I Counted 65, Now I'm Depressed......

[Cowgirl]

I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

After reading so many post of ladies who have like 0 - 10 strands of hair in the comb, I started wondering about the amount of hair I'm losing.

During the entire process of poo, con, detangle, flat iron over the weekend, I know I lost about a golf ball size wad of hair. This morning, I decided to just do a count after I moisturized and combed hair into a ponytail. There were 65 strands or maybe a few more, cuz I'm sure I missed some. I looked at the ends and only saw three or four with the little white ball, which I take to be shedding. So I guess all the others were breakage.

I have been doing an aphogee protein treatment with deep condition every 8 weeks. The week before my relaxer. But it doesn't appear to be helping much.

Are there any other 4b relaxed out there that have reached bra strap or longer with this much hair coming out on a daily basis? I've got to tweak my routine or products or something because this just doesn't seem right. The first thing I'm going to do is order the bone combs. Secondly, I think I'm going to switch from Affirm no-lye, to Affirm lye (mild). When I make this switch, should I relax my whole head and not just the new growth? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Queenie]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

I know that garlic shampoo and garlic oil make your hair shed less.

 

[DahomeyAhosi]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Hi cowgirl,

I lose at least 50 strands each day to a combination of breakage and shedding. Sometimes up to 100. I really think the amount you lose depends on the thickness of your hair. However I get worried when I see more breakage than shedding because that means I need more moisture or strength (breakage is not natural, shedding is).

I definitely prefer lye to no-lye but I wouldn't re-touch the whole head unless your hair is very strong. Also try finger combing before you use a comb. Good luck!

 

[kisz4tj]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Does your hair look unhealthy to you or are you judging based solely on your count?

 

[Cowgirl]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Dahomey - thanks for the advice. I will try the finger combing to see if that helps smooth the path for the comb. I moisturize every morning & night but maybe I need to rethink my moisture concoction.

Kisz4tj - My hair does not look unthealthy to me. Although, I have seen other people's hair that does look healthier. It is also very hard for me to keep any type of bounce or movement to my hair. Is that a sign of dryness? I think I have "hard" hair

Let me describe. Even though my hair is a few inches past shoulder length, if I hold my head down, my hair will stick out in the back. It does not lay flat to the back as I think it should. If, that makes sense.

 

[Desert Skye]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

I was washing my hair this morning too and i combed through the conditioner with my shower comb and i noticed i was shedding lots of hair. I know its normal to loose hair but it just makes me cringe cuz its painful to look at >_<

 

[Mariaat40]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

[ QUOTE ]
cowgirl said:
During the entire process of poo, con, detangle, flat iron over the weekend, I know I lost about a golf ball size wad of hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you blowdrying your hair, as well? Do you flat iron every week? I'm wondering if the heat is contributing to the breakage, if it is indeed mostly breakage and not shedding.

 

[dreemssold]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Cowgirl, that made sense to me how you described your hair as not having enough movement. I think, though, that you can determine the amount of bounce your hair has. One thing that I know helps...when I was younger, my mother would always have me turn my head down and brush it all forward and then have me do that about 5-6 times each day. That helped. The other, is more obvious, just getting your hair set gives it added bounce. If you have aren't to heavy with heat, and your hair looks healthy, then I wouldn't worry about losing extra strands. I know I have times when I lose much more than usual, and once I pay it any attention, it seems like I am losing tons

.

 

[ThursdayGirl]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

I'm sorry to hear about your shedding cowgirl. I'm a 4a/b (a little 3c) and am getting that seasonal shedding. Everytime i touch my hair about 10 shed hairs come out

.

The no-bounce may also be due to the products you're using. I got a lot more bounce when I started using Keracare...especially their setting lotion. Whether or not I roll it or just airdry it straight I use the lotion as a kind of protectorant the added benefit - bounce especially when rollersetting.

I would also consider either a light protein reconstructor and adding more moisture. At one point my hair was breaking alot too... I did a reconstructor and then showered my hair with moisture for the next few weeks-Lots of deep conditioning with known moisturizing conditioners (i.e. let it sit in your hair for 30+ minutes without heat or 20-30 with heat. ) now my hair has stopped breaking and is doing well...except for the seasonal shedding.

P.S. just relax the new growth

 

[simplycee]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

I don't think the heavy proteins work well for me. I started using Aubrey Organics GPB and it halted my shedding in its tracks. It's a lightweight protein but it works like the strong ones. You can order it online from the Vitamin Shoppe. I have also used Motions Silk Protein and had good results.

I also invested a Jibere Shower comb and use that in the shower to detangle. HTH

 

[jd_bdfly]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

They say that on average people shed 50 to 100 hair per day, so this does not sound so alarming to me. Just be gentle with your hair and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Maybe deep conditioning with a moisturizing deep conditioner rather than protein treatments will help.

