As the leaves begin to grow back and the sun shows itself for longer each day, the blooming plant life brings hay fever and irritation for much of the population. Seasonal allergies affect everyone differently. Most of us get common symptoms; sinus pressure and sneezes, but others have severe reactions. So the question is can seasonal allergies cause hair loss?
Seasonal allergies are not limited to respiratory symptoms; the skin can be irritated by pollen, dust, spores, and many other allergens. Because seasonal allergies cause “systemic inflammation” (throughout the entire body), other skin conditions or rashes can flare up at the start of spring. It isn’t uncommon for these skin conditions to affect the scalp. If you experience redness, itching, or flaking on your scalp this time of year, your hair may have trouble growing.
What Happens to Your Scalp?
If your scalp is having an allergic reaction to the spring weather, it is likely inflamed and irritated. If left untreated, the hair within each follicle can become stressed as it tries to grow. This inflammation can cause breakage or hair loss in extreme cases.
The most common skin conditions that can flare up and affect hair growth include eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, and dandruff, all of which can be exacerbated by severe humidity changes or fluctuating hormones.
How can I Prevent Hair Loss by Seasonal Allergies?
Over-the-counter treatments can help calm irritation, like dandruff shampoo. It should get rid of redness and itchiness. If this does not work for you, there may be an undiagnosed skin condition to blame.
If you believe your scalp is suffering this season, get examined by a dermatologist for the appropriate medication as soon as possible. Luckily, these examinations can easily be done online via telehealth, so there is no reason to wait.
What if That Doesn’t Work?
In much more severe cases of an allergic reaction to the spring weather, the body’s immune system may conserve energy to protect other organs by stopping the hair growth process temporarily. This can cause hair follicles to stop growing new hair and become weak, which leads to breakage.
Other temporary skin conditions, such as hives or a rash, can affect the scalp and cause hair in affected areas to fall out. Scratching the area will speed up the hair loss, but once the rash is gone, the hair should grow back shortly after.
Climate conditions can also impact your hair’s health throughout the year, but spring and autumn are usually the most problematic. Due to a rise in humidity, mold grows rapidly, and airborne spores are abundant. Household mold can be hard to detect but breathing in their spores can cause an allergic reaction. This reaction produces histamines in the body, which cause the blood vessels that nourish your scalp and hair not to function properly. Hair loss caused by mold will usually regrow after the mold issue is taken care of, but laser hair therapy has seen success in bringing those blood vessels back to health.
Seasonal allergies can undoubtedly impact hair health and growth, but the hair will usually grow back depending on other complications. If your hair doesn’t grow back after the use of anti-inflammatory medications or dandruff shampoo or continues into the next season, a professional should be consulted. A dermatologist can figure out if there is a simple solution or if something more severe is at play.
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