ALOPECIA NERVOSA: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES AND PREVENTION - GEOGRAFÍA - 2024

The nervous alopecia is a type of falling hair that is caused by stress. In fact, many experts say that stress is one of the greatest enemies of hair loss.

Hair loss is something that worries both men and women of all ages. When this happens, we rush to buy hair loss shampoos, take pills, or try popular natural remedies. All with the same purpose: to stop the fall.

We have to take into account that hair loss is normal, it becomes a problem when we find a lack of hair regrowth. What many of us do not know is that hair can also reflect our emotional states: surely you have noticed that in times of stress your hair falls out more. This is what we mean when we talk about nervous alopecia.

Characteristics of alopecia nervosa

Alopecia nervosa usually appears suddenly, but the way in which it does it depends on each person. In some people it appears suddenly but in a generalized way, while in other people the loss appears only in specific areas of the scalp.

In addition, alopecia nervosa produces a vicious circle effect in the person on many occasions, since it occurs with a negative impact on the person's body image.

It arises from a stressful situation and the negative body image that occurs can end up increasing or aggravating the person's anxiety.

Causes

Hair loss or alopecia can be explained and caused by many different factors, such as genetics, hormonal problems or nutritional deficiencies. However, in the case of alopecia nervosa, the cause is the situation or circumstance that the person experiences of anxiety, depression or stress.

We must bear in mind that the case of nervous alopecia is temporary. Generally, it tends to be of an acute course, lasting a few months and returning to normal when the person ceases the stress situation.

Hair loss due to stress is quite common and there are several reasons why it can happen, obviously all influenced by the physical / emotional stress suffered by the person.

One of the ways is the so-called "telogen effluvium", which happens because the hair follicles fall out, dying before the time they should. It is perhaps the most common.

Another way is the so-called alopecia areata, which is a multifactorial pathology among which stress can be found as a causal factor.

Finally, we can refer to trichotillomania, although it is more specific and different, since it is done by the person himself also in stressful situations.

In some cases of alopecia nervosa we can find a genetic predisposition, but in most cases the causes are simply psychological.

We found corticotropin receptors in the hair follicles. This hormone is released in stressful situations and attacks by weakening the follicles, thereby stimulating their fall.

10 tips to prevent alopecia nervosa

1- Eat well, it is vital!

A good diet is essential to take care of your hair. For example, eating foods that are rich in omega 3, such as oily or fatty fish, is a good way to do it.

Other products that you should include in your diet are foods rich in folic acid (such as legumes), with iron (vegetables such as spinach and also red meat) or those that contain zinc.

A poor diet, which is often also associated with times of stress (such as in), can aggravate hair loss.

Therefore, it is important that you eat a healthy and balanced diet, taking care of the consumption of fruits and vegetables. In this sense, the lack of iron can alter the follicles and increase hair loss.

Vitamin C is also important for absorbing iron, so try combining foods that contain vitamin C with iron, as vitamin C helps with collagen by strengthening the hair shaft.

You can also eat foods rich in biotin (vitamin B), the deficiency of which can lead to hair loss and thinning.

In addition, carrying out a healthy and balanced diet such as the one we are discussing will directly affect the health of your hair but it will also affect the stress on your body, which will indirectly also affect the hair.

2- Do physical exercise regularly

Exercising regularly is very important to regulate stress and therefore, it will end up having an impact on your hair health. Physical exercise stimulates the production of endorphins, which promotes a reduction in anxiety and greater stress control is achieved.

It is advisable to do physical exercise of moderate intensity, especially aerobic exercise, for around 60 minutes a day and 3-5 days a week. Some examples might be running, walking, dancing, or swimming.

It can also be highly recommended to do physical exercise accompanied with a family member or friend, or join groups of people (for example in the gym or hiking groups), where in addition to exercising, social relationships are established.

Performing physical exercise provides a feeling of fullness and well-being due to the release of endorphins, also reducing adrenaline levels and thus reducing the stress that can cause hair loss.

3- Dedicate moments to yourself

Spending time with yourself is a good way to prevent stress. In the world we live in, we do everything fast and can't find time to spend on ourselves.

Try not to spend time alone when you are so tired and exhausted. Try to make a space every week (and if possible every day), to carry out an activity that is pleasant and / or quiet.

It can be going for a walk, being with your pet, spending time with your family, reading or watching a movie. It is important that they are pleasant activities that feel good, cheer you up and recharge your batteries.

Also, when we have problems, getting away from them for a while and thinking about other things, can give us the solution to that problem that we are looking for and that we cannot solve. Putting things in perspective helps a lot.

4- Perform relaxation techniques

To prevent (and treat) stress alopecia, it is very important to use stress management techniques that help you relax, since this is the only way hair loss will stop.

There are a variety of relaxation techniques that can help you find a quiet moment and clear your mind. You can try Jacobson's progressive relaxation technique.

