In this fast-paced world, everyone is facing stress at some point in their life, right from work pressure to personal issues, stress will leave us mentally and physically drained. Just imagine that you wake up some day and when looking in the mirror, you notice a bald spot on your head. It sounds so scary, right? But it’s a sad reality, several individuals are facing hair fall issues due to stress. Let’s dive into this blog to know about how stress causes sudden bald spots, what can you do to prevent or treat it, and bald spot remedies.

How does the hair growth cycle work?

Before knowing how chronic stress causes hair fall, it’s crucial to understand how hair grows. Usually, human hair grows in a cycle, which is divided into three phases:

Anagen:

In this phase, the hair grows actively, it can last between two and seven years, based on factors such as genetics.

Catagen:

In this phase, your hair growth will become slow, and the hair follicles begin to shrink.

Telogen:

In this phase, your hair growth will stop completely and will start shedding. After this phase, a new cycle begins, pushing out the older one and the new growth phase will start.

When everything is moving smoothly, these phases will be balanced, and you will have a healthy head full of hair. But stress will change the whole game when you can try some bald spot remedies to prevent hair loss.

How does stress cause hair loss?

Stress can potentially trigger three types of hair fall,

Telogen effluvium:

This remains as the major cause of hair fall due to stress. Usually, 10 – 15% of your hair will be in the resting phase. In case, you are stressed, a huge portion of your hair can be pushed prematurely into this phase. As a result, your hair will start to shed in clumps, this happens post-onset of stress. This results in noticeable thinning and in certain cases, a bald spot on scalp will also occur, when try to follow some bald spot remedies to prevent hair loss.

Fortunately, telogen effluvium is a temporary condition. When the underlying cause of stress is resolved, your hair should start growing back, but this will take a few months.

Alopecia areata:

This is an autoimmune condition, where the immune system mistakenly attacks your hair follicles, causing sudden hair loss. Often this type of hair fall will result in smooth, round bald patches on the scalp, at times it can happen overnight. Also, stress doesn’t directly cause alopecia areata, it’s known to be significant for flare-ups. In case, you are prone to this condition, a stressful event will spark that will trigger hair loss.

Alopecia areata is an unpredictable condition, while few may experience a single bald spot that starts spreading, others might have repeated episodes of hair loss when consider trying some bald spot remedies.

Trichotillomania:

Stress doesn’t stop by impairing your body physiologically, it can also affect your behavior. In trichotillomania, individuals will deliberately pull out their hair even without recognizing it. This impulsive urge is caused due to stress, anxiety, or emotional distress. After some time, you can notice visible bald spots on the scalp, eyebrows, and other areas, when strictly follow some bald spot remedies to stop hair loss.

Unlike, this form of hair loss is self-inflicted and needs psychological help to treat.

What does a stress-related bald spot look like?

This stress-related bald spot will look different based on the type of hair loss you are experiencing, so always be cautious and start following bald spot remedies.

Telogen effluvium:

Completely your hair will get thin in one concentrated area, also some may find more thinning in certain spots.

Alopecia areata:

The bald spot will become smooth, round, and well-defined. This will vary from the size of a coin to large areas.

Trichotillomania:

Hair loss is nothing but patchy and irregular due to the individual pulling out hair in various spots at different times.

How long stress will take to trigger hair loss?

Also, remember that stress-related hair loss will not occur overnight. In telogen effluvium, you can notice the shedding of hair in 2 to 3 months after undergoing a stressful event. Whenever the hair cycle process gets delayed, the stressor will prematurely push hair into the resting phase, but shedding will occur when hair is naturally ready to fall out.

On the other hand, alopecia areata can cause sudden bald spot on head also it can develop almost overnight in response to stress.

Can stress alone cause a bald spot?

While stress is one of the well-known causes of different types of hair fall, it’s rarely the sole cause. Other factors like genetics, nutrition, hormonal changes, and underlying medical conditions can play crucial roles in hair loss. Stress will worsen these factors, making it more likely that you will experience hair thinning or bald spots.

How to prevent hair loss induced by stress?

Managing is stress crucial to minimize and prevent hair loss. It’s difficult to avoid stress altogether, but there are ways to mitigate its impact on your hair and prevent hair loss.

Practice relaxation techniques:

Effectively managing stress is a crucial thing in this stressful world. Engaging in activities like meditation, yoga, deep breathing, exercises, or just taking frequent breaks can assist in lowering your stress levels and prevent hair loss.

Maintaining a balanced diet:

Consuming a balanced diet full of vitamins and minerals will help to prevent hair loss. Consider eating foods rich in,

Stay active:

Exercise is the best stress reliever. When doing physical activity consistently, your body will release endorphins, the body’s natural stress relievers, which can help balance out the negative effects of stress and help prevent hair loss.

Get enough sleep:

Getting enough sleep plays a crucial role in reducing stress and assisting your body’s natural healing process. Try to sleep at least for 7 to 9 hours every night to manage stress and prevent hair loss.

