Telogen Effluvium: Symptoms To Look Out For
At any time, 90% of the hair on your scalp grows. Your follicles go through a life cycle, but when this is interrupted, it can lead to hair loss.
From an unbalanced diet to stress, there are various reasons you could be experiencing hair loss. One condition is called telogen effluvium.
The good news is that there’s hope for this condition. Read this guide to understand what it is and the symptoms to look for today.
What Is Telogen Effluvium?
Telogen effluvium is a temporary hair loss that normally occurs after stress, a traumatic event, or shock. While large amounts of your hair might fall out, it tends to be temporary.
Sometimes, if the stress or trauma is ongoing, it can be a chronic condition. It can take a few months to show up after a traumatic event due to the hair cycle.
Your hair cycle has three phases:
- Anagen or growth phase
- Catagen or transitional phase
- Telogen or resting phase
In telogen effluvium, your hair follicles are in the telogen phase. The anagen phase slows down, and you’ll have fewer hair follicles entering this stage. When in the telogen phase, shedding occurs.
Temporary Hair Loss Symptoms
If you’re brushing or washing your hair, you might notice an increase in the amount of hair shedding. You might find more hair on your pillow or in the shower drain.
You might notice itching or tenderness as well. Some notice altered sensations in the scalp.
Avoid scratching your scalp since it could irritate the hair follicles. Irritation could lead to more hair loss.
Avoid wearing your hair in braids or ponytails since that could lead to more hair falling out. These hairstyles pull on hair follicles.
Hair thinning might be in one location or all over the scalp. It rarely causes your hairline to recede. In severe cases, it could cause hair in the pubic region and your eyebrows to fall out.
Telogen Effluvium Causes
Hormones could cause hair loss. When there’s hormone fluctuation, it could cause your hair to enter the telogen state.
It could also occur during pregnancy. Once the child is born, your hair usually returns.
Trauma
Extreme stress such as surgery, blood loss, or car crashes could also trigger it. Heavy metal toxins could also lead to it. Extreme stress causes your body to enter the telogen phase.
Diet
An unbalanced diet could cause temporary hair loss. Some common deficiencies could include vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, zinc, and iron.
Speak with your doctor about dietary supplements. Avoid diets without speaking to your doctor first.
If you notice that nothing seems to help, you might have another hair loss condition instead of telogen effluvium. In addition, certain medications and recreational drugs could also cause hair loss.
Some foods such as eggs, spinach, and berries could help with hair growth. For example, spinach is rich in iron which fuels hair growth.
Antioxidants such as the ones found in berries could help protect hair follicles. Some other options include fish, sweet potatoes, nuts, seeds, and more.
Hair Loss Treatment
You can find hair loss treatments specific to telogen effluvium. There are tablets that can increase hair volume, promote hair growth, and reduce shedding.
Avoid blow-drying, curling, and straightening your hair since that can increase hair loss and breakage. Consider waiting until your hair is dry to brush it. Wet hair is more apt to breakage.
You’ll want to avoid fast food, sugar, diet soda, and alcohol for hair growth. Aspartame which is found in diet soda could cause hair loss. Likewise, sugar could halt hair growth since your hair is made of protein.
Counseling
Since hair loss could result from trauma, consider speaking with a psychologist or therapist. They’ll teach you coping methods to handle stress. Try meditation and yoga along with deep breathing exercises.
Telogen Effluvium Outlook
Telogen effluvium normally only lasts for about six months. However, chronic cases could last longer.
While you can try over-the-counter options such as tablets and shampoos, you’ll want to combine them with emotional healing. Dietary changes could help as well.
You might notice your hair beginning to regrow within three to six months. After that, the rate of shedding might slow down but won’t stop entirely.
It could take over a year for your hair to return to its previous fullness. Speak with your doctor if the condition worsens.
Diagnosing Telogen Effluvium
If you’re unsure it’s telogen effluvium, your doctor might run some tests. Doctors might run blood tests to ensure that it’s not a medical problem causing hair loss.
Wash tests are common. After you wash your hair, you’ll count the number of hair follicles in the drain. The length and diameter of the hair loss will help your doctor determine the condition.
Understanding the Symptoms of Telogen Effluvium
After exploring this guide, you should have a better understanding of the symptoms of telogen effluvium. Then, if you’re not sure whether you have it or not, you could speak with your doctor and see treatment options.
If you suffer from telogen effluvium, you might miss your hair and wish there was a way to restore it. But, even if it’s temporary, you might feel like you don’t want to wait, and why should you?
If you’re ready to regain your hair fullness, growth, and reduce shedding, check out our different products today! If you have any questions along the way, we’re happy to help.