Seen At 11: Are You Stressing Your Hair Out?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – We've come to accept stress as part of our daily lives. But for women, and more and more young women, there's a new and devastating effect from stress—losing their hair.

"There's a lot of days that are just go go go, never-ending," Jenna Milazzo said.

Milazzo is only 25, but her relentless schedule has taken a noticeable toll on her.

"I've noticed that in the past six months, just some thinning of my hair up here, around the face a little bit. It's a little troublesome for me to say the least," she said.

As CBS 2's Kristine Johnson reported, Milazzo was so worried about her hair loss, she went to a doctor who specializes in hair restoration.

"I would say about 15 or 20 percent of mostly females complaining of hair loss are probably due to stress," Dr. Robert Dorin said.

"I just never had that much hair come out in the shower, in my brush," Milazzo said. "It was so out of the ordinary, I could tell something was wrong."

Dr. Dorin concluded that Milazzo is suffering the consequences of a busy lifestyle.

"What we're talking about is stress hair loss, stress causing hair loss," Dr. Dorin said.

In a seemingly vicious cycle for Milazzo and other women, the stress they experience because of losing their hair can sometimes make things even worse.

"A woman coming in with luscious, thick hair and now all of a sudden it has less volume or they see it thinning and to watch it fall before their eyes is quite anxiety-building," Dr. Dorin said.

But for the growing number of women suffering from the devastation of stress-related hair loss, there is hope. Reducing stress is a vital first step, along with improving your diet and getting more sleep. In addition, Rogaine has been effective and there are even FDA-approved laser treatments that can help stimulate dormant hair follicles.

"I think it will be OK as long as I get help and I stop before it gets too bad. I would be panicking if I waited too long and I saw a really thick part of actual bald spots," Milazzo said. "I don't see that yet but I definitely want to stop it before it gets too bad."

By making important lifestyle changes and effectively reducing stress, experts say you can expect hair to be fully restored to normal fullness in about a year.

You Might Also Be Interested In: