How COVID Anxiety and Pandemic Stress May Be Triggering Your Hair Loss – and How to Fix It

It’s been one year and six months since the world was afflicted with COVID-19 and thrown into chaos. While the situation is somewhat under control in the luckier parts of the world, many of us are still grappling with and stressing over the “new normal” way of living. Struggling to breathe through a face mask in the relentless Singapore heat, being suspicious of strangers, having an eye on the number of community cases each day, figuring out how to stay in touch with loved ones and how to have a healthy family life with everyone cooped up at home … it’s enough to make you tear your hair out. In fact, stress can lead to many harmful consequences, says Yvonne Png, PHS HAIRSCIENCE Head of Retail Training, “and one of them is hair loss and premature greying,” she adds.

 

 

Shock, sorrow and anxiety can cause hair to grey prematurely by affecting the stem cells that are responsible for regenerating hair pigment.

Similarly, significant stress can cause hair loss by suddenly pushing a large number of hair follicles into a resting phase, or trigger the urge to pull out hair (a condition called trichotillomania) in an attempt to cope with stress. Severe stress can even shock the immune system into attacking hair follicles, causing eventual hair loss.
The good news? Stress-related hair loss is not necessarily permanent. Learning to manage stress is key to keeping the hair loss under control, while a good scalp care regime and regular anti-hair loss treatments can help to slow and reduce hair loss, as well as encourage hair regrowth.

So if you’re noticing too much hair on your pillow, or worried about how much hair is clogging your shower drain, it’s time to reach out to the hair experts. Yvonne says: “Early diagnosis of any scalp disorder or hair loss can help identify the root cause and prevent it from worsening. There are treatments available to treat hair loss as well as prevent hair loss.”

 

A Holistic Approach to Controlling Hair Loss

A healthy scalp is integral for achieving healthy natural hair growth. It is the foundation for thick and luscious hair. PHS HAIRSCIENCE Head of Retail Training Yvonne Png tells us what to do when faced with stress-related hair loss.
For a start, my advice is to go for a scalp consultation and have a look at your scalp condition. You will be surprise to see all the build-up that sits on your scalp surface. If you are experiencing hair loss, there are treatments and products available to combat hair loss and promote hair growth. It is good to take a holistic approach to combat hair loss: Treatment + Home Care + Nutrition & Lifestyle.

 

Treatment: Salon Treatment (Regular, consistent treatments for fast, desired results)

There are many salon treatments that focus on scalp repair to restore scalp health to combat hair loss. There also hair loss treatments that work to strengthen hair follicles to control hair loss and promote hair growth. At PHS HAIRSCIENCE, we have MIRACLE STEM CELL SOLUTION, a science-based anti-hair loss treatment that uses patented cell signalling technology to “awaken” dormant follicle stem cells, trigger their regeneration and reactivate new hair growth.

 

Home Care: Conscientious everyday care at home to maintain healthy scalp & hair

Look for high-quality products that specially corrects hair loss, as well as products that further strengthen scalp and hair to fight environmental aggressors, to ensure optimum scalp health to support healthy hair growth. Try: FEM/HOM Fortify or FEM/HOM Thickening

Nutrition: Your hair is affected by what you eat

Nutrition plays just as important a role as a good hair care routine when it comes to hair growth. We need adequate nutrients to maintain our hair’s health and boost hair growth. We are what we eat. Hair needs energy and nutrients to grow. When you are lacking in nutrients, it affects hair growth. Deficiency in nutrients can lead to hair loss.

 

Lifestyle: Stress, diet, smoking, lack of sleep and exercise can speed up hair loss

A healthy lifestyle and good stress management will definitely help maintain healthy hair and delay greying hair and ageing scalp. Eating well, getting adequate sleep and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise in daily go a long way to help mitigate stress.