Environmental & Pollution Hair Loss

From climate to pollution to medical illness, there are a multitude of environmental triggers that can cause environmental hair loss.

Air Pollution

The negative effects of air pollution are universally known but what about air pollution and hair loss? Does pollution and hair loss? Startling evidence reveals that indoor pollution can be just as toxic to our health. And what part of our body lives at the frontline of air particles, pollution, and dust? Our skin and hair. Our hair follicles react to pollutants in the same way they do in cases of Androgenetic Alopecia (Female Pattern Hair Loss) and Alopecia Areata (Sudden Hair Loss). Hair loss from pollution can cause hair to fall out in patches and can lead to irreversible cellular and follicular damage. Cigarette smoke is another contributor to pollution related hair loss that can dry or damage hair follicles.

Extreme Dieting

Diets that emphasize severe calorie restriction, linear nutrition, or sudden and drastic changes to food intake can send the body into shock. One of the ways the body responds is by going into self-preservation mode. Instead of feeding the minimal supply of nutrients to the nutrient-dependent hair follicles, the body cuts funding and allocates nutrients to life-giving functions. In other words, the body encounters an environmental trigger to the sudden and abrupt deprivation of nutrients.

Medical Illness

Cancer and autoimmune diseases are the most common diseases associated with environmental hair loss. Hair loss can occur as a symptom of an autoimmune disease like lupus, or as a side effect of the treatment, such as chemotherapy for cancer.

Your dermatologist or general practitioner will conduct a comprehensive review of your medical history, recent changes in health or routine, and a physical exam. To isolate the cause of sudden hair loss due to environmental shock may require a Trichoscopy (scalp biopsy analysis).

The findings will lead to one of the following diagnoses:

Anagen Effluvium

When your body experiences a traumatic and sudden environmental shock, it’s shaken on a cellular level. Hair cells within the follicle need to divide to grow, and this happens during the Anagen (growth) phase. When something foreign invades the body, such as chemotherapy or radiation, cells stop dividing, and as a result, hair sheds and falls out in large quantities. Anagen Effluvium, also known as Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia, is a common side effect of cancer treatment.

Alopecia Universalis

Diets that emphasize severe calorie restriction, linear nutrition, or suddeA rare hair loss disorder that affects only one in 4,000 people and results in total and complete body and scalp hair loss. Alopecia Universalis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks cells, mistaking them for foreign invaders. Environmental triggers like stress and medical illness can activate complete and total hair loss across the scalp, face, and body.n and drastic changes to food intake can send the body into shock. One of the ways the body responds is by going into self-preservation mode. Instead of feeding the minimal supply of nutrients to the nutrient-dependent hair follicles, the body cuts funding and allocates nutrients to life-giving functions. In other words, the body encounters an environmental trigger to the sudden and abrupt deprivation of nutrients.

Sensitive Scalp Syndrome

Ongoing exposure to air pollutants (both inside and outside) can lead to Sensitive Scalp Syndrome. Airborne particles, smoke, and gases lead to scalp dryness, redness, and irritation. While exposure doesn’t guarantee a physiological reaction, it’s most common to people who encounter excessive dust, wind, smog, chemical fumes, or have recently relocated to a drastically different climate or geographical region. Patients with Sensitive Scalp Syndrome experience uncomfortable symptoms like itching, irritation, dandruff, diffuse thinning, and excessive shedding across the scalp.

Some forms of hair loss from environmental shock may take longer to treat, such as chemotherapy-induced hair loss. In the interim, Daniel Alain offers have effective cosmetic solutions to boost confidence, rebuild hair health, and empower you to fall in love with your hair again.