Hair Woes? Blame It On Stress

If you’re losing your mind over losing your hair, it’s time you took stock of the dreaded S-word in your life. That’s right, we’re talking about stress and it could be causing you more hair woes than you bargained for.

- Shweta Vepa Vyas

As you balance the demands of daily life, the one thing that’s inevitable is stress. As it rears its ugly head, it manifests itself in your life in different ways. While it’s associated with deadly diseases such as cardiovascular ailments and hypertension, it’s also the unlikely culprit behind many a beauty woes—in particular those which are hair-related.

THE INEVITABLE CONNECTION

You’d be surprised to know that stress is responsible for an entire host of hair problems ranging from hair loss, hair thinning and alopecia as well as scalp conditions. Shedding light on this connection is Melissa Hughe, Technical Head, Schwarzkopf Professional India. “Stress causes an imbalance in our body (a change in the levels of blood pressure and hormones) which has a direct as well as indirect impact on our hair and scalp. High stress levels can push a large number of hair follicles into the resting phase, and these affected strands may fall out suddenly while brushing or shampooing. Severe stress levels could lead to the immune system attacking the hair follicles, resulting in hair loss,” she shares.

Dr Syed Afzal, Consulting Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, The Vedary, draws an analogy between hair and nature. “In Chinese medicine, the analogy given is that grass needs sunlight as well as nutrient and water-rich soil. The hair is equal to the grass. The scalp is the soil and the sunshine is the chi. The blood can be compared to the moisture and nutrients in the soil. With less soil and nutrients, the soil becomes hardened, much like our scalp when there is not enough moisture. The roots cannot breathe if the soil is too dry or hard. Thus, if the hair follicles are not nourished, the hair starts to thin and then fall.”

HAIR WOES GALORE