Through this technique it is possible to reduce muscle tension, fall asleep and achieve more tranquility. It is a method of muscle tension-relaxation.

You can also use visualization techniques, such as imagining that you are on the beach, for example, or in a landscape that gives you tranquility.

5- Practice mindfulness or yoga

Mindfulness or mindfulness (as well as yoga) are activities that you can use in your day to day and can be your allies to prevent stress and with it nervous alopecia.

You can dedicate the time you need: from a few minutes a day to more than an hour, but in any case you can see the benefits. There are different mindfulness exercises that you can do, both at home, at work and wherever you go.

It's about finding a quiet moment, closing your eyes, and concentrating on your breath for several minutes. The mind will go elsewhere, but you must kindly bring the attention back to the breath.

The first few times you do it, it will be very difficult and you will realize that the mind goes alone. However, it is a training exercise, and the more you train your mind, the easier it will be to refocus on your breath.

6- Analyze what happens to you

If you feel that you are stressed and that you cannot cope with your daily life, it is important that you sit down and analyze what is happening to you. Sometimes it is difficult to find the reason and we do not know why we are so nervous.

To do this, you can take a notebook with you and write down the situations to analyze them in perspective. Take a notebook and a pen with you and when you feel anxiety symptoms or notice that emotions dominate you, stop for a second.

Make a chart in your notebook and write down a column with "emotion", another column where you put "situation", another column where you put "thought" and another column where you put "behavior, what I do".

Thus, the trigger may be emotion. When you feel that it dominates you, for example, that you are very angry, write it down in your notebook, in the emotion column. Stop and think about what you have thought to get angry in that way and write it down, also indicating the situation.

Then tell what you do when you feel this angry. When you have everything written down, analyze the situation and see if you could have thought or done something else and your emotion would have been different.

7- Take care of your social relationships and spend time with your family

Social relationships are very important to prevent stress. In fact, social support has been seen as one of the greatest predictors of psychological problems.

When we have a good social network, with friends important to us and a family that loves us and supports us, we are more protected against the stresses of life.

Social support can be understood as the presence of psychological support resources that come from people who are significant to us. These people offer us emotional, instrumental and informative support.

For this, it is important that you take care of your social relationships and that you dedicate time to them, because not only will it improve your physical and emotional health, but you will also enjoy a lot and get a lot of fun.

8- change your routine

Sometimes we live immersed in a routine that makes us lose our sense of things. If you think that routine can handle you, it is important that you try to make small changes.

Introducing change in your day to day (making a different plan when leaving work, making improvised plans…) can brighten your life and help you release the stress of your daily routine.

9- Try to laugh a lot!

Laughter has many benefits for the body and will help you release tension and prevent (or treat) stress. Laughter is good for your physical health and for your mental health. In fact, there is laughter therapy, which forces laughter to obtain its benefits.

Laughter has effects on the brain and helps us sleep better, releases endorphins, strengthens the immune system, improves breathing… and helps us relieve stress and anxiety, increasing self-confidence and self-esteem.

10- If anxiety arrives, go to a professional!

When you feel that nothing is enough and stress arrives (and with it, hair loss), it is important that you seek professional help. If you are stressed and have anxiety and you feel that you cannot handle the situation yourself, it is time for you to go to a professional.

Seek the help of a psychologist, who will help you find the problem and give you the necessary tools to release the stress in your life and feel good again.

If you are also losing hair, it is important that you go to a dermatologist, who after the relevant examinations and analyzes can also help you to solve the alopecia.

Don't stop looking for help.

How can I distinguish alopecia nervosa from other types of alopecia?

Stress in itself is not a bad thing for the body. Stress is beneficial and necessary for the human being, since it helps him to survive.

Colloquially we use the word stress to describe an unpleasant situation for us, of tension, irritability, etc. However, it is only negative when it is called “distress”. This distinction is important in order to differentiate the types of alopecia, since eustress (a "positive" or "normal" type of stress) does not have to be related to alopecia.

When we talk about nervous alopecia, we refer to distress or "negative stress", which damages the body in different ways, one of them would be hair loss.

If you perceive that you are losing a lot of hair, it is important that you go to a specialist to determine what is the cause of your hair loss. Not always that you go through a stressful situation and your hair falls out is that the cause and you must make sure.

It is important to go because in many cases alopecia can be reversed if it occurs with the origin and the appropriate treatment is offered. The specialists will do the appropriate tests and analyzes, such as examinations and pertinent assessments and analyzes.

It is very important to bear in mind that hair loss due to psycho-emotional factors is reversible and in most cases, when we eliminate the source of stress that causes hair loss, it ceases.

References

1. Spanish Heart Foundation. Stress and physical exercise.
2. Garrido, C. (2012). Preventing hair loss: what works and what is a bluff. El País newspaper.
3. Pérez Bilbao, J., Martín Daza, F. (1999). Social support. National Institute of Safety and Hygiene at work.