Honeycomb,
I have been following the hair lady myself since October of 2002. /images/graemlins/smile.gif When I put my first set of braids in they looked great but I put in way too many braids (close to 400) /images/graemlins/blush.gif. When I took them out I had a lot of shedding also and I followed all the instructions just like you did /images/graemlins/confused.gif. They say hair sheds an average of 100 strands per day so, I took the shedding as being normal. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Since my hair had been braided for about 6 weeks, that is 42 days with an average of 100 strands shedding per day while braided. I would be losing at least 4200 strands /images/graemlins/shocked.gif(if I lost the average amount per day of 100 strands) at the end of 6 weeks. This means, when I take my braids out that shedding hair is going to come out with them. /images/graemlins/mad.gif When I combed my hair it appeared that I lost a lot of hair, which I did. /images/graemlins/censored.gif However, after I washed and deep conditioned, it looked great, full and healthy and had grown quite a bit. /images/graemlins/clap.gif
I was upset just like you to see so much hair in the comb, I was like but I followed all the instructions. /images/graemlins/confused.gif Then I thought about natural shedding and I felt better. /images/graemlins/grin.gif I simply continued to follow the hair lady’s instructions by deep conditioning and I wore protective styles for 2 months. /images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif I am in the process of transitioning (going completely natural) so to me it is not much of a deal but to see so much hair coming out can be disturbing. /images/graemlins/whyme.gif I recently put my second set of braids in but this time I only have 100 braids and I think this is going to be better for my hair when it comes time to remove them. /images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif I believe the lighter braids are going to cut down on the shedding for me. You do have to be a strong person while wearing braids because a lot of people panic and get discourage after they wear braids when they lose all that hair.
Hang in there and it will get better. In summary, I think anytime you wear braids you will naturally lose a lot of hair after taking them out because the hair is still naturally shedding while braided. This is the case for me anyway.
If the shedding bothers you, my advice would be not to leave the braids in longer then 1 to 2 weeks, this way, you won’t lose so much hair all at once. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
