Did you know women experience just as much hair loss as men? Recently, dermatologists and experts have been seeing an increasing amount of women in their 20s experiencing hair loss due to many reasons. Though diet, heat damage, and hormonal changes can cause hair loss, as of late young women are losing their hair due to anxiety-driven circumstances. If you’re noticing an extremely large amount of volume shed, we’ve turned to a board-certified dermatologist to answer all our questions. Ahead, dermatologist and Founder of The Derm Institute, Dr. Annie Chiu weighs in on the alarming truth behind stress, hair loss, how to prevent it and what products to use to prevent future hair thinning.
How does stress affect hair loss?
“There’s actually a condition of hair loss called Telogen Effluvium, where large numbers of hairs are lost after a stressful experience. Under normal circumstances, hairs are shed on the scalp when it enters an inactive stage called ‘telogen.’ Normally 85% of your hairs are in some sort of growing phase called ‘anagen.’ Acute Telogen Effluvium can occur after a stressful event, like the global pandemic occurring now, or some other shock to the system, like a fever or weight loss, which pushes growing anagen hairs into telogen, so you will see a ton of hair loss in a short time. This can happen in all ages and genders and is typically noticed with increased hair shedding found on pillowcases, what feels like a lot of hair coming out with brushing and showering, and the actual look of thinning hair. This is a self-limited process and can take weeks to months before the hair loss slows. The good news is, it almost always resolves with full recovery.”
How often should you wash your hair if you are experiencing hair loss out of nowhere?
“Wash normally. It may seem like more comes out when you wash but those are loose anyway. Wash normally and just get through this.”
What chemicals should you stay away from?
“Avoid anything that’s potentially irritating or drying, like products with SLS, heavy silicones, or alcohol. Look for formulas that are gentle and nourishing to the scalp and hair. Anti-thinning and volumizing formulas are also good, like the ones from
Foligain
, $35 as it has Trioxidil, a drug-free bio-active alternative that’s formulated with botanical extracts like tetrapeptides, clover extract, biotin, and jojoba. You’d also want to avoid dying your hair or using heat-based styling as they can lead to hair breakage, which can make the hair loss look more significant.”
What are some products you recommend for scalp massaging?
,type=downsize)