 

[Babygurl]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Hey Cowgirl, dont get depressed about your hair, many things can be done to change that situation. Im also a 4a/b and Ive had that DREADED "hair sticking out when you tilt your head thing" I discovered that my main problem was the products I was using, most of them contained petroleum which FOR ME was the culprit. I had to find what was making my hair hard and STOP using it. Now I dont have that problem, I keep my products to a minimum and my hair is always light and bouncy now. So I think you should look to your products( maybe certain ingredients) to determine what is causing your stiff hair. as for the shedding/breakage, if its definetely breakage I would say look to your products again, maybe too much protein, or not enough, maybe too much heat. I had to give up heat to get rid of my ends (and they sure were chewed up LOL)
Its trial and error. So dont worry just look to what you do now and try to tweak it and youll soon find the problem.

 

[Cowgirl]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Queenie - I think it's more breakage than shedding because the little white balls are not on the end. But I may try adding some garlic oil to my EVOO.

Glossy - I know how you feel. When I see that hair, it's like, dang, I'm never gonna reach my goals.

Maria - no,no blow drying. I just either air dry, or hood dry on cool. And then flat iron. And yes, I usually flat iron every week after I wash. I don't even flat iron until its super straight. Just usually until it's strait enough to go neatly into a ponytail. But maybe even that's too much heat?????

dreemsold - I'll try not to worry. But it get's discouraging.

Thursday, Simplee & JD - the aphogee doesn't seem to be doing the trick with me, so I may have to investigate something else, like Emergencee or something lighter. I'll go back and read the old threads on protein & moisture. I'll try another protein to see if that helps. If it doesn't, then maybe cutting out protein all together will be the answer.

 

[Tai]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Don't be depressed.
I never count the hair that comes out. I don't see much when I detangle but I'm sure if I counted it would be around the same amount on some days. What you described doesn't sound abnormal.
As long as you're using a wide tooth comb and being gentle, I wouldn't worry.

 

[abainaa]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Hey cowgirl, I definite;y feel your pain.
Breakage is the number one problem that is keeping me from my hair goals.
I agree with most of what everyone has sid before, especially about the products. When I had "hard" hair in the past it was because I was using heavy oils that weighed my hair down.
One thing that works for me is not combing my hair while it wet under any circumstances. I know some people need to detangle but for me detangling dry hair is a lot easier and with mush less loss. I wouldn't have any hair right now if I combed my hair while wet.
In all I think your balance of moisture and protien needs to be tweaked and you need to focus on more water based moisture as opposed to oil. HTH

 

[calbear]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Girl you and I are -----> here <-------. I am a 4a (roughly) and when I wash I lose enough hair to knit a small sweater and I always have. I realized that this is not new for me so I kept track for about a month of the hair I lost (see album). The further from perm I get the more hair I loose - no matter how gentle, how many different protein treatments, how wide tooth the comb, whether I detangle in the shower or not, no matter the detangling product, no matter if I do it in sections or not. That's just my hair - and I'm a bit past bra strap.

As a kid even the best hairdressers had a time detangling my hair and it's the same now. Some days it's better than others - but mostly it is bad. I try to do things during the week that will minimize my tangling like not doing the braidouts so much that I love but tangle my hair. Some wash days, one of the million things I'm trying to curb the issue is working some of the days nothing is and I'm losing a grip if hair.

Good luck sweetie.

 

[Cowgirl]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

Thanks again ladies for all your great advice. I think I will start cutting out things and start back at the basics.
1.) a good relaxer - affirm lye mild
2.) moisturizing poo - either therapee or NTM
3.) moisturizing con - either humectress or NTM
4.) leave in - either headress or NTM with a little EVOO

Everything else will be eliminated until I can judge these minamilist tactics.

 

[Mariaat40]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

[ QUOTE ]
cowgirl said:
Maria - no,no blow drying. I just either air dry, or hood dry on cool. And then flat iron. And yes, I usually flat iron every week after I wash. I don't even flat iron until its super straight. Just usually until it's strait enough to go neatly into a ponytail. But maybe even that's too much heat?????

[/ QUOTE ]

Cowgirl, if you're just flat ironing so that it's straight enough to go into a ponytail, have you ever tried drying your hair using the ponytail method? I find that, even now, when I'm nine weeks post relaxer it gets my hair pretty straight. Just an option if you're interested in cutting back on the heat.

 

[Leslie_C]

Re: I Counted 65, Now I\'m Depressed......

ITA w/ maria, I have gotten by without heat for months at a time, only air drying or roller setting. with some trial and error it looks just as straight as blow drying.

I Know flat ironing makes it look nice and sleek, but I save that for special occasions. Maybe try cutting that out to every 2 weeks? You can get the front of your hair to look sleek with a hair polish and/or pomade.