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In order to stop Telogen Effluvium, it’s wise to know more about it, so that you can effectively manage it’s triggers. This post will explain the basics of what Telogen Effluvium is as well as how the process itself occurs. They say that knowledge is power, right? So, arming yourself with information about Telogen Effluvium will give you the ability to end it and take back control of your self confidence.

So, what is Telogen Effluvium exactly? Aside from being difficult to pronounce, it is also often mistaken for some sort of scientific terminology that pertains to something or other. Honestly, most people have never even heard of Telogen Effluvium, let alone know what it means. Therefore, to better understand Telogen Effluvium, let’s take a closer look at your hair follicle’s growth cycle, as this is the aspect of your biology that is greatly affected by Telogen Effluvium.

Firstly, it’s important to know that the hair growth cycle has 3 phases:

 Anagen- This is the GROWTH phase. During this phase your hair will look healthy and full, as well as nourished, given that it is growing at a rate of around half an inch per month. Under normal circumstances,this phase lasts anywhere between 2 to 8 years and roughly 85% to 90% of your scalps 100,000 hair follicles will be in the Anagen phase at any one time.

 Catagen- This is the TRANSITIONAL phase. This phase only lasts for around 2 to 4 weeks under normal circumstances, though it is an extremely important step in new hair growth. During this time your hair will actually shrink in size and it will disconnect from the blood supply. At this point a new hair follicle will begin to grown from under your scalp. Approximately 5% of hair follicles are in the Catagen phase at any one time.

 Telogen- This is the RESTING phase. Now new hair growth happens at this point, as the follicles are simply waiting to emerge from the scalp. During this phase your hair follicle is at its weakest and it can easily be pulled out of your scalp. This phase will typically last for about 3 months and will end when your existing hair follicle falls out and makes way for a new one.

Now that we’ve gone over the various hair growth phases, let’s discuss how Telogen Effluvium effects its sufferers rate of new hair growth and can lead to shedding. Firstly, the etymological side of the picture reveals that Effluvium basically means “outflow”. Thus, Telogen Effluvium indicates that there is an outflow of hair that is in the Telogen phase. Think of it as your locks getting so tired from the stresses that they suddenly have to deal that they simply choose to die and fall out. A number of stresses can bring this about, such as a severe shock to the body or extreme trauma (i.e. a car wreck, break up, or death of a loved one). Essentially, any type of shock to the body can bring on an onset of TE.

The main problem with Telogen Effluvium is that it is still a poorly defined condition. Very little research has been done on the subject, hence all of the confusion that surrounds it. For example, take our customer Albert’s particular case. He had to go to seven dermatologists before anyone could diagnose him correctly, and that’s because he brought it up and practically self diagnosed himself! It might seem unbelievable that, even in this day and age, when medical breakthroughs are happening every day, that doctors are still quite uneducated about something as simple as hair growth health conditions…but it’s true. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them still share the outdated belief that diet, stress, and compromised body systems are unrelated to the etiology of hair loss (Telogen Effluvium). In essence though, Telogen Effluvium happens when there is a change in the number of hair follicles growing hair.

In a normal scalp that isn’t affected by Telogen Effluvium, there are approximately 100,000 hair follicles in your scalp and 10 % of those follicles are in the TELOGEN Phase, while 1% of those hairs are in the last days of its phase. Therefore, it is perfectly normal to shed between 50 to 100 hairs a day. However, in cases that involve Telogen Effluvium, a significant percentage of your hair follicles in the ANAGEN phase suddenly switch to the TELOGEN phase. This situation might involve more than 50% of the growing hair follicles!

After 3 months, when the TELOGEN hairs reach the end of their phase, you will suddenly notice a large portion of your hair falling out without warning. TE can be a rather traumatic occurrence, mainly because the person afflicted will find themselves losing handfuls of hair all at once. The reason that triggers can be so hard to identify is because the shedding of hair is delayed between two to six months after the originating stressful event. Thus, it seems as if the onset of TE comes out of nowhere.

With that said there are some proactive actions you can take to put a stop to the shedding and to accelerate the hair regrowth process. For more information on how to recover read Nature Crazy’s Top 5 Tips For Reversing Telogen Effluvium Hair Loss