Hair loss or alopecia in medical term is a very common complaint in today’s population.

About 100 to 150 hairs a day on one’s comb, brush, in the sink or on the pillow is conserved normal. This is the result of the normal hair growth cycle. 

Telogen effluvium is a kind of hair loss which is characterised by the diffuse thinning of hair on the scalp. All hair should undergo 3 main phases. The growth phase, the resting phase and the shedding phase. In telogen effluvium the growth phase is shortened leading to frequent shedding phase, resulting in severe hair fall. Majority of the adult population has been noted to have fallen under this kind of hair loss at one point of their life.

A typical sign of telogen effluvium is well appreciated in women. A women claiming to have always had a ‘full head of hair’ and reporting her hair to come out suddenly ‘by the hand full’. Usually she is accurate the onset of hair fall. She is in good health. She admits her stressful past and not now, occasionally or not trichodynia [pain on hair roots].

  • Iron deficiency anaemia appears to be an important risk factor for development of Telogen effluvium in otherwise healthy female patient.
  • Major physiologic stress.
  • Abrupt hormonal changes.
  • Some medications.
  • Severe fever attacks.
  • Blood loss leading to blood transfusion.
  • Crash dieting and malnutrition,

Treatment:

  • The treatment goals are to achieve a change in the hair density and to provide an apt treatment without complications.
  • Any reversible cause of hair shedding, such as poor diet, iron deficiency, hypothyroidism, or medication use, should be corrected first which slowly subsides the severity. Any unbalanced diet should be corrected before treating the cause.
  • Patients should be reassured about the cause and modalities available to pacify the severity.
  • Patients should be educated and encouraged to style their hair in the way that masks the defects.
  • Some topical serums are available to treat this condition in an effective way.
  • A regular follow up with a proper medical care will slowly heal the cause.