Telogen effluvium

Shedding of hair is a normal process and you usually lose hair while combing, cleaning the scalp and while sleeping because of little friction of hair against the pillow when you turn your head often. But you do not lose more than hundred hairs in spite of all these conscious and unconscious activities and once you start losing more hair then it becomes a medical problem. Telogen effluvium is one such complication that results into premature shedding of hair before it completes its life cycle. So far the exact causes of telogen effluvium have not been determined. However, the experts link the occurrence of this disease directly to stressful lifestyle and consider that more stress means more shedding of hair. If an individual experiences too much hair loss then it is better to rush to doctor for treatment because aggressive form of telogen effluvium will take long time to get eliminated and always tend to recur.

The hair cycle of a healthy person comprises of four years of active hair follicles through which hair grows and approximately four months of inactive hair follicles. The hair in the active period is known as anagen hair while during inactive period is termed as telogen hair. For continuous growth of hair in a healthy person, at least three quarters of hair follicles remain active while the remaining hair follicles are in resting phase. The telogen hair contains bulb from where comes out new anagen hair pushing the former after the resting phase of the hair follicles is over.

An individual is more likely to get affected by acute telogen effluvium if any unexpected and traumatizing incident happens to him/her. This result into excessive shedding of hair in the first sixty days after the stressful time and the affected one may even find hair uprooting automatically in small bunches. Similarly, the hair of an individual becomes thin due to this complication but this symptom may not occur in the entire scalp and remain in some particular areas. Mostly, the thinning of hair affects the top front and middle of your head instead of the remaining areas. Those suffering from chronic telogen effluvium can also find hair loss in other parts of the body apart from hair on the scalp.

Although it is really not possible to figure out the actual cause of telogen effluvium but there are certain factors which always affect the health of hair like feverish conditions, pregnancy, any type viral, bacterial or fungal infection, serious diseases, tension and frustration. Sometimes, taking long course of medication including high doses of antibiotics also causes side effects in terms of hair loss. Those who undergo major operation like transplantation are also likely to suffer from telogen effluvium. And the most important factor is your eating habit that should be controlled if you are fond of oily and spicy foods and consume too much alcohol and coffee.

Normally, you come to know about your increased hair loss only after a couple of weeks or even months if it does not happen rapidly. And once your body overcomes the factors that results into hair loss after 6-8 months, the affect of telogen effluvium itself reduces and the life cycle of your hair normalizes again. In case you are suffering from some disorder or disease that may cause telogen effluvium then it is better to go to the doctor for thorough check-up so that the existing problem could be treated as a result of which your hair loss problem may get cured automatically. The root of shedding hair looks like stout stick with a large end and its microscopic study can reveal some of the basic causes of hair loss. Therefore, the doctor can conduct biopsy by taking out a sample of the skin from the scalp to study to confirm that an individual is really suffering from telogen effluvium. Sometimes, lack of iron can also result into hair loss and therefore the doctor would also like to take out the sample of blood to check the iron content in your body. This is one of the effective telogen effluvium cure.

So far, there is no specific treatment method of telogen effluvium and the doctor usually tries to eliminate its visible causes like temporarily stopping the long course of medication, telogen effluvium treatment of existing disease or infection, etc. On the other hand, chronic telogen effluvium is more common in females over 30 years of age but the complication does not cause baldness.