Is this Normal shedding??

RunDivaRun

Hi folks,

There are some genius' on this site and wanted to see what everyone thought.

I have 3C hair with a medium/fine texture/low porosity. I have been CG since April of this year and haven't flat ironed or color processed my hair in any way since then. It is rare that I have to use a blow dryer and even on those few occasions I use a diffuser on low heat. I sleep with a silk bonnet at night and don't use any sulfates silicones or parabens in my hair. I never brush my hair and use Suave naturals in the shower and use a big toothed comb while my hair is soaking wet so I can distribute the conditioner. I am very gentle on my hair, yet I shed a ton of hair. I am trying not to stress about it, but this has been going on for quite a while. I did once sit down and count each individual hair (will not do it again) and counted over 120 hairs. My hair doesn't appear to be thinning, but it doesn't grow either.

All of the hairs that come out are coming out by the root. I take a multivitamin, MSM, and Biotin daily. None of that has seemed to slow down or stop the shedding. I would like to grow out my hair, but it just seems impossible with this much hair loss. I've not cut my hair since I had my first deva cut the beginning of June and my hair looks like it hasn't grown a single bit. I measure some growth, but I think it just probably falls out.

Oh and I'm a very fit person. I run 4-8 miles a day and lift and do yoga, eat well, drink water...no weight changes.

Any ideas?

If I go to a doctor what should I ask about?

Thanks!

RunDivaRun

Or could I just have the world's shortest terminal length???

My hair just barely grazes my shoulders.

LilyWaves

Losing your hair sucks. I know first hand as I'm going through the same thing right now. Since the beginning of September my hair has been falling out in copious amounts...I'm losing over 500 hairs a day. It's really scary to run my hands through my hair and see so much come out. I've calculated that at this rate, I'll be bald within 6 months if it doesn't grow back.
I've done tons of research online and talked to a doctor. What I've learned is that most female hair loss can be attributed to Telogen Effluvium (here's a website that tells you all about it: Medscape: Medscape Access). It can be caused by numerous things: illness or other physiological stress, emotional stress, excesses or deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals, medications, hyper or hypoactive thyroid, and anemia, just to name a few. Telogen Effluvium (TE) often resolves spontaneously within 6 months, but some report it lasting years, in that case it is called Chronic Telogen Effluvium. I've read that any insult to your body or hair is a result of something that happened three months previously to when you first started noticing hair fall out. Did you start or stop taking a new medication (many report stopping birth control can cause hair fall out), change your diet, begin taking a new supplement, or have any chemical service performed on your hair? Also, it is important to remember that it is normal to lose anywhere from 50-100 or so hairs a day and that we often shed more in the fall than any other time of the year.
From what I've read there is no treatment for TE. You simply have to wait until it stops. I perform a weekly count to just to evaluate whether or not the hair loss is slowing down but it can make you crazy and stress can just exacerbate the problem. The best thing you can do is to go to a dermatologist and have some basic blood tests run and check your thyroid and iron levels. If you can remove whatever is the culprit or treat the deficiency, your hair will begin to recover, but it will take time...likely months.

mnktafrzna

I have been on the cg method since this august and i my hair falls out like crazy! It's scary, my mom said it was because of using only conditioner so i went out and bought this cg friendly shampoo by Nature's Gate Chamomile SHampoo, and i use that on my rooots only and then i just use a cg friendly conditioner (suave) on ends. I think i'ts helping, you guys should try it.

debbah

I started CG about a month ago, have been exclusively co-washing for 3 weeks, and I have definitely noticed lots of hair in the shower drain on wash days. It's not excessive, but it's more than I'm used to seeing. I attribute it to more of the fingertip scrubbing of my scalp loosening the hairs that are ready to come out anyway so I'm not worried about it.

I think the difference is I never really paid that much attention to scrubbing my scalp before co-washing, and now I am.

