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Telogen Effluvium is serious hair loss problem characterized by sudden fall and diffusion of hair. It’s generally caused by the interruption in the normal hair growth cycle. It’s also signified that Telogen Effluvium is caused by trauma, such as chemotherapy, childbirth, puberty, major surgery, severe stress, and severe chronic illness. With such causes, large number of hair follicles enters a stage of telogen or rest, simultaneously.
Hair growth cycle:
Each follicle of hair undergoes the cycle of activity continuously. Hair grows to its maximum length following which the growth stops and the hair is shed and replaced. There is only 85 percent of hair on our head at one time. There are three phases of the growth cycle of hair which is an important component of hair structure:
Telogen phase: This is also known as the resting phase and lasts for about 5-6 weeks, at this time there is no hair growth but the hair stays attached to the follicle and no activity takes place in the dermal papilla. About ten to fifteen percent of all hairs are in this phase at one point.
Following the Telogen phase the cycle returns to the Anagen phase and the root germ begins to grow forming a new bulb around the papilla leading to the growth of new hair. The upper part of the germ forms the new cells that are known to increase the length of the follicle underneath the club hair. The new hair pushes the old hair outwards. The average daily loss of hair in an individual is between 60 to 100 hairs. The loss of more then 100 hairs on a daily basis leads to baldness. Extra hair is shed in autumn and spring but there is less hair loss during the summers. This hair loss problem is usually self correcting and can affect people of all ages.
Different Types of Telogen Effluvium:
A number of telogen effluvium referred to as ‘chronic’ are reported in many parts of the country. A common example of this hair falling symptom is seen after pregnancy. In this situation, women lose hair a few months after delivery when the protective effect of estrogen is removed. But this shedding usually stops spontaneously and the patients would surely re-grow hair after the gap of three months.
Being a common cause of ‘thinning’ of hair, unlike some other hair and scalp conditions, Telogen Effluvium is temporary and the hair growth usually returns. It is a condition where more than normal amounts of hair fall out. It is also referred as an abnormal loss of hair due to alteration of the normal hair cycle. In this hair loss problem, the hair growth occurs in a cycle which is divided into three phases. First, a growth phase, second, the regression phase and lastly the resting phase.
Common Symptoms
Mental stress is one of the serious causes of Telogen effluvium. You must be wondering how? This arises when stress causes the hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state. In this condition Telogen effluvium can be acute or chronic. It is typical for a band like area of occipital hair follicles to enter the first telogen close to the time of birth. For these hairs it may take 2 to 3 months to shed.
It’s commonly known that Telogen Effluvium is related to the hair growth cycle which does not grow continuously on the human scalp. The most common time it occurs is in women about 1-3 months after childbirth. It also occurs when stress causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state.
Main Causes
Different causes are highlighted for resulting in telogen effluvium. One of the foremost one is in the time of pregnancy. Both in pre and post natal period, more hair follicles are maintained in the growth phase. After child birth, a greater proportion of hairs go into the resting phase, causing a temporary self-correcting increased shedding of the hair. This phenomenon can be seen even after stopping birth control pills too.
Other causes include the changes in diet like crash dieting, anorexia, low protein intake, and chronic iron deficiency. Allergic contact dermatitis of the scalp and flu or stress can also cause telogen effluvium. If there is some shock to the system, as many as 70 percent of the scalp hairs can be precipitated into a resting state.
Treatment
Telogen effluvium is a sort of disease that can be self corrected. This symptom can be treated by simply removing the cause, or waiting for it to run its course. But it should be kept in mind that there is no treatment for telogen effluvium. All the lost hair will eventually be replaced. Ensure that you intake a nutritious diet, with plenty of protein, fruit and vegetables.
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