SicK - Telogen Effluvium

We read news everyday about disasters, diseases, diplomatics, illness, controversies, etc. However, the thought of all these happening to us seldom cross our minds. Not that i would've thought of... if this isn't true.

Telogen Effluvium. I'm diagnosed with this condition which is the name for temporary hair loss due to shedding after some shock to the body system.

In a normal healthy person's scalp, about 85% of the hair follicles are actively growing hair and 15% are resting. A hair follicle usually grows hair for 4 years then rests for 4 months. The old hair then falls out and a new hair begins to grow. When the hair rests, it changes into a club hair. When the new hair starts, it forms under the resting club hair and pushes it out.
Thus, it is normal to lose up to about 100 hairs a day on one's comb, brush, in the basin or on the pillow, as a result of the normal scalp hair cycle.
If there is some shock to the system, as many as 70% of the scalp hairs can be precipitated into a resting state, thus reversing the usual ratio.




The resting scalp hairs, now in the form of club hairs, remain firmly attached to the hair follicles at first. It is only about 2 months after the shock that the new hairs coming up through the scalp push out the "dead" club hairs and increased hair fall is noticed.

At first the fall of club hairs is profuse and a general thinning of the scalp hair may become evident but after several months a peak is reached and hair fall begins to lessen, gradually tapering back to normal over 6-9 months. As the hair fall tapers off the scalp thickens back up to normal, but recovery may be incomplete in some cases.

Because nail and hair growth are under the same influences, an arrest in hair growth is often mirrored in the nails by a groove across them coinciding with the time of the shock to the system. This is called a Beau's line. The time of the shock can be estimated from the fact that a finger nail takes 5 months to grow from the posterior nail fold to the free edge. So if the groove in the nail is half way down the nail then the shock must have been 2 1/2 months ago.

Beau's line on my thumb.

Among the common causes are high fevers, childbirth, severe infections, severe chronic illness, severe psychological stress, major surgery or illnesses, over or under active thyroid gland, crash diets with inadequate protein, and a variety of medications.

I had a very high fever of up to 39.2°C for 4 days during my Hall Production in March. Maybe this might be the cause of my condition now, or might it be due to psychological stress? Whatever the causes, it is still not gonna change the fact that I'm losing my hair! Juz like ppl who had undergone chemotherapy. Even though they will grow back after 6-9 months, I still can't image how I'd look like before my hair finally grows back, hopefully back to nothing less than normal. Meanwhile, a nice hat or head wear will do its job...