condition that causes an increased number of hairs to enter the telogen, or resting phase of the hair cycle. It may be triggered by such causes as emotional trauma, major illness, major surgery, or other medically related conditions.

The second most common form of hair loss (androgenetic alopecia is the first). A condition that causes an increased number of hairs to enter the telogen, or resting phase. The additional shedding usually occurs in response to various stresses such as emotional trauma, post-pregnancy and illness, major surgery, certain medications. Telogen effluvium can be delayed (occurring a few months after the stressful incident) or chronic (unresolved).

Telogen effluvium is an abnormal loss of hair due to alteration of the normal hair cycle. Normally, most of the hairs are in the growth stage and only one hundred hairs per day fall from the scalp. When telogen effluvium occurs, a greater proportion of the hairs enter the resting phase of the cycle and hair shedding is greater than normal.