Why am I shedding?

[Almendra]

In the past two weeks I notice a huge increase of shedding. I'm not very sure what could be causing this. Could anyone help me?

I CO wash my hair. I know some people experience shedding with this method. In my case, I've been COing long enough to know that this don't cause me shedding. Anyway, maybe someone who know more than me could tell me something different. If the information it's required, I CO wash since last October.

I'm trying to stretch my washes and now I'm washing every 5-6 days. I suspect that this could be a reason, because my hair is really greasy, even when it experiment a big adjust.

Also, I'm trying to lose weight, but it's very recent (two weeks exactly) and my diet it's more healthy than restrictive.

I'm not sure if I could call this seasonal shedding because it's summer where I live. As far as I know, the seasonal shedding appears in fall. It's that true? Could be seasonal shedding anyway?

I'm very worried for this, because I'm losing three times the amount of hair I loss usually. For now, I'm trying to wash my hair every 4 days to avoid the sebum accumulation.

What do you think?

[Scarlet_Heart]

This sounds similar to what was happening to me about a year and a half ago. When you look at your shed hairs, can you see the follicle? Is it huge or does it have gunk on it?

Because I was getting what turned out to be (what I call) follicle clog related shedding. I was doing CO for probably around a year. And I was also hennaing. I hennaed with coconut oil in my mix too. The coconut oil and the conditioner were really gunking up my follicles and the henna exacerbated the situation. And when your follicle gets gunked up with something slippery like conditioner or coconut oil, it eventually just slips out. So even though you've been COing for a while, it can take months to build up to the point where it's going to start falling out. I mean, some people never have a problem with CO, but you might. :shrug:

I would try this. It's really helped me. Shampoo with something super scrubby, that will pretty much strip the oil off your scalp. I like head n shoulders. That stuff will clean everything away. Or I hear good things about garlic shampoo (http://www.amazon.com/Nutrine-Garlic-Shampoo-oz-Unscented/dp/B000EGIF02/) (doesn't smell like garlic) for slowing down excess shedding. I think I'm going to get some when I run out of head n shoulders. So yes, scrub the heck out of your scalp (and the length while you're at it, just start everything off fresh). Then after your wash, with your hair damp, comb your oil of choice through the length only. Do not get oil near your scalp.

Continue this for a while and see if it doesn't help. I think it's worth a try, honestly. I've learned that there are some things my hair just won't tolerate and conditioner is one of them. No conditioner and no oil or vinegar of any kind on my scalp. Ever.

[lapushka]

Also, I'm trying to lose weight, but it's very recent (two weeks exactly) and my diet it's more healthy than restrictive.

I'm thinking 9 out of 10 your diet is the main culprit here. This is the most recent change, right before you started to shed.

[LScott317]

I think it's because you are going too long between washes. If your scalp tends to get greasy (which mine does) it can do exactly what scarlet heart said and clog the follicles…I had those large yellow telogen bumps before at the end of my shed hairs because I was letting my hair get too greasy in between washes. Also, since most of our normal shed hairs come out when we wash, it could be that the build up of hairs that you would normally lose on an average day aren't all falling until you wash, so they all come out at the same time. Check to see how many hairs you lose on non-wash days - if it's only a few, then it would make sense that on your wash day there would seemingly be a lot! Average your total loss over a week, and it will probably be the same as what you were losing before switching your routine.