Male Pattern Baldness and Telogen Effluvium Hair Regrowth Help'

Name: Re

Question: I have a question regarding stress-induced hair loss. I have Male Pattern Baldness and two months after an emotionally stressful event, noticed intense shedding. The shedding lasted for about 2-3 months and now my hair loss is stable but I notice a diffuse thinning all over my scalp. I am using minoxidil hair loss treatment and want to know if the shed hair that I lost from what I presume is Telogen Effluvium, grow back?

Answer: Hi, Re. It does sound like you experienced acute Telogen Effluvium (TE) which is a temporary condition often associated with physical or emotional stress.

It causes a disturbance to the hair growth cycle which leads to many hairs that were in the anagen (actively growing) stage being prematurely pushed into their telogen (resting) phase.

This results in those hairs shedding from all over the scalp, which can seem intense due to up to around one third of the scalp hairs being affected at once. However, normal hair regrowth tends to resume shortly after in the majority of cases.

In most people hair regrowth is seen within 3-6 months after signs of hair loss from Telogen Effluvium become obvious, whether they are using hair loss treatment or not.

It is a very good sign that your hair loss has stopped now and it is completely normal for it to feel like you have lost hair density, from all over the scalp, for a short period after a bout of TE. New hair growth should start to come in soon so you should look out for signs of short hairs all over your scalp.

Those with stubborn hairloss are sometimes offered a dedicated Telogen Effluvium treatment course featuring appropriate formulations of high strength minoxidil. Although this topical medication is MHRA-licensed and FDA-approved for the treatment of genetic hairloss in men and women, it is known to have additional 'off-label' applications for other hair loss conditions, one of which is TE.

Given you are already using minoxidil to treat your Male Pattern Baldness, a permanent genetic problem which can be exacerbated by this temporary hair loss condition, additional treatment is not recommended.

As you do not appear to be a Belgravia client, we recommend checking in with your treatment provider but, for now, advise that you continue using your medication as usual to ensure you keep stimulating your hair growth.

Also, another reason it is wise to continue your normal regimen is because a break in treatment could result in your shedding from male hair loss resuming once again.

As Male Pattern Hair Loss is an on-going concern, treatment needs to be on-going too - at least until a cure is found! Stopping treatment can result in you losing any regrowth gains and your hair thinning continuing as it did before you started using minoxidil.

If you are considering additional hair growth support, you may find products such as the LaserBand useful for stimulating the follicles and nutritional supplements convenient for the maintenance of normal healthy hair. Belgravia offers its highly-targeted Hair Vitalics for Men one-a-day tablets to non-clients as well, and they can be purchased from either of our London hair loss clinics in person, or online from hairvitalics.com. These should not, however, replace a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

If you would like a second opinion or scalp assessment from a professional hair loss specialist, you may find a consultation helpful, either in-person or online. Alternatively, you may wish to simply see how you get on over the next three months, then reconsider should there be any significant hair loss increases, or a lack of regrowth after this period.