My hair is finally back! But how do I keep it?

[JadeTigress]

When I joined LHC almost 2 years ago, I was going through a horrible bout of TE (atleast that's what the doctor told me it was; he didn't do any blood work, just looked at my scalp). My doctor (a dermatologist) didn't seem too concerned, said he'd seen way worse cases than mine, and told me to come back in whatever length of time if it hadn't gotten any better. Well, my hair had thinned noticeably to me, and my ponytail circumference was down to just over 2 inches from losing fistfuls of hair every day.

Fast forward to today, and I just measured my circumference again for the first time since then, and it's up to 3 1/4 inches. I measured a ton just to make sure. :D

But my hair is shedding again, not quite as bad as last time, but still enough to make me worried. I finally have my hair back, I don't want to lose it again! I shed the most while I'm washing my hair, and brushing with my tangle teezer is in second place. I started using a protein based sls-free shampoo (Organix Keratin something or other), and although I don't really like the way it makes my hair look, it's cut the shedding in the shower down by about half. Which makes me wonder if I'm actually shedding, or if it's breakage, or both. It's long hairs that come out, with no white bulb. I'm also starting to take a multivitamin, which I never did before, and I'm trying to better my diet. Is there anything else you guys would recommend, and is there a way to tell whether the hair loss is breakage instead of it just falling out of my head?

Thanks in advance! :D

[Naiadryade]

I started shedding a lot less when I started oiling my scalp with castor oil (mixed with some almond oil, a little jojoba, and some EO's) every 1-2 nights... but if you have something serious going on (I don't know what TE is), that might not help. I believe it helps me by a) moisturizing my dry scalp and b) killing any bacteria or fungus that may be hanging out where it's warm and sheltered.

My shed hairs very rarely have white bulbs, if ever. I assume that if a full-length hair comes out and I didn't hear a snap, it must be a shed hair... but I might be as in the dark as you about that one!

[GrowingGlory]

I've virtually stopped shedding since I started washing with California Baby Therapeutic Relief Skin Protectant Shampoo and Body Wash and combing with a wide-toothed (5 tines/inch) black buffalo horn comb from QueCraft's Etsy shop. HTH!

[JadeTigress]

I've been wanting a horn comb for ages, so maybe I can use this as an excuse to treat myself. And I have yet to really give castor oil a fair trial, so I'll throw that one on the list, too. :p Thanks for the suggestions!

Oh, and TE is telogen effluvium, sorry. I don't remember exactly what the doctor said, but it was something about the hair switching phases and falling out sooner than it was supposed to, triggered by stress. Something along those lines.

[irisheyes]

I stopped shedding alot when I stopped putting conditioner on my scalp hair. Now I only use it on my length from the ears down. I found out the hard way that conditioner causes major shedding for me. I don't know why it should, but I suspect conditioner helps the hair slip out of my scalp easily. Now my hair is thickening up again, one year after the big shed happened. Have you changed your routine recently? Have you changed products? I hope you can find an answer to your shedding problem. Good luck!

[Naiadryade]

Have you been more stressed lately? That can certainly do it.

[LaurelSpring]

I have been struggling with shedding all winter. I have a theory that it might be from hot showers. I switched back to washing my head in the sink with cooler water but I don't know if that is the culprit yet. Im just throwing it out there as a possibility. I have read another thread about hot water causing shed. I did find that castor oil helped with shedding. The particular case I used it for was in regard to a shed from taking medication. I take hair skin and nail vitamins. When I ran and didn't get more I had a bad shed. I think my body/hair got use to the level of biotin and maybe shed when it wasn't getting that. I went out and got more when I realized it could be that.