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View Full Version : Not shedding at all? Is something wrong?



daredevil14
November 22nd, 2015, 01:05 PM
Been a while since the last time I was here. Anyway, a re-introduction would surely be needed! :)

Male here, almost 26 years old with waist-length curly hair (when wet). I have a history of male pattern baldness with bald temples and thin sides/behind the ears/neckline, yet my curly hair elsewhere is thick and covers almost everything. I have been taking Finasteride (MPB FDA-approved drug for maintaining one's hair for a very long period) for 7 months and applying Minoxidil (a regrowth stimulant) on bald temples and thin areas for like 4 months now. Why am I mentioning this kind of info? Bear with me...

I used to shed just like any normal person would do, around 50-150 hair per day, I only comb my wet hair in the shower (once a week) and mostly using my hands, so that means I used to see between 400 and 700 shedded hair.

A month ago, I started to suspect that my thin sides/behind the ears/neckline became so due to my almost-daily ponytail (yeah, lucky me, waist-length curly-haired guy in the middle of the Arab world lol) so I started to tie it with one knot instead of two, so it is usually loose now. In the past few weeks and following my usual combing procedures in the shower, believe it or not, I am shedding A LOT LESS and just now and for 8 days without combing (which should accumulate to a supposed number of around 800), I shedded around 50 hairs ONLY! This isn't normal, right? That means 6.5 hairs a day! (Assuming that we exclude elsewhere shedded hair but still the number is too low to be healthy!) May I also add that my hair isn't kinky anymore when combing it as well.

Any insight into this? I only posted this here instead of a hairloss forum since shedding, there, is sometimes mistaken for hairloss. Below is an old photo (about 2 years ago) of mine, you can clearly see that my hair is generally thin.

http://oi61.tinypic.com/f4o651.jpg

lapushka
November 22nd, 2015, 01:39 PM
A month ago, I started to suspect that my thin sides/behind the ears/neckline became so due to my almost-daily ponytail (yeah, lucky me, waist-length curly-haired guy in the middle of the Arab world lol) so I started to tie it with one knot instead of two, so it is usually loose now. In the past few weeks and following my usual combing procedures in the shower, believe it or not, I am shedding A LOT LESS and just now and for 8 days without combing (which should accumulate to a supposed number of around 800), I shedded around 50 hairs ONLY! This isn't normal, right? That means 6.5 hairs a day! (Assuming that we exclude elsewhere shedded hair but still the number is too low to be healthy!) May I also add that my hair isn't kinky anymore when combing it as well.

Any insight into this? I only posted this here instead of a hairloss forum since shedding, there, is sometimes mistaken for hairloss. Below is an old photo (about 2 years ago) of mine, you can clearly see that my hair is generally thin.

I think because you're wearing it loose rather than contained, those hairs fly off not to be seen again, instead of coming out when you let the hair loose at night. The loose hair might not trap them in, therefore those hairs still shed, you're just not keeping track of them.

spidermom
November 22nd, 2015, 02:01 PM
I agree that since you're wearing your hair loose more, shed hairs are slipping away without your notice. I forget how much I randomly shed hair around the place until I vacuum, then holey-moley! I sometimes wonder how I could lose so much hair and not be bald.

daredevil14
November 22nd, 2015, 02:18 PM
Thanks for both of you! I agree, it could be really just that and it could also mean that something else is going on! (Something related to hair loss and the medication I am taking - possible increasing the anagen phase?)

meteor
November 22nd, 2015, 02:45 PM
I think the massively reduced shedding rate is actually a great sign that your finasteride & minoxidil protocol for male pattern baldness is working well. :thumbsup:
I suspect you are not noticing some of the shed hairs, but that means the shedding is probably very low, which is great! :D
(By the way, I don't know why you call your hair thin, there are some spirally fairy-tail ends/taper (maybe from hairloss in the past), but the new growth looks very thick indeed! :D Way to go! :cheer:)

lapushka
November 22nd, 2015, 03:09 PM
(By the way, I don't know why you call your hair thin, there are some spirally fairy-tail ends/taper (maybe from hairloss in the past), but the new growth looks very thick indeed! :D Way to go! :cheer:)

This! ^^ Definitely nothing to be ashamed about! :D Quite the understatement. :lol: