How Drug Abuse is related to Hair Loss?

Recreational drugs are very common in this 21^st century. Knowing the fact that it harms your body you still want to get high. But do you know that apart from your physical health (which you think you can handle) they even affect your hair. Now how cool is that?

 

Drug addiction and chronic substance abuse not only affects your physical health but also affects your hair. Hair is an important part of our culture, both among men and women. In the process of ageing hair loss is an integral part which people try to avoid the hardest. Constant intake of alcohol and drug leads to a series of health issues including affecting the hair health and people taking drug fail to realise. Even if they do they still can’t get out of it as the stage they realise it’s already too late. The best hair transplant clinic in Kolkata will explain how drug abuse depletes the hair health.

 

How Drug addiction affects the hair?

There are various reasons why drug abuse affects hair health. Strange changes in physical appearance are quite noticeable in person going through regular drug or alcohol abuse. Also unhealthy hair is very prime symptom of drug abuse.

A very common side effect of drug abuse is anxiety. When a person is suffering from anxiety he/she starts to pull his/her skin or hair without even their knowledge. Constant pulling of hair damages the hair follicles and make them traumatized.The hair follicle is where the hair grows out of and anchors the hair to the scalp. If the follicles get damaged the person has a high chance of permanently losing hair on that spot. There are few drugs that acts as nervous hair pulling stimulant like:

Cocaine

Methamphetamine

Adderall (and other ADHD medications like Ritalin, Vyvanse, or Concerta)

Crack

People who are constantly into drug abuse, invests most of their time in taking drugs and doing nothing. Resulting to which they forget to take care of their basic hygiene like cleaning up or to take a bath. Washing hair and taking care of hair are in the lowest row of their priority list hence leading to hair damage and chronic hair loss.

 

Taking care of hair includes washing them, using shampoos, brushing them properly which cleanse the dead skin off the scalp and removing already fallen (or about to fall) hair strands. When none of these are done the dead skin starts to accumulate and leading to seborrheic dermatitis, in other words dandruff which causes itching in the scalp. Eventually the hair gets picked up one way or other and may lead to permanent hair loss.

Drug abuses, chemical changes and other causes of Hair loss

The drug abuse and hair loss is more complicated than just not washing your hair. People suffering from drug abuse goes through drastic psychological and hormonal changes which has various negative effects on the body.

Hair growth is a sensitive physiological process. When a person gets stressed the process gets disrupted and hence the hair growth doesn’t happen in the way they are supposed to. Drug abuse causes anxiety and anxiety results in taking drugs again to get a temporary relief and it becomes a loop. That’s how drug addiction works. Chronic drug abuse makes the body adapt to higher level of toxins which means they need higher doses and frequency of drug abuse to achieve the same effects.

Studies show that constant drug abuse at high level damages the keratin in the hair. Keratin is the protein that makes the hair strong and thick. When it gets damaged the hair becomes weak and brittle and ultimately falls off.

 

Drug abuses and stress induced hair loss:

Stress induced hair loss also known as Telogen Effluvium. It is very common in drug abusers as they go through mental and physical stress.  When the body is under stress, it puts all of its resources to the vital organs. Since hair is not that important, the body keeps it in a resting phase which means in that time span no new hair will grow and the other falls out prematurely.

People who abuse drugs might be overly stressed for a variety of reasons, ranging from emotional or mental struggles to problems within relationships or finances. As a result, stress is just another way that drug abuse causes hair loss.

People suffering from telogen effluvium doesn’t go through permanent hair loss. As soon as their mental state comes to normal the hair’s resting phase end and it again enters the regular hair cycle.

 

How to reduce the negative consequences?

You cannot just stop the negative consequences of drug abuse, to stop the negative consequence you have to stop drug abuse. The only way to ensure that addiction stops having negative effects on hair growth is to seek treatment for substance abuse. Even if you don’t think it will happen to you, drug abuse can cause hair loss. However, getting sober will reduce the physical strain being out on the body.

In addition to helping with physical changes, inpatient addiction treatment programs provide comprehensive therapy that includes stress management techniques. By learning new ways cope with anxiety, stress, and other emotions, you will not only learn to stay sober but to begin improving your hair health as well.