My hair is SO much healthier and happier on CG and with co-washing, and I have TONS of hair anyway. Plus don't forget it's normal to lose 100 hairs or so a day anyway, and I don't think losing the hair really has anything to do with the length.

Good luck!

RunDivaRun

Thank you ladies!

Lilywaves...went to my dermatologist and according to her I have Telogen Effluvium, just as you had mentioned. Also went to my regular doc and had blood tests done to make sure that everything else is in order. Im not anemic and it looks like my thyroid is fine too. Everything checks out. I have had other temporary conditions that are caused by stress, but I don't feel stressed. Well I've pretty much been ignoring the hair coming out because I'm obviously not going to go bald from this, but I just hope that I'm nearing the end of the TE.

Again thank you girls for your ideas and words!

coricourt

Also remember that 100 hairs a day gets multiplied by the amount of days between washes. Often with curly hair the loose hair stays in our hair until we wash it out/run our fingers through it. So if you co-wash every 3 days, you should lose approx 300 hairs in the shower - quite a bit!

RunDivaRun

Thanks coricourt!

I wash my hair everyday because second day hair is next to impossible for me. I had one day where I had second day hair and haven't had it since. I wash with Burts bees pomegranate soy once a week and that's free of sulfates, parabens, and silicones.

I feel like some days my shedding is worse than others so maybe is starting to taper off a bit. I'm not too worried about it now though, I was at the beginning, but now that I understand what's going on I'm just going to wait it out and just keep being kind to my hair.

coricourt

RDR: Wait a minute, you have low porosity? That means you are probably protein sensitive like me. The Burt's Bees pomegranate soy *conditioner* killed my hair! What's in the shampoo (you did mean you wash with the paraben&sulfate-free shampoo once a week and co-wash every day of the week, right?)?

I don't know that it could necessarily make your hair fall out, but it can't hurt to try another product for your hair type to see if you like that better. I honestly had to give away the rest of the bottle of Burt's after I realized (later than I would have liked) what it was doing to my hair. After using the conditioner, my hair was so tangled---mind you I have 3a which never tangles when it's wet---and it also felt like straw. If I'd known what I know now about my hair, I would have never purchased a volumizing conditioner (with soy protein). This conditioner is probably designed for fine textured locks that need protein.

I'm still investigating who the ACV rinses work for, because if it's fine for my hair type I might try doing that to see what happens with my curls.

Good luck! Let us know if anything improves!

RunDivaRun

I didn't even know they had a soy conditioner....huh. I wasn't very detailed about my routine, but no I don't use any kind of Burts bees conditioner. Just the sulfate free shampoo once a week. Every day for 6 days I co-wash with Suave Naturals Cherry Blossom.

And yes, like you, I have low porosity. My hair also does not do too well with much protein, but I was told I was ok using suave Naturals, plus my hair seems to like it. I used to be 3b, but since going CG my hair has coiled up to 3c status.

I know this is off topic, but my sister came to my house and wanted me to flat iron her hair (mind you, my sister already has straight hair). It was wonderful!! I was starting to get a little antsy : ) because I haven't flat ironed my own hair in such a long time and it got some of that out of my system!

DarkNCurly1

I think we are hair twins... Lol! Like you I have 3b/c hair, been CG since April, haven't flat ironed or color processed my hair in any way since then, I sleep with a silk bonnet at night and don't use any sulfates silicones or parabens in my hair, I never brush my hair and use Suave naturals in the shower and KCKT and I shed to death. (eerie huh? 😳😳) you can keep the running, though!! Lol. Don't really know what or how to check my porosity. My new grow is so pretty and looks to be thickening!! Now that I know there's really nothing I can do and that I'm not going bald, I'm good...

RunDivaRun wrote: »

Hi folks,

There are some genius' on this site and wanted to see what everyone thought.

