Naturals Who Shed..

[AstroQueen77]

How have you managed shedding hair? My hair sheds whenever I wash, condition, comb, breathe...The only thing is that it is thick, so no one notices...but my growth stays at shoulder length. Im doing everything else right, but this is the only thing stopping me from retaining length. Anyone have any tips on how to manage the shedding?

 

[AstroQueen77]

Another thing is that it is so kinky..it sticks to itself and forms knots too easily..definitely making it hard to comb, detangle without me snipping it off.

 

[longhairdreaming]

Are you sure it's shedding and not breaking 'cause of the knots? If it is shedding you could try some black tea rinses or take MSM(lengthens the hair growth cycle) to combat the shedding.

 

[Ltown]

Black tea rinses stopped my shedding and when i had shedding due to allergic reation to indigo last year, alter ego garlc didn't work for me. Black tea rinses! There is a coffee/tea rinses thread that is helping alot check it out.

 

[LuvlyRain3]

I am a heavy shedder but it's never affected my retention. I have noticed less shedding since I started taking my multivitamin again. Also be careful how you detangle. If you are patient and gentle with your hair you'll lose less of it. For the knots I would trying oil rinsing or prepooing.

 

[faithVA]

I doubt that shedding his the cause of your retention issues. It must be something else.

I am a heavy shedder. I shed at every stage of my wash regimen process. I have just started with the tea rinses but haven't been doing them long enough to say they work. They didn't work the few times I have done them but I was told I would have to do it over a period of time to see results.

As far as your tangled ends, share your wash day regimen.
Are you washing and conditioning in sections?
When do you remove shed hairs?
Do you prepoo? DC?
What products are you using to wash? condition? moisturize and seal?

 

[Kn0ttyByNatur3]

I agree with the other two ladies....I am a heavy shedder...never had an issue with retaining my length.



Hmmm....

 

[kandake]

I shed a lot too. I can't say that it's affected my retention though.

 

[Ronnieaj]

Another thing is that it is so kinky..it sticks to itself and forms knots too easily..definitely making it hard to comb, detangle without me snipping it off.

I think this here is your problem, not the shedding. If you're having problems detangling without cutting your ends, THAT is without a doubt affecting your length retention. When and how are you detangling, and how are you keeping your ends stretched?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I'm a heavy shedder but I feel that comes with the territory oftentimes when you have hair as thick as I do. Shedding doesn't impact my retention because it's just the dead hair falling away as it should.

From what I read in the OP I'd say what's impacting your retention are the knots and tangles. Do you wash in braided sections and keep your hair stretched?

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[SkySurfer]

One thing i must say is shedding is not the same as breakage!
Everyone has shedding, it's natural, but it's breakage that is the length killer!
Try henna followed by a moisturising conditioner to give strength to your strands and prevent breakage.
Review you diet also to see if you are getting enough nutrients to make your hair strands as robust as they can be.
Review how gentle you are with your hair, it makes all the difference!!

 

[southerncitygirl]

the average person shed 50-100 strands a day, some ppl will shed slightly more or less. your hair goes through growth and resting cycles...then these make way for new hairs to sprout on the top of our head. i only comb once a week on wash day so i know that its likely to be anywhere btw 350-700 strands that i comb out when i detangle....as long as i don't see tons of breakage i'm good.

 

[pookaloo83]

I finger comb nightly and plait my hair up for bed. I lose about a nickel size balled up. I start from the bottom first pulling apart slowly and pulling my shed hairs out. I remember a poster a few years back say treat your hair like silk. Like its delicate. So I take my time and pullout apart nice and slow with out ripping it. I mean, who wants to rip silk? Lol

I also wash my hair in four plaits. Two in front and two in back. I detangle with fingers before plaiting.

Sent from my iPhone 4s

 

[Ann0804]

I have very little, to almost no shedding, so when I started to shed a lot of hair I looked at and revised my hair regimen. I was using bask cacao bark, which has amla in it. This product really made my hair shed soooo much. So I am just thinking you can check out your hair regimen to see if you noticed this heavy shedding when you began using a new product. Also, have you tried using products that have a lot of good oils in them? Since using more natural products I have noticed a difference in the way my hair responds.

 

[Nonie]

How have you managed shedding hair? My hair sheds whenever I wash, condition, comb, breathe...The only thing is that it is thick, so no one notices...but my growth stays at shoulder length. Im doing everything else right, but this is the only thing stopping me from retaining length. Anyone have any tips on how to manage the shedding?

@AstroQueen77 the day your hair stops shedding, is the day you know your hair is not growing. Shedding is part of the hair's growth cycle. Each hair grows for a few years, stops growing, then it's shed and a new hair takes its place. All your hair are at different stages of growth. 10% of them are resting waiting to be shed. 90% are growing.

Your hair staying at the same length is not because you shed. That's due to breakage. So you just have to look at your regimen and find out what it is you are doing that is affecting your retention to that you keep losing length.

When my hair stayed at SL, it was because of split ends leading to breakage. I've explained how that happens ad nauseum in many discussions about split ends and how they affect length but in case you missed them, here's one post.

The only time shedding should be of concern is when it's excessive and leaving you with thin hair...and if accompanied by a sore or itchy scalp.

ETA: What is considered normal shedding is losing 50-100 hairs a day. So I'd only panic if I were losing way more than that.

 

[greenandchic]

I am a heavy shedder and the one thing I finally made an effort to do is to find out why.

My shedding is due to my low ferritin (iron) levels which is below <40 which is low enough to cause hair loss. Despite how good my diet is (lots of green veggies, blue/green algae, etc) my body wasn't absorbing it. Unfortunately no doctor until I saw a dermatologist a couple weeks ago bother to check my ferritin levels despite some related symptoms I've been having for years.

I think its important to treat it from the outside via black tea and other herb rinses, etc, but finding out why is key for me.

 

[starfish79]

I shed A LOT and it hasn't affected my length. My hair is just a lot thinner than I'd like it to be. To avoid your hair clumping so much and tangling, use a technique to stretch it while it dries. I do a really loose braid.

 

[MissLawyerLady]

I am a heavy shedder and the one thing I finally made an effort to do is to find out why.

My shedding is due to my low ferritin (iron) levels which is below <40 which is low enough to cause hair loss. Despite how good my diet is (lots of green veggies, blue/green algae, etc) my body wasn't absorbing it. Unfortunately no doctor until I saw a dermatologist a couple weeks ago bother to check my ferritin levels despite some related symptoms I've been having for years.

I think its important to treat it from the outside via black tea and other herb rinses, etc, but finding out why is key for me.

I'm a shedder especially now that I'm transitioning! And I have a ferritin level of 6! I've got to get my iron levels up!

Sent from my iPad 2 using LHCF

 

[greenandchic]

I'm a shedder especially now that I'm transitioning! And I have a ferritin level of 6! I've got to get my iron levels up!

Sent from my iPad 2 using LHCF

Oh my! Check out my "iron" thread.

 

[AstroQueen77]

yeah, I think it is because of breakage. My hair is difficult to manage because it is soooo coarse. I wash my hair in sections...but I definitely have a hard time getting a comb to slide through it. It has become sooo much of a problem that I have resorted to finger combing. I'll try the black tea rinses. Any particular brand? Maybe I need to get that magic star comb....