With the most common cause of baldness being androgenetic alopecia, a form that stems from our genetic roots and tendencies, it is easy to forget that external factors may contribute to hair loss as well.
Medications, mechanical damage (i.e., braiding, straightening), and nutritional deficiencies may contribute to hair loss as well. Another contributor to baldness is stress. Stress has a significant impact on the number of hairs found on our heads.
What Is Your Hair Trying to Tell You?
For starters, hair is an excellent indicator of your well-being. Proper nutrition and a solid mindset contribute to vibrant and dynamic hair that’s easy to manage.
Too much remorse and physical malaise turn hair dull, which leads to more maintenance that could involve the abuse of shampoos and conditions. Waxy hair is also normal, since stress may contribute to overactive sebaceous glands that produce oil. The lack of equilibrium in the body can lead to telogen effluvium, which is a condition that affects people who have had a sudden stressful jolt to their systems. Hair loss may be induced through stressful situations that share an all-of-a-suddenness to them, like crash weight-loss diets and surgery recovery.
Stress causes the hair follicles to revert back to a resting phase, which makes it stop growing temporarily. It is estimated that the amount of hair switching to a resting phase goes from a normal head’s 10 percent to as much as 30 percent of your hair. The good thing about this form of stress-induced hair loss is that it is not a permanent situation and does not lead to baldness. Remember, telogen effluvium is a temporary condition as a result of shocking events. Clumps of hair may fall from your head but it will eventually grow back.
Avoiding and Combating Stress
Many women experience hair loss around the third month after childbirth, which is a highly stressful time. Hormone changes may also contribute to temporary hair loss that is eventually restored in a year. Regardless of the circumstance, it is important to maintain an optimistic outlook.
Instead of considering stress-induced hair loss as a problem, tell yourself that your body is telling you that there is a problem. It is a surefire sign that you need some form of relaxation in your life in the form of yoga or gentle sports along with meditation. Load up on some simple supplements that have the nutritional requirements needed to help the body during stressful times.
One excellent exercise to ward off stress is deep breathing. By sitting in a comfortable posture and breathing in and out slowly, you can reduce the effects of stress of hair loss.
All in all, it takes a disciplined lifestyle to avoid stress. Remember that stress causes us to do things to our body that we wouldn’t normally do. Stress forces us to pay less attention to hair maintenance and reduces the minutes we spend knuckle massaging our hair in the shower.
Before you know it, negligence due to stress can turn your hair into a mess. Remember, your hair is an excellent indicator of your overall health. Stress is sure to reduce your hair’s shine and functionality a notch or two.
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