How post-vacation stress affects your hair

Unfortunately the holidays are over and many of us start our jobs again. I love my job, but regardless of this, this sudden change in our routine can generate extra stress that can manifest as excessive hair loss .

This type of hair loss due to stress is very common to occur after vacation and is also known as telogen effluvium .

What is telogen effluvium?

As I mentioned, telogen effluvium is a very common type of hair loss induced by an acute stress factor . Normally the initial trigger occurs a few weeks or months before diffuse hair loss occurs. This is why many patients begin to notice hair loss during the fall.

My patients often notice increased hair loss especially when brushing or washing their hair. Sometimes they come to the consultation very worried because they suffer from very noticeable hair loss and are afraid of losing their hair. That's why first of all I will tell you to breathe easy because this type of hair loss due to stress is completely recoverable .

What are the most common causes of hair loss due to stress?

Telogen effluvium can be caused by physical or psychological stress:

• Physical stress such as trauma, illness, surgery, childbirth, weight loss or crash diets. Recently, during the pandemic, many patients were described who presented this type of hair loss secondary to COVID-19 infection.
• Psychological stress caused by the death of a loved one, a divorce or breakup, a job change, or a move; among other stressors. For some, this stress may only appear due to returning from vacation and starting a stressful pace of life again.

How much hair is normal to lose per day?

At any given time in our lives, about 90% of normal scalp hair is in the anagen (growth) phase. The remaining 10% of hair follicles are in the telogen (loss) phase. It is normal for between 50 and 100 hairs to be shed daily.

And, in telogen effluvium, how much hair do we lose?

When a stressful event occurs that affects us, the hair follicles go into "shock" and make a rapid change in our hair. In telogen effluvium, the trigger causes a change in the percentage of hair in the loss phase from approximately 10% to 20% . This change causes patients to lose "clumps" of hair, leading to noticeable hair thinning. The loss will slowly subside over 3-6 months once the cause of the original hair loss is no longer present.

What can we do to improve our hair loss after the holidays?

There are several things we can start doing if we have started to experience this type of hair loss due to post-vacation stress :

• Maintain a healthy diet rich in proteins, minerals and vitamins.
• Improve sleep quality and try to sleep at least 8 hours a day
• Reduce the conditions that generate stress and practice mindfulness or yoga sessions.
• Use specific nutraceuticals for hair such as Olistic , which includes in its formula key components for hair growth such as ashwagandha, which can help us stop hair loss due to stress in this phase of high requirements.

The good news

The good news is that hair that falls out will grow back. Normally this phase of hair loss due to stress will take between 3 to 6 months to occur or even sooner if we follow the advice I share in this article.

When should I go to the dermatologist for an evaluation?

If you have significant hair loss, we always recommend that you go to your trusted dermatologist so that he or she can evaluate you since there are many causes of alopecia and each of them has a specific treatment .