The holidays are great, but come the twelfth day of Christmas, your true love might accidentally give you something you don't have on your wish list: hair loss.
You can thank stress for that, or rather the heightened stress that comes from experiencing the holidays, said Dr. Alan Bauman, a hair restoration physician based in Boca Raton, Florida.
While Bauman said there are many potential causes for hair loss -- such as medicines, your diet and sleep wake cycles -- spikes in stress levels can trigger an autoimmune response in your body, which can affect your already sensitive hair follicles.
"The way that it normally works is, when there’s a trigger for the event, we usually see a shedding phase at least one and a half months later," Bauman said, adding that he sees a rise in patients to his clinic about six weeks after the holidays every year.
"This is very common. Patients who undergo some kind of surgical procedure, where there’s general anesthesia, for example -- that can trigger a shedding phase, and it happens starting about six weeks after. We see the same kind of time frame when patients see hair loss as a result of crash dieting. [Your body] goes through a shock," he said.
Luckily, for the majority of patients, this type of hair loss is temporary, Bauman explained. But it depends on the trigger and how severe the symptoms are.
Oral treatments, topical medications, laser light therapy, nutritional modifications and eliminating risk factors altogether can help stop the progression of hair loss, he said. Or you can opt for Bauman's "scalp makeover" -- essentially a full examination and diagnostic of your scalp -- to determine your best treatment.
Certified trichologists and examine your scalp for possible symptoms, but ultimately, Bauman said, early detection and intervention is best.
As for the stress, be sure to visit our very informative stress management page for tips and methods on how to avoid or reduce your experience with stressful situations this year.
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