In the News – Hair Loss from Earthquakes?

Snippet from the article:

Sarah van Dijk was putting her curly hair up for a night out when she first noticed a bald spot by her left ear. The 32-year-old had just moved to Christchurch and, four weeks earlier, experienced major earthquakes for the first time – the December 2011 magnitude 5.8 and 6.0 aftershocks.

Inspecting the rest of her scalp, she found about half a dozen bald patches developing. “I had no idea what was going on. I was hoping it was something like ringworm because I’m an early childhood teacher.”

However, the next day a doctor told her she had alopecia areata. Van Dijk, now 33, is among a growing number of Cantabrians suffering from the stress-related hair loss condition, which may be attributable to the quakes.

Read the rest — Hair loss linked to Chch quakes

The earthquakes and aftershocks in New Zealand’s 2nd largest city were obviously quite stressful to the residents. This is an interesting article, but earthquakes themselves do not cause alopecia areata. The stress associated with the earthquakes surely can bring upon alopecia areata in those that carry the genes. For others, stress can bring about a temporary loss called telogen effluvium.