I have 3C hair with a medium/fine texture/low porosity. I have been CG since April of this year and haven't flat ironed or color processed my hair in any way since then. It is rare that I have to use a blow dryer and even on those few occasions I use a diffuser on low heat. I sleep with a silk bonnet at night and don't use any sulfates silicones or parabens in my hair. I never brush my hair and use Suave naturals in the shower and use a big toothed comb while my hair is soaking wet so I can distribute the conditioner. I am very gentle on my hair, yet I shed a ton of hair. I am trying not to stress about it, but this has been going on for quite a while. I did once sit down and count each individual hair (will not do it again) and counted over 120 hairs. My hair doesn't appear to be thinning, but it doesn't grow either.

All of the hairs that come out are coming out by the root. I take a multivitamin, MSM, and Biotin daily. None of that has seemed to slow down or stop the shedding. I would like to grow out my hair, but it just seems impossible with this much hair loss. I've not cut my hair since I had my first deva cut the beginning of June and my hair looks like it hasn't grown a single bit. I measure some growth, but I think it just probably falls out.

Oh and I'm a very fit person. I run 4-8 miles a day and lift and do yoga, eat well, drink water...no weight changes.

Any ideas?

If I go to a doctor what should I ask about?

Thanks!

coricourt

RunDivaRun wrote: »

no I don't use any kind of Burts bees conditioner. Just the sulfate free shampoo once a week. Every day for 6 days I co-wash with Suave Naturals Cherry Blossom.

And yes, like you, I have low porosity. My hair also does not do too well with much protein, but I was told I was ok using suave Naturals, plus my hair seems to like it. I used to be 3b, but since going CG my hair has coiled up to 3c status.

RDR, I don't want to harp on it, but the Burt's shampoo does have soy protein fairly high up on the ingredients list (and lists amino acids lower on the list). I'm not sure if any of the other ingredients are proteins, though. You might want to try a different shampoo and see if that makes a difference in your hair. The reviews for this one are terrible, but it might be because the people using it had the wrong hair properties for that shampoo. It seems that volumizing shampoos work well for people with fine hair that likes protein, but I could be wrong.
Burt's Bees Volumizing Pomegranate and Soy review

It's also difficult to isolate ingredients (to see which ones our hair does or doesn't like) when there are so many in each product and we use several products every time we wash our hair! I'm still in the beginning stages of figuring out which ingredients my hair likes. And it's all about balance, so I'm trying to read my hair better to see what it wants when.

DarkN: here's some info on hair porosity. The test is to put a couple of strands of hair in water and if they sink after 2-5 minutes you have porous hair. If they don't sink, you have low porosity. Not sure where normal comes in...sinks after 20 minutes?? If your hair is chemically treated or colored, or you use heat, your hair might be highly porous or fairly porous. To fill in the holes from these processes, you'd need to do protein treatments (PTs), always followed by a deep conditioning treatment (DT). The protein and porosity forums have more info...

crimsonshedemon

coricourt wrote: »

DarkN: here's some info on hair porosity. The test is to put a couple of strands of hair in water and if they sink after 2-5 minutes you have porous hair. If they don't sink, you have low porosity. Not sure where normal comes in...sinks after 20 minutes?? If your hair is chemically treated or colored, or you use heat, your hair might be highly porous or fairly porous. To fill in the holes from these processes, you'd need to do protein treatments (PTs), always followed by a deep conditioning treatment (DT). The protein and porosity forums have more info...

From Live Curly Live Free

Since coarse hair carries an excessive protein structure, putting protein-based
products on hair that is already protein-heavy will increase the hair structure to the point the hair strand will become just like a broom straw: hard, difficult if not impossible to bend, and very dry. Products that are protein-based should be avoided in favor of those with plenty of emollients.

Live Curly Live Free - Curly Hair Basics
To determine your own hair's porosity, grasp a hair strand firmly between your fingers. Slide the thumb and index finger of your other hand from end to scalp (opposite direction as for texture test). If your fingers "catch" going up the strand, or feel like they are ruffling up the hair strand, your hair is overly porous. If it is smooth, you have normal porosity. If your fingers move very fast up the hair strand and it feels exceptionally slick, you have low porosity.

mbeckhhp

Im thinking your right, especially mixed w/ hard water. Using a cg friendly shampoo/watered down,conditioners on the ends, slowed the drop out rate for me too..How often do you shampoo? I notice my color lasts twice as long, if I only do it weekly, or biweekly.

pigletliver

Hi!

