Sudden, widespread hair
shedding
The
nature of telogen effluvium
Telogen effluvium is a non-scarring hair loss in the
form of sudden widespread hair shedding. Instead of
losing avout 100 hairs a day for most people, patients
with this disease could lose 400 or more hairs. This
hair loss disease is more common amongst women due to
hormonal changes but it can occur at any age and in
any race.
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Telogen
Affluvium |
Telogen
effluvium occurs when a large number of hair follicles
suddenly all stop growing at the same time (the telogen
phase). Then just in 3 to 4 months later, just as suddenly,
new hair begin to grow in the place of these hair follicles.
Why
does the hair suddenly rest from growing?
In
telogen effluvium, the hair suddenly takes a rest from
growing. Why would that happen?
Usually
a traumatic event causes the condition. It would be
a time of stress, during which the body diverts its
energy to something other than growing hair. As the
result, the hair goes into a kind of hibernation until
the stress goes away. Unfortunately after the trauma,
the hair has to be shed before new hair grows in its
place. Common causes of trauma leading to telogen effluvium
include:
- Hormonal
change brought about by childbirth or stopping birth
control.
- An
acute illness accompanied by high fever.
- A
chronic illness such as cancer.
- Sudden
changes in diet, including the conditions anorexia
and bulimia.
- Medications
such as those used to treat high blood pressure, cholesterol
and seizures.
- Major
surgery and general anesthesia.
- Big
life changes such as divorce, death in the family,
or loss of a job.
Diagnosis
of telogen effluvium
Doctors
often diagnose telogen effluvium with a hair pull test.
During this test, significant more hair than 10 percent
of the hair indicates that telogen effluvium is at its
early stage. The condition can be acute, lasting
less than 6 months, or chronic, lasting more
than 6 months.
Hair
loss from telogen effluvium is not permanent. After
the hairs fall out they usually start growing again.
The
links related to this page on hair loss diseases are:
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