Consider medical help:

If you think that stress is worsening your symptoms of anxiety and depression, it’s crucial to seek help from a mental health professional. They will help you in getting the tools to manage your stress and prevent hair loss. Further, in certain cases, they will offer medications and therapies to help.

What are the treatments available for hair loss?

If you are witnessing bald spots due to stress, and you start thinking if there’s anything you can do to treat it. Considering getting the following treatments at the best skin hospital in Coimbatore based on the type of hair loss you are experiencing:

Telogen effluvium:

There is no treatment for telogen effluvium other than managing your stress and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But in most cases, your hair will start to grow naturally once the stressor is removed.

Alopecia areata:

Treatment for alopecia areata includes injections or topical treatments to help suppress the immune response attacking their hair follicles. In a few cases, hair regrowth is spontaneous, while treatments help in speeding up the process.

Trichotilloma:

Trichotilloma can be a behavioral disorder, but the best treatment is therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) will assist the individuals in finding the triggers and developing coping mechanisms to manage the compulsion to pull hair.

Over-the-counter hair growth products:

For those who are dealing with stress-induced hair loss, over-the-counter products will assist in stimulating hair growth. Also, it’s crucial to consult a dermatologist before starting any new treatments.

What does stress-related hair loss look like?

Hair loss can be caused due to a specific type of stress-induced hair loss. In telogen effluvium, hair shedding will be higher, and the majority of the people will lose at least 50 to 100 strands of hair every day. Also, individuals with telogen effluvium may lose hair strands when washing, combing, or even touching their hair.

While alopecia areata is a stress-related hair loss that leaves patchy hair loss. In this condition, baldness will develop in discrete patches on the scalp as hair falls out at an unusually high rate.

In trichotillomania, a hair-pulling disorder will be caused by emotional stress, in this observable amount of hair loss, hair thinning, or baldness on eyebrows, eyelashes, and scalp. An experienced dermatologist can physically assess the scalp and hair to diagnose the type of hair loss and treat it effectively.

Is hair loss from stress permanent, will it go back?

Based on the type of hair loss you experience, your hair will grow back to its formal level of healthy locks. Most of the stress-related hair loss is temporary, also it will take more time for hair shedding to cease. Often, individuals can grow back their hair with simple techniques like managing stress and an improved diet. Not everyone can prevent further hair fall due to stress, several patients can nourish hair follicles and encourage hair regrowth through targeted treatments, these treatments stand as bald spot remedies.

How long does stress-related hair loss last?

As we mentioned above, stress-related hair loss is not a permanent condition, you can consider visiting a doctor or can practice stress management techniques. Once your stress is controlled, it will take at least six months for hair shedding to cease. Individuals can take advantage of hair loss treatments like PRP injections, oral medications, topical treatments, and supplements that can help promote hair regrowth.

Do medications cause hair loss?

Often, individuals doubt that certain medications they consume may cause hair loss. Few medications will result in thinning hair or hair shedding and lead to unnecessary hair loss. In case, you are concerned that you are facing unwanted side effects due to your current medications, immediately book an appointment with your doctor to rectify this issue.

Can trauma cause hair loss?

The direct answer to this question is yes, emotional stress, chronic stress, and physical trauma may result in hair loss. But mostly for men and women, this hair loss associated with trauma or stress is a temporary condition that will resolve within months. Even unexpected traumatic events can result in thinning hair or hair loss, schedule your appointment with the best skin doctor in Coimbatore to prevent further hair fall.

Does high cholesterol cause hair loss?

A stress hormone known as cortisol plays a crucial role in the body’s “fight or flight” response, it causes hair loss. Other main bodily functions of cortisol include regulating metabolism and managing the use of different carbs, proteins, and fats in the body.

Prolonged stress or episodes of short-term stress can both increase the body’s cortisol levels. More cortisol levels can disturb various aspects of normal activity in the hair follicles, leading to hair loss. Further, high cortisol levels can lead to serious health effects like depression, anxiety, cardiovascular problems, gastrointestinal issues, headache, fatigue, high blood pressure, weight gain, irregular menstrual cycles, erectile dysfunction, and osteoporosis, among others.

It is crucial to find healthy ways to manage stress to prevent yourself from health deterioration and stay healthy. In case, chronic or emotional stress is disturbing your hair or aspects of your health, schedule your appointment with an experienced medical professional.

Final thoughts:

In conclusion, we can say that, yes, stress has the potential to cause sudden bald spots. But the exact mechanism depends on the type of hair loss, stress is the primary trigger for both telogen effluvium and alopecia areata. Further, stress-related behaviors like trichotillomania can cause hair loss through physical pulling. But fortunately, most of the stress-related hair fall is temporary, and with the proper management techniques, your hair will grow back.

Managing stress is not just about protecting your hair, it’s about improving your overall well-being. So whenever experiencing sudden hair loss, it’s the time to reassess your stress levels and make self-care a priority.