I have worked with many disorders such as trichotillomania, alopecia, hair replacements, wigs, and other hair loss issues. I understand the need for privacy in a studio salon. I also utilize ph balanced and sulfate free color and hair and skin care line stimulating the scalp to enable hair re-growth and avoid metallic dyes.

Hair Physiology 101

A single hair follicle grows its hair strand over a period of four to six years (the anagen phase). It then rests for two to four months (the telogen phase), after which it loses the “old” hair as a new hair shaft grows and pushes out its predecessor. When the new hair grows in, it does so at a rate of approximately half an inch per month. At any time, 10 percent of your hair is in the telogen phase and 90 percent is in the anagen phase.

What causes a change in this hair loss/ hair growth process?

If lots of hair begins to fall out throughout the scalp, it’s obviously due to a change in the normal hair cycle: either a short anagen phase or an increase in the number of follicles that enter the telogen phase. When the majority of hair follicles “go telogen” it’s called telogen effluvium or stress alopecia. A shock to the body’s system, which stresses the hair follicles, is often to blame for this change in cyclical hair events. Two to three months after the stressor hits, up to 70 percent of hairs can enter the telogen phase and commence a massive “fall out”. There are a number of shocks that are known to cause this. They include:

A sudden hormone change (usually a drop in hormone levels)

After the birth of a baby ( delivery of the placenta causes the levels of pregnancy hormones to plummet)

Discontinuing birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy

High fever

Acute trauma (surgery, physical injury or psychological trauma)

Severe dieting ( inadequate protein and iron intake)

Under active or overactive thyroid

Diseases such as diabetes and lupus

Chemotherapy

Medications: These include retinoids, blood pressure medication, anti-depressants, certain birth control pills and even NSAID’s (including Ibuprofen)

Burns or radiation therapy

High Levels of Stress

*Note with stress alopecia, the loss over the scalp is general, not patchy and hair loss on other parts of the body can also occur. You and your doctor may be able to ascertain if your hair loss falls in the category of stress alopecia by simply running your fingers through your hair and seeing if the many hairs that are shed have clubbed shafts.

Trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder)

For better or worse, hair is often associated with beauty and vitality. That's why trichotillomania can be so emotionally painful for those who struggle to overcome the condition.Trichotillomania is a type of mental illness in which people have an irresistible urge to pull out their hair, whether it's from their scalp, their eyebrows or other areas of their body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves them with patchy bald spots on their head, which they may go to great lengths to disguise.

Trichotillomania (trik-o-til-o-MAY-ne-uh) is sometimes called hair-pulling disorder, trich or pulling. Although trichotillomania may seem like an obsession or compulsion, it's actually classified as a type of impulse control disorder — a disorder in which you can't resist a temptation or drive to perform an act that's harmful to you or someone else. Behavior therapy can help you gain awareness about your hair-pulling habits and learn techniques to avoid pulling.

Signs and symptoms of trichotillomania include:

Patchy bald areas on the scalp or other areas of the body

Sparse or missing eyelashes or eyebrows

Chewing or eating pulled out hair

Playing with pulled-out hair

Rubbing pulled-out hair across the lips or face