgery it is mainly a case of waiting for the hair cycle to slow down and your hair to return to its normal growth cycle. However if it is due to medications you can ask your GP to lower your dosage or switching drugs. Again if it is stress related, try your best to reduce your anxiety and relax.