2024-10-25 04:51:00
Chestnut time, hair falls out. Just a popular saying or a legend? In reality, there is a kernel of truth. But chestnuts and roasted chestnuts have very little to do with all this. Rather the key is in a mysterious word for non-experts: telogen. Mario Valenti, dermatologist and researcher at the Irccs Istituto Clinico Humanitas, explains what it is: “The hair has a cycle – he describes to Adnkronos Salute – which in the autumn season normally reaches the so-called telogen phase, that is, the phase in which growth ends and there is a quiescence before falling. It normally happens after the summer season” . This is why Autumn enters the dock.
This process, continues the expert, “would also seem to be somewhat linked to the progressive reduction of the hours of light, from summer to the autumn season. By increasing the hours of darkness, melatonin increases proportionately and this regulates not only the cycle sleep-wake, but also the hair cycle. So in part “autumn hair loss” is something physiological, and normally lasts 4-6 weeks, at most 8. If it were to be excessive, both in terms of time and of the number of hairs falling out, then it is necessary to investigate whether there are intervening causes”. The hair, says Valenti, “starts to fall out a little more at the end of the summer season, around mid-late September and this phase generally lasts for the entire month of October, at least until the beginning of November”. Then it also depends “on the individual, on how much he or she has been exposed to the sun’s rays, because immediately summer helps hair grow, but then afterwards the sun, like sea water, are all irritating factors that can impact on the quality of the hair”.
The incidence of this phenomenon? “I don’t think there are any studies, because the condition is a bit unknown – he observes – But I believe that over the course of a lifetime around 30% of people may experience it as an episode”, perhaps a particularly intense season of autumn hair loss to be noticed . Generally “it resolves itself naturally. In some cases, if there is a more stressful event, or even a pathological picture of deficiency of some macronutrient is triggered, it can last longer. But it rarely becomes chronic”.
How do you understand when this drop is excessive? “There are empirical tests – explains Valenti – One is the ‘wash test'”, in simple words “counting the hair lost after a shower. And then there are tests that are carried out during a trichological-dermatological examination, such as the ‘pull test’, in which the doctor gently pulls the hair and if there is more than 5-6 hairs falling out, it is usually defined as ‘telogen effluvium’. A tool that helps make a diagnosis is the trichoscope , which allows you to see the health of the hair follicle, the size and how much the hair differs from each other in terms of thickness during the dermatological examination. It serves to exclude other pathologies.” Then there are “integrative therapies. Blood tests can be prescribed, when an excessive fall is found, to check that there are no deficiencies, especially in women. We are talking about iron, ferritin, zinc, vitamin B12, alterations in the blood count in then eventually these deficiencies are integrated. And there are also a series of non-aggressive products specific for washing.
What can help in case of autumn hair loss? “A varied diet, certainly – replies the dermatologist – It is important to eat a bit of everything, if there are iron deficiencies or to supplement them, because the hair needs all these macronutrients to grow healthy and robust and not fall out easily “. Any other advice? “Do not put too much stress on the hat: avoid drying with too hot air, the use of a straightener – this is also a highly debated topic – avoid too frequent washing, perhaps with products that can be aggressive. It is better to prefer a delicate shampoo. If you also combine Scalp irritation, as often happens after the summer, can be treated with specific products for sensitive scalp conditions and then reduce stress in general, as much as possible.”
Differences between the sexes in autumn hair loss? “First of all, it is necessary to evaluate whether there is a family history, because this matters. The woman tends to be more affected, but probably also because she pays more attention to it and notices it. Hair loss, in general, is different in the two sexes: in women it is a little more widespread, in men it is mainly noticed in the frontal rhyme (classic receding hairline) and possibly at the vertex. The length of the hair – Valenti points out – has no significant impact and even the choice to cut it does not have an impact. The hair growth cycle is a little longer in women than in men. And in the post-pregnancy period, almost half of new mothers can experience accentuated hair loss, because there is an alteration in the production of hormones which instead during pregnancy they favor growth. “It also happens to women in menopause – concludes the dermatologist – because they have a reduction in the hormone estrogen and therefore, a bit like men, they have a reduction in the hair growth cycle”.
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