| Telogen Effluvium |
Hairs will grow for a few years, and then rest for a few months, shed, and regrow. Hair growth cycle consists of three phases namely, anagen phase, catagen phase and telogen phase. Telogen is the name for the resting stage of the hair growth cycle. Telogen effluvium is characterized by massive hair loss as a result of early entry of hairs into the telogen phase.
A telogen effluvium occurs when some stress causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state. Telogen effluvium can be acute or chronic.
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Causes |
There is considerable number of different causes due to which this precondition is occurred and they are:
Emotional or physiological stressful events may result in an alteration of the normal hair cycle. It may be due to a variety of causes like eating habits, fever, childbirth, chronic illness, major surgery, anemia, severe emotional disorders, crash diets with inadequate nutrients and a variety of medications.
Because acute Telogen effluvium is in reality a normal process, which occurred prematurely in a synchronized manner to a large number of hair follicles, and which resolves spontaneously, treatment can be limited to reassurance. The identifiable inciting factor should be avoided or discontinued or treated, whichever is appropriate. Assuming there is no intervening pathological process, all of the hair will be replaced in six to twelve months and the replacement hair should be identical to the hair that was shed.
Chronic telogen effluvium is recently recognized and not uncommon. By definition, chronic telogen effluvium is hair shedding (more than 100 hairs per day) for more than six months. It often occurs in women who previously had very thick hair in their teens and twenties and still have an apparently normal head of hair to a casual observer. It affects the entire scalp with no obvious cause apparent. It usually affects women of 30 to 60 years of age, starts suddenly and has a tendency to fluctuate for a period of years. The degree of shedding is usually severe in the early stages and the hair may come out in handfuls. It does not cause complete baldness and does appear to be self-limiting in the long run.
Chronic telogen effluvium is more likely to be caused by a chronic metabolic abnormality and is less likely to resolve rapidly. The underlying cause or disorder should be avoided or discontinued or treated, whichever is appropriate, and the patient should have reassurances that the hair loss will not progress to baldness.
Hair transplantation is not a recommended treatment for telogen effluvium.
Occurrence
There are three ways of occurrence of Telogen effluvium:
1. There might be an environmental insult that "shocks" the growing hair follicles so much that they decide to go into a resting state for a while. This results in an increase in hair shedding and a diffuse thinning of hair on the scalp. This form of TE can develop rapidly and may be noticeable one or two months after receiving the shock.
2. The second form of TE develops more slowly and persists longer. The hair follicles may not all suddenly shed their hair fibers and enter a resting telogen state. Rather, the follicles may enter a resting state as they normally would, but instead of returning to a new anagen hair growing state after a month or two, they stay in their telogen state for a prolonged period of time.
This results in a gradual accumulation of hair follicles in a telogen state and progressively fewer and fewer anagen hair follicles are left growing hair. In this form of TE, there may not be much noticeable hair shedding, but there will be a slow thinning of the scalp hair. This form of TE is more likely to occur in response to a persistent trigger factor.
3. In a third type of TE, the hair follicles do not stay in a resting state but rather cycle through truncated growth cycles. When this happens, the individual experiences thin scalp hair and persistent shedding of short, thin hair fibers.
Symptoms
It is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day on one's comb, brush, in the sink or on the pillow.
A lot of hair shedding normally occurs when shampooing, combing, or even when gently manipulating hair. Hence, telogen effluvium sufferers will notice more hair than usual accumulating on the pillowcase, in the shower or bathroom floor and in the hairbrush. The scalp hair might feel or look less dense than normal. Oftentimes, the hair loss could be subtle, and others might not notice anything different about your hair.
Typically, Telogen effluvium hair loss is noticed several weeks to several months after the incident has initiated the biologic program for hair loss. Some individuals may also notice hair loss elsewhere on the body although most often hair loss occurs on the scalp. Generally shedding slowly reduces over 6 – 8 months once the cause of hair disappears.
These shed or loose hairs all have club-shaped "roots" typical of resting, telogen hairs and may be easily identified under the microscope. After shampooing, the bulk of existing loose hair has often been shed and loose hair may not again appear until additional hairs enter this resting phase.
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| Treatments |
How TE is treated depends on what has activated it. The causes of the disorder can be addressed. In some cases it might be the result of poor diet. These cases may be prevented by having a balanced diet that provides sufficient protein, iron and other nutrients. The most important issue in telogen effluvium is to determine if an underlying cause for the problem is present. Blood tests may need to be done if the cause is not obvious, such as mild iron deficiency. If the telogen effluvium is caused by a medication, the medication needs to be stopped. When the cause of the hair loss is something like giving birth, a transient illness etc the induced Telogen Effluvium can be treated with USFDA approved techniques and treatments along with supplements and prescription medicine.
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| Tips |
• Gentle handling of the hair.
• Avoiding over-vigorous combing, brushing and any type of scalp massage are important.
• You should also ensure a nutritious diet, with plenty of protein, fruit and vegetables.
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