Telogenetic alopecia

Hair loss is a very common phenomenon in life. Nowadays, many young people suffer from hair loss. Hair loss not only affects people's image, but also affects people's physical health. There are many types of hair loss. Telogen effluvium is a very common type of hair loss. Generally, most of the telogen effluvium is normal, and a small part is abnormal hair loss. What exactly is telogen effluvium?

There are many causes of telogen effluvium, the main ones are: endocrine changes such as hypothyroidism, postpartum or after stopping contraceptive pills. Nutritional factors include low or insufficient intake of calories, protein, essential fatty acids, zinc, biotin, and iron. Drugs such as antidepressants, angiotensin-converting agents, antimitotics (dose-dependent), beta-blockers, lithium, oral contraceptives, retinoic acid, valproic acid, etc. Physical stress conditions such as anemia, high fever, allergic contact dermatitis caused by hair dyeing, secondary vitamin A hypervitaminosis in kidney dialysis patients, surgical operations and mental stress.

The clinical manifestations are diffuse hair loss, but rarely involving more than 50% of the hair. Patients find that hair loss increases when combing or washing their hair. Most of the time, the hair becomes temporarily sparse, and occasionally body hair may be involved. Some patients experience hair pain, or depression, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and anxiety. Telogen effluvium is most common after childbirth. During pregnancy, the hair may stagnate in the growth phase for a long time instead of entering the resting phase as normal. During delivery, these hair follicles enter the resting phase at the same time, and the hair falls off after 3 to 5 months.

Histopathology: The number of hair follicles in the resting phase increases, and the hair becomes club-shaped. The hair in telogen effluvium falls out from the root. Each fallen hair has a depigmented bulb-like structure but no root sheath. If a 4mm diameter punch biopsy is performed, 20 to 25 hairs can be seen in a normal cross-section. If more than 12% to 15% of the terminal hair follicles are in the resting phase, it indicates that the hair follicles have clearly shifted from the growth phase to the resting phase.

The amount of telogen effluvium can be estimated by traction testing or by having the patient collect and count the number of hairs lost daily; a telogen hair count of > 25% is the diagnostic criterion.

There is no specific treatment for telogen effluvium; the key is to find the cause and eliminate it. In most cases, hair loss stops on its own within 6 months to 1 year, and hair can grow again. A balanced diet should be encouraged, with more black foods and nuts, and appropriate psychological counseling. A combination of Chinese and Western medicine with Chinese medicine as the main component can also be used for treatment.

What is Telogen Effluvium?

Telogen effluvium is the excessive shedding of normal telogen clubbed hairs caused by a variety of stressors. This type of hair loss most often occurs 3 to 5 months after many growing hairs are prematurely converted to resting hairs. Generally speaking, a telogen hair count of >25% among the shed hair is a diagnostic indicator of telogen effluvium, and >20% is a possible abnormality.

Its performance is:

(1) Sudden and severe hair loss.

(2) Hair loss is evenly distributed throughout the scalp and is not concentrated in a specific area, while typical male pattern baldness is mainly concentrated on the top of the head and forehead.

(3) The hair that falls out is generally healthy and normal hair. The difference between male pattern baldness and male pattern baldness is that much of the hair that falls out in male pattern baldness is thinner than normal hair. Much of the hair that falls out in male pattern baldness is unhealthy.

Telogen effluvium is a process in which a large amount of hair enters the resting phase prematurely and falls out in a concentrated manner, usually because the body is suddenly traumatized by the outside world.

It may also be a sudden trauma from the outside world:

There are many causes of telogen effluvium, the main ones are: endocrine changes such as hypothyroidism, postpartum or after stopping contraceptive pills. Nutritional factors include low or insufficient intake of calories, protein, essential fatty acids, zinc, biotin, and iron. Drugs such as antidepressants, angiotensin-converting agents, antimitotics (dose-dependent), beta-blockers, lithium, oral contraceptives, retinoic acid, valproic acid, etc. Physical stress conditions such as anemia, high fever, allergic contact dermatitis caused by hair dyeing, secondary vitamin A hypervitaminosis in kidney dialysis patients, surgical operations and mental stress.

To put it simply, it means that the body suddenly suffers a major trauma, and the body's stress response causes a large number of hair in the growing period to enter the resting period prematurely. The hair entering the resting period will fall out in batches after two or three months, making you feel the crazy shedding of hair.