The Connection Between Stress And Hair Loss

Does Stress Cause Hair Loss

We have looked around on the internet and seen that the topic of hair loss due to stress is not covered in great detail. That's why we have chosen to provide you with free information on stress related hair loss. You are going to want to read on as you will find out how to cope with stress and what you can do to prevent hair loss from stress.

Whether you realize this or not, your hair is a mirror of what is going on in your body.  If your system isn't balanced, the first place this will show up is in your lusterless locks.  Any major change in our lives bites us where it hurts.  And the funny thing is?  We need stress to motivate us – and you're thinking you could do without it in your life.  No doubt we've all felt like that at times.  Here's the kicker – and this will show you how your nervous system is hardwired to your skin and hair – when you are excited or frightened your hair can actually stand on end due to nerves.  Bottom line?  Anything you can do to reduce stress is the best thing you can do for yourself and hair loss stress prevention.

Different Kinds Of Stress

There's good stress and bad stress, you've all heard that before and it all seems to hang together for us in the end – until it becomes overwhelming and we can no longer cope.  Stress is an excessive demand on our energy – one we cannot cope with, that is calling upon us to use all our reserves and can't be kept up indefinitely.  In short, stress is anyone of a number of things (whose key factor is we simply cannot handle it/them any more). Hair loss does appear to be a side effect of stress – but that comes from us neglecting ourselves while under stress.  Almost like a gerbil on a wheel isn't it?  Our bodies and how we cope with things are so closely interwoven we need to literally watch what we think.

Excessive physical or emotional stress associated with injury, illness or surgery, can cause one of two types of stress alopecia which you have already read about in this book (see Chapter 1):

• Telogen Effluvium – not as severe as Alopecia areata - the hair stops growing and lies dormant, and falls out 2 or 3 months later. It re-grows within 6 to 9 months.
  
• Alopecia Areata -  involves a white blood cell attack on the hair follicles. The hair falls out in patches within weeks, and can involve the entire scalp and body hair. Hair may grow back, but treatment may also be required.

So, it logically follows that stress causes hair loss, if you reverse the process and become relaxed and stress free, you will be helping yourself and your hair re-grow.

Stress busters

This is one area where that old saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" is NOT a good idea.  However, if stress can cause hair loss and it can't be avoided, try some of these stress busters:

Dissociate

Put your worries out of your head. Try to ignore the problem for as long as possible.  The longer you ignore it, the more time you have for the body's fight and flight reaction to lessen, reducing stress and anxiety.

Reiki

When you are stressed, your chakras and your whole body energy is out of whack.  A Reiki session will do you wonders.  The word Reiki (pronounced Ray-Key) is a Japanese kanji for universal life-force energy. Reiki is a Japanese holistic, light-touch, energy-based modality that is simple and produces measurable results. Working as a support mechanism to the body, Reiki re-establishes a normal flow of ki (life-force energy) throughout the system, which in turn can enhance and accelerate the body's innate healing ability. Through a series of hand positions either directly on or just above the body, the Reiki practitioner allows for the flow of energy through the body. The client's body then draws off the amount of energy that is required.

Physical Activity

You might be getting tired of hearing this over and over again, but it cannot be emphasized enough.  Exercise works wonders for just about anything, and it will counteract stress and leave you feeling relaxed and rational about your problems.

Have Fun

Sounds simple right?  But too often when we are stressed, we stop doing things for US.  So, head out and enjoy yourself, laugh, have fun, go to parties and cheer yourself up. While you are having fun, and even after, you will notice how most problems will diminish in size.

Relax

Try lying down in a quiet place for twenty minutes each day in a darkened room, let nothing disturb you and just concentrate on feeling good about yourself.  Run mental pictures in your head about the things that bring you happiness or pleasure.

Sleep

A decent night's sleep is worth almost anything when you are stressed out.  Try for ten hours sleep each night for a week. If you can do this for the whole week, chances are you will feel like a million bucks. 

Massage Therapy

Imagine the benefits of relaxation massage – Stress and pain relief, muscle relaxation, increased range of motion, re-aligning joints, improved blood and lymph flow, recovery of lost energy, removal of metabolic waste products relief from stiff and sore muscles, and healing of injured muscle tissue.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

You are stressed out because of your own patterns and habits.  Who put those patterns and habits into place/action?  You did. Can you change them?  Yes indeed you can, by using NLP to become aware of the patterns, habits, strategies and programs you run in your sub-conscious and then change them to make things work for you.  It's a touch more complicated than this, but that is the essence of NLP.

Diet

Here's where the "You are what you eat" adage comes into play.  Short and sweet, just as the results of drugs we take show up in our hair (and bodies) so does proper nutrition.  How easy is that?  This is nothing new it's just basic common sense.  Unfortunately it seems thanks to the fast paced world we live in, we've forgotten what common sense means. A great diet book that will get your hair back on the road to recovery is The Mediterranean Diet.

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Hair Loss can also be down to an underlying illness, such as Thyroid disorder or hyperthyroidism. This is when the thyroid gland is producing to many hormones for the body to cope with. When there is a speed up of hormone production the bodies functions also generally speed up, which therefore causes the hair to grow out at a an alarming rate. You should read more on Thyroid and Hair Loss