How Much Hair Are You Shedding? Please Show Meee!!!!

[Sianna]

My regular disclaimer: I'm new to the forum, did a search, did not see this topic. If it is a repeat, please forgive and point me in the right direction! You know the drill.

Soooo... lately I have notice much more shedding than I did the first couple of months after my BC. My hair is pretty thick and does not seem to be thinning as far as I can tell, but the amount of shedding is starting to worry me. And I do know, with the exception of a few breaks, that they are in fact shed hairs! I saw the bulbs on the ends!

As soon as I can, (probably tomorrow) I will comb my hair, collect all the shedies, and take a pic for you all to see. Now because my hair is so short, it will probably not look like a lot of hair. However, I do comb my hair at least every three days or so, sometimes more. Plus, since my hair is so short, there will be lots of individual strands that make up what I am guessing will be a small ball of hair.

Please show me your shed hair too so that I can attempt to gage whether or not the amount of shedding I am experiencing is normal. I may need to change something in my routine to fix this before it becomes a bigger problem! Also, please include how often you comb your hair as this of course will affect the amount of shedding during each session with the comb.

I look forward to your responses, and most of all, your pics!!!

 

[JuiceMobsta]

*Off to go get shed hair out the trash*

Sianna banna, maybe its cause you dont comb everyday, I'm gonna go comb my hair and it has been several days since I last combed it. I'll post the pic whenever I'm done.

 

[Mzz Mac]

OMG...I wish I would have read this post before I threw mine in the trash a couple of hours ago!
It was terrible (probably cuz I put Begin Black rinse in my hair last Sunday)

 

[Sianna]

*Off to go get shed hair out the trash*

Sianna banna, maybe its cause you dont comb everyday, I'm gonna go comb my hair and it has been several days since I last combed it. I'll post the pic whenever I'm done.

Thanks Chelz!!

I would have suspected this myself, but the first couple of months after I BC'd, I combed even less than I do now and did not lose as much hair as I have been in these recent few weeks.

OMG...I wish I would have read this post before I threw mine in the trash a couple of hours ago!
It was terrible (probably cuz I put Begin Black rinse in my hair last Sunday)

Thanks for responding! And no worries! I was thinking I would have to wait a little while because I know that many of us do not comb our hair every single day.

 

[JuiceMobsta]

Yeah i dont know how much this will help since I'm transitioning, but here it goes...you can barely see the hair,sorry! I tried to hold it up to the light... Lol, not much at all

 

[Sianna]

Yeah i dont know how much this will help since I'm transitioning, but here it goes...you can barely see the hair,sorry! I tried to hold it up to the light... Lol, not much at all

Thanx Chelz!! And no, that's not a lot of hair at all! As far as I can tell anyway. How long had it been since you combed your hair?

 

[JuiceMobsta]

Thanx Chelz!! And no, that's not a lot of hair at all! As far as I can tell anyway. How long had it been since you combed your hair?

It had been like...:scratchch, five or six days...

 

[JJamiah]

Maybe it could be also because your hair is getting longer. I am so frantic sometimes I see hair. I could the strands and it is like 5 hairs just long and balled up LOL!

 

[MrsHdrLe]

I noticed that my shedding was probably normal for me. Some people shed more or less depending on their genetics, diet, growth cycle as well as length. Like JJ, I thought I was shedding too much, but it hasn't increased or decreased much over the past year and as my hair gets longer, it LOOKS like a whole buch 'o hair, when it's actually about 15-20/day that I actually see, it seems like I lose less when straightened. The general concensus is many, if not most, people shed 50-100 strands a day (though some claim to never lose strands) and most of those strands we don't see, but when you're curly, the strands don't just fall out, they get caught up with the rest of yor hair and so you actually see the hairs. I'm sure the ladies will chime in with more advice/help, but if you're really worried, start with garlic (poo, powder, or pills). I hope this helps.

 

[topnotch1010]

^^^ I think that's a good point. You should determine what's normal for you and only then will you know what's too much.

