You may have heard stress causes hair loss. While that’s true, you probably won’t see hair loss from stress after one particularly tough work meeting or a tense conversation with your partner. But there is such a thing as stress-induced shedding.
If you’ve noticed your hair shedding rapidly a few months after having surgery, significant weight loss, serious illness, severe fever, starting a new medication, or a stressful life event, you might be experiencing telogen effluvium, a common form of hair loss.
Telogen effluvium is a type of non-scarring alopecia that causes hair to rapidly shed. It’s typically not permanent.
Keep reading to learn more about telogen effluvium, what causes it, and how it’s diagnosed and treated.
If you’ve noticed a worrying amount of hair littering your pillows, floor, clothing, or hair brush, you may be experiencing telogen effluvium symptoms.
But how do you know if what you’re experiencing is telogen effluvium or another type of hair loss? It’s not always easy to tell.
Here’s what to look out for:
Considerable loss in hair. Telogen effluvium causes a very noticeable reduction in hair volume. While losing roughly 50 to 100 strands of hair daily is normal, the count could be much higher with this condition.
Tender scalp. Beyond losing hair, telogen effluvium could also cause pain, which you may notice when touching the skin of your scalp or your hair. Pain or tenderness on the scalp is called trichodynia.
Diffuse hair loss. One of the main differences between telogen effluvium and male pattern baldness is that pattern hair loss happens in a specific place — say, thinning on the crown or a receding hairline. Meanwhile, telogen effluvium causes hair fall all over the scalp.
Telogen effluvium affects men and women of all ages. In general, it doesn’t cause total baldness but instead causes overall thinning.
Acute telogen effluvium becomes noticeable around two months after the body’s been exposed to a shock or trigger. It can last multiple months — but usually less than three months.
Should you experience these symptoms for more than six months, you might be diagnosed with chronic telogen effluvium. Sometimes, chronic telogen effluvium happens without a particular trigger.
Telogen effluvium hair loss is usually caused by a “shock to the system,” whether that’s illness, injury, or a stressful life event.
When this happens, hair that should be in the anagen (growth) phase of the hair growth cycle gets prematurely pushed into the telogen (resting) phase.
A few months later, as much as 70 percent of that hair will shed all at once. Hair may fall out in large clumps or handfuls (often during brushing or washing). It’s very different from gradual hair thinning — one reason why it can be alarming.
Unlike other types of hair loss — like male pattern baldness that just occurs naturally with age — there’s usually an inciting event or factor that causes telogen effluvium hair loss.
Risk factors for developing telogen effluvium include:
Certain drugs, including oral retinoids and beta-blockers
Trauma
Emotional and physiological stress
Surgery
Thyroid disorders
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, rapid hair shedding is common in people who’ve:
Lost 20 pounds or more
Given birth
Experienced lots of stress (such as caring for a loved one who’s sick, going through a divorce, or losing a job)
Had high fever
Recovered from an illness, especially if it included a high fever
Undergone an operation
Stopped taking birth control pills
On the bright side, this type of shedding is usually temporary and will subside after some time has passed.
A healthcare professional can diagnose telogen effluvium by physically examining your scalp for signs of hair loss.
They might also conduct a hair-pull test. During a pull test, your provider will gently pull about 40 to 60 hairs between their fingers and count how many hair shafts are dislodged from the root. Normally, two or three hairs would come out, but more will dislodge if you have telogen effluvium.
To identify the cause of your telogen effluvium, your healthcare provider might ask about:
Your diet
Your medical history
Current medications you’re taking
Recent traumas and emotional stress
They might also run blood tests if they suspect a medical issue — for example, hypothyroidism — could be to blame for your hair loss.
The good news about telogen effluvium is that this condition usually goes away on its own.
In fact, as many as 95 percent of all cases of acute telogen effluvium go into remission (meaning the symptoms go away, and the condition eventually disappears). When the underlying cause of hair loss resolves — for instance, when you recover from stress or illness — your hair should start growing again.
But that doesn’t mean you should ignore telogen effluvium. It’s a good idea to speak with a healthcare professional and get personalized medical advice.
Telogen effluvium treatment options your provider might recommend include nutritious eating, topical minoxidil, finasteride, and growth-supporting hair products.
If you suspect a nutrient deficiency is to blame for how much hair you’ve been shedding, a balanced diet is a great place to start.
Make sure you’re getting enough of all the necessary vitamins and minerals by eating a variety of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and healthy fats.
You can also use vitamin supplements to restore your mane to its former glory. For example, if you have an iron deficiency, you might need iron supplements to get your hair looking good.
Need a little extra support? Our biotin gummies contain multiple vitamins that promote hair growth.
This topical telogen effluvium treatment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address hair loss.
Minoxidil helps to counter hair loss by moving hairs from the telogen phase to the anagen phase of the growth cycle. In other words, the hair shifts from a resting stage to active growth.
You might experience mild, temporary hair loss while using minoxidil before the new hair shaft starts growing. This side effect doesn’t last forever, but it could take a few months before minoxidil starts working. So try to be patient and stick to it, even if you’re still shedding at first.
You’ll need to apply minoxidil foam or minoxidil liquid solution to your scalp regularly — usually twice daily. The effort tends to pay off, and you’ll likely notice telogen effluvium regrowth signs (like decreased shedding, new hair, and longer growth) within a few months.
Finasteride is another trusted FDA-approved treatment for managing hair loss. It’s typically used to treat androgenetic alopecia or anagen hair loss, the clinical terms for male pattern baldness.
This medication gets the job done by blocking dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone that affects the hair follicle and causes pattern baldness. Some men have more DHT, thanks to genetics.
Finasteride isn’t usually used to treat telogen effluvium because excess DHT is genetic, not stress-related. But it can be worth looking into if you think what you’re experiencing could actually be male pattern hair loss.
Finasteride tablets are a prescription-only medication.
There’s also an over-the-counter topical version. And you might consider combining the two FDA-approved hair loss treatments with our topical finasteride & minoxidil spray.
As you wait for new hair to grow, keep your current hair (and scalp) as healthy as possible.
High-quality haircare products can address hair thinning and reduce the appearance of hair shedding.
For example:
Our volumizing shampoo and volumizing conditioner can improve the appearance of limp, thin hair.
Our saw palmetto shampoo can thicken hair.
Our dandruff detox shampoo, with pyrithione zinc and salicylic acid, can keep your scalp free of flakes.
Be sure to avoid harsh chemicals or styling techniques that put too much strain on your scalp. Restrictive ponytails and tight cornrows, for instance, can damage hair follicles to the point where new hair won’t be able to grow.
In cases where telogen effluvium results from inflammation in the body, corticosteroids can help.
They also offer a convenient way to reduce the pain that can sometimes accompany telogen effluvium.
Prevention is better than cure — and that’s especially true for hair loss.
Although you can’t always prevent telogen effluvium, you can do a few things to reduce your risk. These include:
Eating a balanced diet and avoiding crash dieting
Taking supplements to address any nutritional deficiencies
Using healthy stress-relief techniques
Managing medical conditions, like thyroid disorders
Treating illnesses and infections as soon as you notice symptoms
The good news is that telogen effluvium regrowth usually happens on its own. But if you’re concerned about hair loss or are wondering about your treatment options, it’s always wise to get expert medical advice.
We can connect you with a healthcare professional online, who can help you access the treatment you need.