How Does Stress Cause Hair Loss – & What To Do About It

Stress and hair loss appear to be strongly linked, at least as a popular conception, but is there any truth to it, and if so what can you do to reduce stress and reduce the effect on your hairline?

In this article I’m going to argue that stress can cause hair loss, I’m going to look at why it does, and then look at the most effective ways to combat it. I’ll show you some powerful techniques that when used consistently, work as a powerful way to protect your hair.

If you are suffering from hair loss, reducing your stress levels are just one piece of the puzzle. There are many other factors that come into play so I recommend taking a good look around at how to cure hair loss naturally after you’ve finished reading this article.

Does stress actually cause hair loss?

In ‘Hair Like a Fox’ Danny Roddy talks about the bioenergetic view of pattern baldness and comes to the conclusion that getting adequate amounts of oxygen to the hair follicles is absolutely essential for their growth.

I agree, and it’s easy to see that many of the factors linked with pattern baldness are also, in some way linked to oxygen deficiency through lifestyle. For example, a sedentary lifestyle has been linked with male pattern baldness. Lack of exercise means you aren’t regularly flushing your lungs with oxygen, and exercise also reduces stress very effectively.

Urban dwellers also have higher incidences of pattern baldness than rural dwellers which could be from higher levels of pollution, more sedentary lifestyles and higher levels of stress.

If you live in a city you don’t need to freak out about this though (and get more stressed) because there are simple things that you can do to combat these effects that I will talk about later on in this article.

Oxygen and the dermal papilla

The dermal papilla is responsible for the growth of the hair and is therefore the most important part of the hair follicle.

Dermal papilla cells must be in direct contact with the blood capillaries because the papilla is where the new hair follicles cells are made and consequently they need abundant amounts of nutrients and oxygen from the blood.

It’s crucially important to maintain good circulation to the hair follicles, so nutrients, oxygen and hormones can enable growth. Without them, or with restricted flow, the hair follicle growth phase becomes shorter and the resting phase becomes longer.

It also increases the miniaturization effect of DHT on the follicle.

Oxygen also helps to alkalise the blood, and carbon dioxide makes it more acidic. This is important because overly acidic blood in itself can lead to higher levels of hair loss.

What can you do to reduce your stress levels?

Many men are initially sceptical about how the heck breathing could prevent hair loss and aid in its regrowth. I don’t blame them, but once they see that just like smokingand air pollution can heavily contribute to hair loss, breath control is the immediate remedy and produces the opposite effect.

In Eastern literature breathing is the single most important aspect of health regimens.

Some rather more esoteric Eastern literature has linked shallow chest breathing with premature aging and baldness since breath drives ‘chee’ through the bodies ‘energy channels’ without which energy stagnation and insufficient blood circulation occurs.

This, it explains, can lead to the contraction of the hair follicles, restricting new hair and preventing thick and strong hair from growing.

Almost everyone nowadays takes breathing for granted and thereby fails to recognise its profound therapeutic effects and ability to rid the body of bioelectric imbalance.

Practicing breathing techniques each day is known to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which flips on the ‘rest and digest’ side of the body and turns off the ‘fight or flight’ side.