Remember when your dad used to say that your teenage years made him want to pull his hair out? Well, turns out he might not have needed to do it manually. That’s right: stress and hair loss can be related.

If you were a fairly mild teenager who only sent your dad into the occasional lecture on responsibility, you’re off the hook—stress and hair loss are only linked when the stress is severe. Paradi Mirmirani, MD, a dermatologist with the Permanente Medical Group in Vallejo, Calif., says the stressful event must be “something that causes you to lose sleep or changes your appetite and raises the level of stress hormones.”

We’re talking about a physiological stress, not emotional stress. According to Amy McMichael, MD, professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., related factors could be a strict low-calorie diet, a fall in estrogen levels after childbirth (obviously not the case with your dad), or severe illness. Mirmirani says that hair shedding can also result from certain medications, thyroid disease, and nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D or excess vitamin A.

If your dad’s hair loss truly is a result of stress (rather than that male pattern baldness your girlfriend desperately hopes you didn’t inherit), his hair will grow back once the stressor is addressed or eliminated.

In the normal life cycle of hair, about 10% of hairs are in a resting stage, which lasts for three to four months before the hair falls out and is replaced by a new one. “Typically, people shed about 100 hairs a day,” says Carolyn Jacob, MD, founder and medical director of Chicago Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology. “Most people don’t even notice.”

There are two types of high-stress related hair loss that could have interrupted your dad’s typical hair life cycle and bumped up that 100 hairs a day:

1. Alopecia areata. This can be caused by other factors, but stress is a possibility. If your dad’s scalp started suffering from alopecia areata around the time you got your first (visible) tattoo, it is likely his white blood cells began taking the tattoo induced stress out on his follicles by stopping their growth. Alopecia areata affects a small, defined area that is round or oval, leaving a smooth area without hair.

2. Telogen effluvium. If your dad suffers from Telogen Effluvium, a disproportionate number of his hairs are in the resting phase. A few months after you got your motorcycle (or brought home the boyfriend with the motorcycle), his hair probably fell out suddenly. This is actually fairly common, and the hair will likely begin to grow back within six to nine months of the stress going away (selling the bike).

When trying to identify the stressful culprit, the trick is to look at events three to nine months prior to the hair loss. If your dad still has teenagers in the house, you might offer to take him out to the golf course more often now to help him blow off some steam. You’ll help his hair and his quality of life. In the meantime, buy him some sunscreen or a good hat.

Our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, we recommend you work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you. Toji: Pure Density is designed to support healthy hair growth, and comes with a 3-bottle guarantee. Yes – this means you can try it for 3 months, and if you don’t grow faster, thicker, longer hair we will gladly provide you a complete, 100% money back, refund . For more info, check out our site:www.tojilife.com.

The idea that wearing a hat causes hair loss is nothing new. In fact, it’s more of an old wives’ tale that has seen a reemergence since more people are seriously concerned nowadays about hair loss. Many, if not most people believe headwear is an actual cause of hair loss, but are they right?

Well, as is the case in most old wives’ tales, it sounds good, but isn’t true. The average use of just about any type of headwear shouldn’t cause any type of permanent hair loss. In fact, even if you wore your favorite hat 24 hours a day, you could still sport a thick mane underneath.

Why? Well, I’m certainly glad you asked. You see, follicles aren’t overly worried about what you do to the outside of your head; they just want to grow hair, and that they do. As long as you keep blood flowing to your scalp, and avoid too much head trauma, your hair will be just fine. However, there are a few things to be careful of.

Many people feel the need to adjust their hat every few seconds, on top of taking it on and off. Doing this can put stress on your hair and follicles, and as you know, putting stress on things certainly doesn’t make them work any better.

Another indirect way wearing a hat can contribute to hair loss is a buildup of oil and a waxy substance known as sebum. The problem with these substances is that they like to get into follicles and plug them up, resulting in hair loss. A good way to avoid this is simply washing your hair and scalp more often (and well) to cleanse your head of the buildup of these substances. Also, remember that these substances are excreted more in warm conditions, so staying cool helps reduce the chance of either of these substance plugging follicles.

While wearing a hat, many of us with longer hair prefer to somehow put our hair back or up, sometimes too tightly. This can be a problem as pulling hair tightly is one of the leading causes for a receding hairline. Usually, this is only seen with hairstyles such as extremely tight buns, but can be seen less intensely in several people who enjoy putting their hair up or back with a hat.

Under average circumstances, wearing a hat will not cause any hair loss, and if it does cause hair loss it’s usually only temporary and can be remedied. However, remember these tips. Avoid putting too much stress on hair, whether it’s from twisting, pulling, or pushing your hair. Wash hair often to avoid the buildup of substances that may plug follicles. Any permanent hair loss is usually caused by hereditary conditions, so all you baseball players, welders, and construction workers should consult your grandfather’s genes before worrying about your hat as a cause of hair loss.

Our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, we recommend you work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you. Toji: Pure Density is designed to support healthy hair growth, and comes with a 3-bottle guarantee. Yes – this means you can try it for 3 months, and if you don’t grow faster, thicker, longer hair we will gladly provide you a complete, 100% money back, refund . For more info, check out our site:www.tojilife.com.