Telogen Effluvium

Telogen effluvium is a type of hair loss that can be caused by a disturbance in the hair cycle’s normal growth pattern. Typically, some type of traumatic biological event causes this to occur. Child birth, surgery, puberty, extreme shock or even a chronic illness are just a few of the many possible scenarios that can kick start telogen effluvium.

When your body has a trauma which causes this hair loss, your hair follicles enter a stage of rest, often called telogen. Typically, it takes about three months before the “old” hair is finally pushed out by new growth. However, it would temporarily look like you were losing hair. The loss of shorter hairs after telogen effluvium is fairly common and temporary for the most part. And if you look at pictures of telogen effluvium, they may show diffuse shedding.

The relationship between telogen effluvium and hypothyroidism is fairly common. In fact, telogen effluvium and thyroid disease as well as others like diabetes and lupus can contribute to hair loss. Luckily, after you lose hair, it starts to grow back almost immediately. Telogen effluvium and new hair growth can take several months.

Diagnosis is pretty easy in cases of telogen effluvium. Cub-shaped hairs are what you would see if you examined the fallen hair under a microscope. This shape is often a tell-tale sign of this type of hair loss. The bad news is that there is no real treatment for telogen effluvium. Hair growth usually spontaneously starts back up once the trauma or shock to the body is resolved.

Even though there are no official telogen effluvium remedies, some people may try minoxidil topical applications or some other hair loss treatment to accelerate hair growth. Do these really contribute to telogen effluvium recovery? The answer is probably not. However, from a psychological standpoint it does as it represents your efforts on trying to “cure” your hair loss.

If you are losing hair, you will want to contact your doctor to confirm whether you have telogen effluvium or not. Because it is fairly easy to determine, you could be able to find out almost immediately. However, if you have not had a recent trauma like child birth or surgery, you should probably have a complete physical with blood work to rule out other health factors that could have triggered the telogen effluvium. While it is a temporary condition, it is best to find the underlying cause so that it doesn’t happen again.