The run-up to Christmas can be a particularly stressful period. Whether you’re worried about what to buy loved ones, anxious about how Christmas lunch will pan out, or stressing about negotiating your jam-packed festive schedule, stress affects your mental and physical health in many ways. Stress has even been linked to the onset of temporary hair loss.
In this blog post, we take a closer look at the connection between stress and hair loss, how stress affects hair health, and the steps you can take to tackle stress-related hair loss head-on.
Stress, in some form, is part and parcel of modern life. Hectic work and home lives can trigger stress symptoms, with everything from headaches and heartburn to insomnia, depression and weakened immunity triggered by the body’s infamous ‘fight or flight’ response.
Long-term or chronic stress also directly impacts hair health, with the hair growth stages interrupted by stress and disrupting regrowth dramatically. Here Forbes explains more about the relationship between stress and hair loss:
“To test the relationship between substantial stress and hair loss, researchers artificially exposed mice to sound stress (a form of psychosocial stress) and found that it caused early termination of anagen, or the growth phase of the hair cycle. This study corroborated the notion that stress disrupts normal cycling of the hair follicle and can lead to hair loss.”
Known officially as telogen effluvium and temporarily affecting the growth of new hair, stress-related hair loss can have a particularly negative impact on hair health and those confidence levels. Knowing how to spot and stop the signs of stress-related hair loss is the first step to tackling its effects.
There is more to the symptoms of stress-related hair loss than simply the shedding, thinning or loss of hair. Those affected tend to experience a dry scalp, oily roots, increased breakages, and dehydrated hair strands. The additional stress caused by the onset of temporary hair loss can also exacerbate symptoms to leave your natural hair looking worse than ever.
Stress-related hair loss can show itself as trichotillomania too. This chronic, obsessive-compulsive disorder causes hair pulling and needs long-term treatment to rectify.
When tackling stress-related hair loss symptoms, you should concentrate on working on your mental state. Dedicate a portion of your day to the activities that you find most relaxing, whether that’s indulging in regular yoga or meditation sessions, giving yourself a head massage, or having a relaxing, candlelit soak in the bath.
Choosing gentler, ultra-hydrating hair products – including the products you use for styling, washing and conditioning your hair – can also help remedy the physical symptoms of stress-related hair loss. Up your vitamin and mineral intake too. B vitamins (such as biotin, folate and vitamin B12), vitamins C and D, iron, and zinc are all nutrients connected to improved hair health and regrowth.
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