I hope I can offer some help!! I've had hair thinning and lots of shedding for almost 10 years now. After all these years of freaking out and thinking I was going bald (I'm definitely not bald, but my hair is thin and icky), I finally found something that seems to be helping. I went to my local health food store to buy Biotin, but the owner steered me to Biosil instead. I've used one bottle and have noticed a significant reduction in hair shedding, and the texture is so much better. Biosil is concentrated Orthosilicic Acid, which helps with bone strengthening, nail and hair growth. I've been taking the liquid kind - 10 drops into a small cup of OJ in the am and pm.

Here's what I've noticed so far (I've been taking it for a month):

1. Waaaaaay less shedding after a week or two. I used to wake up in the morning with a hamster's worth of hair on my pillow. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that much, but there really was a lot. Also, in the shower I don't feel like my hands are full of gobs or hair. Maybe one to five hairs - nothing major.

2. Waaaaaay better texture. The texture of my hair was so bad. It looked like a million pieces of hair had broken off near the crown. I was doing CG with Devachan products for about four years and didn't dry my hair, put it in ponytails or anything! There was no reason for it to be breaking off like that, but it did anyway. Now that seems to have stopped, and all the sticky-upy pieces are blending into my hair normally.

3. Less itchy head!

4. Some potential extra growth. It's too soon to really tell, but there *might* be extra growth.

Last week, I started taking Viviscal too. Viviscal is comprised of fish extracts, and is supposed to help with growth. I have no idea if it is doing anything yet.

I hope this helps!!!

RunDivaRun

Cori- thanks for the info! I am going to def. Try out a new CG friendly shampoo and see if there is a difference. And thanks for the article, very informative! I've never had much success with shampoos because they all make my hair feel dry and brittle.

Darkncurly- I think we may just be hair twins! Yeah!

Here's the crazy thing about my hair. The top part of the hair on my head grows only to a certain length, while the lower part grows longer because it's closer to my neck. So, if I don't cut my hair or shape it I get this mushroom cloud effect thing going on with my hair. Is anyone experiencing this??

Piglet-so, thank you for the info on Biosil. I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to pills, but I have tried taking a multivitamin with biotin for about 5 mint the and I can hinestky say insee no difference in my hair, skin, or nails. Have you tried Biotin as well? Were you getting results from the Biotin before starting Biosil?

Peacegirl

I kind of know how you feel ( i'm 15). I lose random little strands of hair like everyday. :director: It's quite annoying but everyone says it's normal. On the ends is where I mostly lose pieces of hair.

mamaherrera

Ive had high shedding like you 130-150 for weeks and these bad weeks come and go in between better times. But no dermatologist tells me what type of hair loss it is for me and that's so frustrating, they don't say if they think it's AA or TE or whatever. I wish I could find a really good dermatologist in Albuquerque. Just wondering if those of you who have had high shedding for years, ever noticed loss of volume/density or not??

RunDivaRun

Sorry I wanted to post awhile ago, but I've been training pretty hard for awhile now and the curly stuff just took a backseat.

So here's the update...

My hair stopped shedding as much, but still sheds more than I would consider average for me. I don't live a stressful lifestyle, quite the opposite, so I don't believe this is stress related per say...and this is just going by years in college when I was super stressed and barely had any shedding vs. now that I have a harmonious life and am experiencing more shedding than I had ever had in the past.

I used a different cg friendly shampoo 1x every 2 weeks and cowashed everyday. I didn't see any difference in that change.

I've used different products--no change.

Went back to Burts Bees shampoo 1x every 2 weeks to see the difference between that and a cg friendly shampoo and---nothing. No difference.

