Holiday Stress May Cause Unhealthy Hair or Hair Loss

The holidays are upon us! ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and also the season to overindulge in food and drinks, overschedule ourselves, don’t get enough sleep, and generally become more stressed out. Gaining weight is just one aspect of Holiday stress and overindulgence. One lesser-known side effect is excessive hair shedding and accelerated hair loss.

Why do we create New Year’s resolutions that involve dieting and exercise? We all need to shed our Holiday weight gain and reverse the unhealthy habits we picked up in December.

Rapidly losing or gaining weight, stress and sleep deprivation all lead to physiological changes in body chemistry that can have a negative effect on your hair. Holiday stress makes your body secrete cortisol, a hormone that causes you to crave carbohydrates, and fatty foods. Stress also puts you into “panic mode.”

Related: Alopecia Areata: Facts You Need to Know & Understand

In response to stress-associated chemical imbalances, our bodies redirect energy from unnecessary life functions like hair growth in order to offset the damage stress does to your mind and organs. Stress can affect judgment and increase the threat of heart attacks or a stroke. Because living trumps luscious hair, being stressed out causes hair follicles to become more likely to enter the resting phase. It has been proven that this stress induced hair loss may manifest a full three to four months after the Holidays are over. It’s an unwelcome gift that can keep on giving!

In contrast to weight gain, which can be fixed by working out, there’s not an awful lot you could do about holiday hair loss besides look ahead to natural hair regrowth. That takes time: Hair grows about 1/2 an inch in a month. Prevention is a better technique! Revel in the holiday season but heed these suggestions to limit your stress levels. Limiting your stress can prevent your body from neglecting your hair follicles.

Make sure you allow yourself some downtime. Schedule time to partake in calming activities. Reading, walking, and napping are simple ways reduce daily stress.

Do not be a perfectionist during the Holidays. Be sure to focus on time spent with loved ones, not whether or not everyone has matching place settings. And don’t be afraid to say no to Holiday events that will stretch you too thin. Be good to yourself during the Holidays and you’ll find them to be less stressful and more enjoyable.

Holiday stress can be a cause of hair loss but most of the time more serious causes are the root of the problem. If you’re suffering from thinning hair or hair loss, it’s important to take the first step and reach out to a hair loss center. At Transitions member hair loss centers, professionals are available to help you determine which hair loss treatment will provide the best results for you. Whether you live in Long Island, New York or San Francisco, California, or virtually anywhere in between, we encourage you to contact a hair restoration solutions provider near you to schedule a private consultation where you can get all your questions answered fully and completely.