Is your hair fall stress-related? Here's what you can do to stop it

If there is a keyword to define the season, it must be “stress”. There’s enough of it going round to challenge the most zen among us, and it’s manifesting itself in a multitude of ways, from disturbed sleep patterns, excessive amount of carb indulgence, social media #challenges to problematic skin and hair. It’s the latter we concern ourselves with now—more so, because it’s one of the most insidious ways in which our body reacts to stress—through hair fall.

How does stress impact hair fall?

The hair has four phases in a life cycle, and stress can change that up. Anagen is the growth phase (and lasts between two-six years), and catagen is the shorter phase during which the hair follicle shrinks. Telogen is the static period that can last for about 100 days—a sort of limbo where the old hair follicle is waiting to pushed out by the newly grown one. This is the normal life cycle, resulting in the normal daily shedding of 100 hairs. However, increased cortisol levels compact the anagen and telogen phases—leading to more hairfall. It’s largely hormones that do this—telogen effluvium specifically—that pushes large numbers of hair follicles into a resting phase before their time.

Dr Geetika Mittal Gupta of Isaac Luxe adds, “Telogen effluvium (which is a phase when hair stops to grow and only sheds) and alopecia areata (white blood cell attack on the hair follicles) are both related to stress," she says, suggesting that consciously attempting to reduce cortisol levels is necessary. 

What other lifestyle habits are increasing the chance of increased hair fall?

Dr Harshna Bijlani of The Ageless Clinic explains further, “For almost all of us, the lockdown has affected our mental as well as physical health. Our skin and hair are reacting in strange ways and there are a number of lifestyle changes that can be attributed to this," she says. She points out the changes in diet as a major reason, but also suggests that a switch-up in the daily routine can be at fault too. "Direct factors contributing to increased or sudden hair fall are non-availability of our regular hair products and lack of focus on hair supplements. We’re all so caught up with consuming immunity boosting supplements like Vitamin C, a lot of people are ignoring their hair related supplements that they would normally be taking," she says. 

Here's what you can do to stop hair fall in its tracks right now

With no access to clinics for treatments and limited access to medicines, handling stress related hair fall does pose a challenge, but having more time to put into your haircare routine could be a major benefit. “Put on a hair growth serum often, and add a scalp massage in too," says Dr Mittal Gupta, who suggests using the fingertips to massage it in gently without causing more breakage. She also suggests using DIY methods to combat hair fall. “If you have frizzy hair, mash a ripe banana and add honey, lemon juice and castor oil/coconut oil. It does double duty as a great conditioner and castor oil helps stimulate hair growth too," she says. Ingredients like fenugreek seeds, amla, and aloe vera are par for the course too.

But hey, guess what, there’s good news too, according to both doctors. Hair fall due to stress is temporary—the moment you learn to manage your stress, boost your hair health through superfoods, vitamins or treatments, it will be a thing of the past. Dr Bijlani recommends a holistic approach. “I would recommend avoiding stress (try to curtail it if you can’t avoid it) and definitely stay away from fad diets, at least for the time being until this lockdown ends," she says, suggesting that sleep, exercise and a balanced diet is the key. 

As for hair care? Dr Bijlani suggests using your hair type as a guide, and sticking with your usual routine as much as possible. “If you live in dry weather, or have a dry scalp, oil your hair with coconut or almond oil,” she says. “Opt for a creamy conditioner and leave-in serums, and wash your hair less frequently than before, once in three days is a good idea,” she says. "For those with oily hair or living in humid conditions, avoid leave-in serums, wash your hair every day or every alternate day and use clarifying shampoos instead of something heavy or too creamy,” she adds.

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