Female hair loss: Telogen effluvium. What is it?
02 Feb 2010, by FEMALE HAIR LOSS inFemale hair loss. We all know what alopecia is. But what is telogen effluvium? No explanation is normally given, and no treatment is suggested. Is there a treatment and do I need treatment?
Hair growth has three different stages. Hair in its growth stage is called the anagen phase. This lasts between 2 and 6 years. A women with a long anagen phase have the longest hair. 90% to 95 % of hair is in this stage at any one time.
The catagen phase is a very short stage. It is the stage between anagen and telogen.
The telogen phase is a resting phase, when the hair growth stops. 5% to 10% of hair is in this stage at any given time. In the telogen phase, the hair follicle shrinks away from the hair, and hair falls out, this is a natural process. About 120 hairs a day are lost. This is normal hair loss. The telogen phase lasts 2 to 3 months at a time, and then the lost hair is replaced by new baby hair, called vellus hair.
A telogen effluvium is an abnormal number of hairs that have prematurely entered the telogen phase and fallen out. It lasts 6 or fewer months. Stressful event precedes this phenomenon, and the stress can be either mental or physical. Surgery,a yoyo diet and the birth of a child are examples of physical stresses that usher in a telogen effluvium.
The prognosis of a telogen effluvium is good. The hair grows back with treatment.
Check with a Westminster Trichologist to see if treatment is needed inyour particular case.
Do you have Hair Loss Problems, read our Hair Loss Help
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