My gut instinct is that this could be just a hormonal change in my body--not enough to need medical intervention but slight enough to see some shedding.

Since I've been nowhere near going bald and my hair thickness hasn't changed dramatically, Im not going to sweat it---not that I have been because I've just been to busy or too occupied to put a ton of mental effort into it.

Now, before I go on, I first would like to thank all of the wonderful ladies who answered my questions and offered me their advice. I truly appreciate it and you.

I must say that through this experience I have developed a bit of a pet peeve though. I am of the school of thought that one should listen to their bodies and go with their gut when they feel like something is not right with them.

Saying that, it agitates me that on other posts I've seen or have asked questions on regarding the same issue that instead of validating someone's legitimate concern, people are quick to tell you that you're probably blowing it out of proportion and you're probably only losing 50-100 hairs.

Now don't get me wrong, I think giving out that information is fine as long as you are asking if that is the amount they're losing and not assuming it's the amount their losing.

In all of my years with hair, I'm sure I have shed a normal amount of hair my entire life and never truly noticed. But when I noticed clumps of hair falling from my scalp, which was a foreign occurrence for me, the last thing I wanted or needed to hear is that it is normal shedding.

Again I am not writing this to offend anyone, just sharing my thoughts throughout this journey.

Now that I know that this is not normal for me, have been to a doctor, taken blood tests, etc (fit as a fiddle)....and am still not bald...well it has become unimportant in my life. I have faith that at some point my hair/hormones will stabilize themselves and I'll see normal shedding, but until then I know it's not anything to spend anymore time dwelling on.

RunDivaRun

mbeckhhp wrote: »

Im thinking your right, especially mixed w/ hard water. Using a cg friendly shampoo/watered down,conditioners on the ends, slowed the drop out rate for me too..How often do you shampoo? I notice my color lasts twice as long, if I only do it weekly, or biweekly.

Although I can't say from experience, it sounds to me that you make a good observation about the color lasting twice as long. I haven't colored my hair in the 8 months that I have been CG, but that's not to say that I never will....so thanks I will keep that in mind.

RunDivaRun

jammers-Thank you for the article. I love to read and the information in it was very interesting.

Peacegirl-I can only imagine how frustrating it would be for you. My hair actually falls from the root, so I can see the little white bulb at the end of it. As far as it breaking off from the ends the only information that you may want to consider looking into is maybe styling methods or heat...if you don't use either and it really bothers you I would say talk to your hair guru or doctor and see if they can offer any advice.

mamaherrera- I know and it sucks. I live in AZ and my dermatologist is pretty good, but even then it's hard to pinpoint exactly why hair falls out even after your blood tests and hormone levels check out and you've had the same diet you've normally had. If you are ever in AZ and you'd like to see a different dermatologist, I don't have a problem giving you my doctor's info. Good luck to you and hopefully with time it'll just continuously get better for the both of us.

mamaherrera

I've tried alot of stuff too, but I keep shedding crazily. I think stress and counting hairs does make it worse. I just have to pray to God that I don't go bald and have faith in that. I know I have hormonal imbalances, the thing is that there aren't many doctors out there that honestly and sincerely know how to help correct these imbalances. My question is this, when counting I keep an average of like 106 per day. Now that norm of r50-100 per day does that mean, that some people normally lose 100 per day all the time, or does that mean a normal person should vary and not hit the high end on a continuous basis?? I'm not that above normal, but I stay consistently at that high end all the time. Who knows. I think even the docs that put that information out there don't know for sure.

RunDivaRun

Mamaherrera- Dang girl you are stressin! I tried counting the hairs that fell out 1x and I promised myself I would never do it again. It was waaaaaaay to stressful and waaay too time consuming. If you must count, then maybe limit yourself to how often you do it. Maybe once a week or 2x a month? I don't know, just a thought.

