Reversing Stress Hair Loss in Men and Women

Hi Doc, Happy Thanksgiving! I have read recently in some of your blogs that stress is one of the major causes of male pattern baldness (MPB). However, I have also been lead to understand that stress would normally induce a diffuse form of hair loss all over the head; and is reversible once the stressful period has subsided. So does this mean that an individual’s MPB can stop naturally in the same manner, if its primary cause is in fact due to stress? Would taking medications like Propecia or Rogaine help? Thank you so much for this clarification!

When a balding man develops accelerated hair loss from stress, then that hair loss is usually not reversible on its own without some medical intervention. If the hair loss is recent and the man is young (generally under 30), then it may be stopped or reversed with Propecia (possibly Rogaine, although less likely). Reversals is a hit or miss thing, but if the hair loss has been less than 2 years, the reversal is more probable than not.

The diffuse pattern hair loss you referenced and its association with stress is more with women and this may reverse on its own when the stress subsides, often without the use of medications but helped with such medications such as minoxidil. The woman’s reaction to stress hair loss is quite variable and may reflect the cause of the hair loss, the age of the woman, the use of medications that have participated in the hair loss, the existence of a variety of diseases that are known to produce hair loss (e.g. Thyroid), and the existence of any long term female genetic hair loss that may be present.