When something major happens in your life, your body reacts. This is not just things related to your health or physical body, but to all aspects of your being. One of the common reactions is hair loss. We call this shock hair loss. It occurs when the body reacts to some type of significant and sudden shock, causing it to stop the growth cycle of the hair. Some hair falls out early. That may be a significant amount, which can be very frustrating to those who are seeing a lot of hair loss all at once.
What Can Cause Shock Hair Loss?
There are many things that can lead to shock hair loss. Generally, it can happen when any significant or traumatic event happens to you. Here are some examples.
Post-operative Hair Loss: When your body goes through any type of surgery, there is an increased risk of shock to the body. This generally happens when there is a significant surgery or any time general anesthesia is likely used. Your hormones build during this procedure, and often leading up to it, leading to a shock to the body and system. This can lead to shock hair loss.
Stress: There are some reports of people battling COVID-19 experiencing a sudden amount of hair loss. This can happen to anyone, even those who do not have any reported hair loss problems. When it happens, the stress hormone, cortisol, is moving through the blood stream at a high rate. This level does not drop quickly as it should because the stress continues for a long period of time. This can lead to the body taking action to slow the hair growth process so it can redirect that energy to other areas, such as dealing with your stress. Stress, even from coronavirus, can contribute to shock hair loss.
Pregnancy: A lot of the hair loss women have after giving birth is due to the change in hormones present in the body. Yet, there is a bit shock to the body during birth as well. Your body wants to focus on the healing from that process and producing milk for the baby. It shifts energy resources away from the hair growth cycle to focus on what is really important. Keep in mind that hormones are also regulating and changing significantly during this time for other reasons. All of this can contribute to significant hair loss.
Hair Transplant: It may seem like a counterintuitive outcome, but it is possible to see a significant amount of hair loss right after you have had a hair transplant procedure. Scalp surgeries of all types can result in this. The reason for it makes sense – those follicles and your body are going through a significant change. That can lead to a sudden and significant change in your body’s ability to cope. The hair falls out rapidly.
There are many other examples of shock hair loss. Also, keep in mind that these things can happen for many reasons, such as illness or physical injury. They may occur when you have an emotional response to something, not just physical. In addition, you may notice them if you make sudden, significant changes in your body – such as drastically change your diet or lose weight at a very rapid pace.
The shock component of the process occurs as a way for the body to simply reset- it has to get over and deal with whatever is happening as a first step.
Does Shock Hair Loss Improve?
The answer to this question is yes. In most situations, when your body is able to overcome the changes and begins to regulate itself, the shock starts to fade. Your hair will likely begin to regrow again.
If you’re unsure of there is shock hair loss occurring with you or something else, it is best to speak to your doctor about what’s happening. A hair professional can help you, in the meantime, to find ways to manage that hair loss without limiting your options for the way you look. Don’t overlook significant hair loss.
Contact the hair specialists at Unique Hair Concepts to learn more.