As I understand it if you lose anywhere from 50-100 hairs no matter when or how often you are a normal shedder. I would count 106 hairs as being pretty darn close to that range. I agree with you that doctors don't know that much more than you or I do about hair loss temporary or otherwise. When I was shedding a ton of hair, that first count was going waaaaay passed 100 so I just stopped. I also didn't see how me counting was going to change anything for me.

I have 2 boys, 2 and 4 and after having each one my hormones changed and I lost all that hair that didn't shed throughout my pregnancies. It was frightening...still no baldness. Everyone's bodies adjust and change at different paces so I just figure my body is adjusting too, just very very slowly.

Hope that helps...a bit. My best advice since you are soooo close to that so called "normal" range would be to not stress yourself out by counting anymore...give yourself a mental break from stressing out about your hair as best you can and see if that works.

crimsonshedemon

RunDivaRun- do you take any otc or prescription medication?
How's your diet? Do you consume enough protein? Iron levels? B vitamins? Testosterone level checked? Most docs do not check testosterone levels.. you have to request it. Many times a testosterone supplement will help. The best way to get testosterone is thru a compounded transdermal cream but this requires a doctor who understands and find a compounding pharmacy. Most doctors including ob-gyn's aren't that knowledgable in regards to hormones.

I've lost over half my hair. When it was heavily shedding, I found my hair everywhere- silverware drawer, dishwasher, in all our clothes, socks, etc, There wasn't 1 surface that I didn't find my hair on. Thankfully, it's regrown with the help of Rogaine and biotin. If I quit the Rogaine, it falls out again.
My hair stylist says that in the 30s, we can start having hormonal changes that cause our hair to change. For me, couple that with lupus and all the meds I take, and i'm lucky to have hair.

Just because your doctor didn't find a reason for your excessive shedding, doesn't mean there isn't a reason.
do you have any other health complaints? I suggest keeping a journal if you do. Note the weather, your sleep pattern, what you eat, what you do, the complaints, the time these complaints are, etc. Note everything. over a few months, you may be able to see a pattern.

mamaherrera

I know I need to quit stressing, and yes I"m going to quit counting. Maybe just calming down will let my hormones get back into sync. ANd eat right. I can't exercise right now because of knee tendonitis, but relax. Maybe tehr est will do me good!! good luck to us all and may God be with us always.

crimsonshedemon

mamaherrera wrote: »

I can't exercise right now because of knee tendonitis, but relax. Maybe tehr est will do me good!!

Have you considered Tai Chi or Qi Gong? Both are great for those with limitations.
Yoga also. It's not the same as running, playing tennis, etc but it works.

RunDivaRun

Crimsonshedemon-
Thank you so much for all that info. I'm a competitive runner/adventure racer and I'm pretty solid on the diet because of my sport. As far as iron levels--I've had that checked and my doc said I'm well within normal range. I do get enough b vitamins, but have never had my testosterone levels checked. My dermatologist did tell me that while I was going through the TE, that I could use rogain if I was really worried about it. I never did, but only because if it's only stress related then I don't want to add any more stress by adding another step in my hair routine as I have a busy day with training and my boys. But, who knows I'm not opposed to trying it. I don't take any over the counter meds and try to stay pretty organic in the foods and products I use. I do, however, take an acne medicine--super low dosage--because as stated before after having children my hormones got a bit wacky and I started getting pimples on my temples, just there, weird, anyways I have to wear my hair up for my races and I was already losing hair before I even started this med--so I'm not convinced that "it" particularly has anything to do with it.
I am going to take your advice and maybe start a journal if I remember:roll:...oh one thing though...I am not a good sleeper. I wake up about 2-3x a night to go to the restroom and my sleep never feels restful. I'm trying to work on naturally finding a way to help me achieve a better sleep because "that" could play into stress.
Good news though--I'm still not bald or close to it. In fact, even though I'm shedding, my hair just keeps growing. I've stopped worrying about it, but the science behind this whole event is very interesting to me! Thank you all for the great info! Keep the advice coming!!