I shed less than 10 when I comb in the mornings, but maybe 30-40 within a full day. I comb daily.

 

[Sianna]

Okay you guys, I'm almost embarrassed to show this but here goes!

Looking at it collected all together in a little ball like that, it doesn't seem like a lot of hair at all! When I combed my hair the other day, it seemed like a LOT more, and it probably was considering that I had not combed my hair in about three days.

Ah well, I am still interested in seeing other's shed hair! I'll keep an eye on mine and see if it seems to increase to a more worrying amount. Also, I am still interested if anyone has suggestions for excess shedding.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

 

[makeupgirl]

Well I can't show you the hair because it's in the trash and i'm at work. lol.

I had a lot of shredding after my BC and I noticed that when I co-wash everyday or every other day and comb to detangle my hair with the conditioner on my hair, I have less to no shredding.

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

This is how much I shed after a week of no combing. This doesn't include the hair that comes out during my wash because I detangle before I wash. It's pretty much been the same all my life.....I'm bsl btw

 

[LoveCraze]

I've begun a somewhat strange practice of keep little ziploc baggies of my shed hair. On it I mark the date of wash as well as how many days it has been since the last wash. When I get home I'll take a picture of the two baggies so you can see the difference (I just started doing this type of documenting). It's amazing how much less hair I had shed between a 12 day period of no manipulation. I applied a mild protein treatment which I believed helped with the less hairs I collected. So I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[mstk]

Okay ladies, I shed more than you do. I'm pretty sure that these are mostly shed rather than broken hairs, but it's probably a mix. Right now I comb once a week, under running water in the shower after conditioning. For the last few weeks, I've been saving the hair I lose in the shower - I have a drain catcher, so this is everything.

Both hairballs

May 15

May 22

A single hair for comparison

Close-up of the root

The difference between the 15th and 22nd is that I washed my hair in two loose braids on the 15th. That really seems to have made a difference. Also, I started texlaxing at home last summer, prior to that I had been relaxing at a salon. You can see the difference in the two textures. When I stretched the single hair shown, it was between 10-11 inches.

 

[Sianna]

Mstk, your post was extremely helpful and nicely detailed!

Though I seem to be shedding more hair now than I was a couple of months ago, I am not certain whether or not it is anything to be concerned about or if I am simply a heavy shedder. I am still getting to know my hair in its most natural, and hopefully its healthiest state, so I really still have a lot to learn.

Again thank you all for chiming in!

 

[LoveCraze]

Ok this is my shed hair on May 18th. There may be some broken hairs as well. Hair is in a ball. There was more that went down my drain too.


The second pic is May 30th shed hair which is not in a ball and is considerably less than before. So in my case some of my hair issue was lack of protein (breakage) and seemed to be helped after my protein treatment.

 

[AimWard]

WoW. I am, amazed at how little some of you guys shed. If I didn't know any better, I would start to worry comparing my sheds to some of yours. Anywho, my hair is a pinch past shoulder length unstretched and I think mid back when stretched (I haven't straightened in over a year so I'm not sure). I detangle/deshed every 7 days or so on wash day. I don't comb or run my fingers through until wash day. I just fluff and go the entire week. My hair is a master at trapping and holding onto sheds (my straight haired Asian homies are in awww that I can go a week w/o combing and not leave of trail of hair in the wind). Yesterday was wash day so here's my 7 day old shed ball. Looks like a small animal, but this is totally normal for me.

P.s. I use a drain catcher so this is every single hair I lost in the shower as well as what came out when I physically detangled.

 

[Sianna]

AimWard, well first of all thanks for responding!

And second, I don't think that's a lot of hair at all considering your length and the fact that it is a week's worth of shed hair! If you combed your hair again the next day, you'd probably be able to count the number of hairs you shed.

I think I overreacted to my own shed hairs because of the fact that my hair is slooooowly getting longer. Clearly, it is longer now than it was two months ago, and so the shed hairs are simply much more noticeable. I have been keeping an eye on it though, and thankfully the shedding does not seem to have increased.