Stress and Your Hair - The Universal Culprit

Last week I went to the hairdresser decided to change my haircut…The lady looked at me, she smiled pleasantly and she admired my healthy, long hair. After a couple of minutes she turned her face around and asked me: ‘Are you stressed?’ I was shocked. I couldn’t understand the meaning of this question while she was cutting my hair. And then I saw her hands full of hair…my hair. ‘Yes’, I muttered…I didn’t like that awful view of her hands suffocated by my fallen hair. I was ashamed.

Stress causes hair fall, dandruff and greasy hair; and hundreds of other affections that concern our entire body. When our organism is under stress, our hair also feels it. The most stressful periods are followed by massive hair fall. Fortunately, our hair doesn’t fall all of a sudden, but this can easily become notable if the damaging factor is not eliminated.

More and more stressed women suffer from hair fall caused by stress pressure. Women are more affected than men are (74% women in comparison to 59% men). Mothers that have struggled during the time to do everything in the house, to work, to watch the home, to maintain a relationship with the partner and to raise the children, paid a high price for the extra hours spent at work and at home by going through several chronic diseases and by loosing their hair. Women between 35 and 45 are the most affected by stress; they suffer from allergies, eczemas, headaches, arterial hypertension and hair fall. ‘Alopecia areata’ means that only certain parts of the scalp are affected by hair fall, and this is usually a result of stress action. This disorder may lead to ‘alopecia totalis’ – the complete hair fall.

Stress causes a lack of balance of the entire organism and weakens the immune system. Under stress persons may have symptoms such as insomnia and hair fall, a situation that can last for years. And things won’t get better as the stress factors will never disappear. A survey on 3000 persons showed that the most common stress cause is the job; one third of the quested people declared that their job is the most stressful aspect of their lives. The job is followed by kids (20%), money (15%) and sentimental relationships (10%). Ironically, hair fall becomes a stressful problem itself because the personal aspect is very important for every human being.

Here is a top 10 most stressful factors:

Job
Kids
Money
Sentimental relationships
Future worries
The physical aspect
House
Parents
Friends
Car

Stress also affects the sebaceous glands causing dandruff and greasy hair. Dandruff is caused by a fungus named Pityrosporum ovale, which is naturally located in the glands situated at the hair root. When it is excessively secreted, dandruff appears. This may happen because of stress, but also because of inadequate nutrition, certain diseases or wrong hair care products. Dandruff looks like small, dried scales which disappear after washing but reappear the next day. When it is caused by stress, dandruff looks greasier and the scalp is more irritated. You can get rid of dandruff by using special shampoos, but hair hygiene is also very important. Keep in mind the fact that you shouldn’t follow the idea of washing your hair more rarely in order to avoid greasy hair; your hair must be cleaned every time it is dirty, even once a day. Wrong use of conditioner, fixative, hair color, hair dryer or undulation set will surely damage your hair in stead.

If you care for your health and good look, begin from the inside. Start to enjoy yourself and accumulating positive thoughts. Remember that everything you keep inside will surely show on the outside.