Noticing breakage in the shower

[lithostoic]

Today as I prepared to s&c my hair, I decided that I'd start counting how much hair I lost in the shower. Obviously sore are going to go down the drain, but still.

At the end of the shower, there were 22 hairs ... And 3 more pieces of hair that appeared to be breakage. Kinda scaring me.

Should I be worried? What can I do to prevent breakage?

[lapushka]

In one word: nothing. If the white dots are there, it is going to break sooner or later.

I'd check the hair for splits or white dots, and do some S&D. Try not to worry too much.

[meteor]

3 pieces of breakage is not something I'd worry about. :)
If this is a concern, I'd highly recommend pre-poo oiling (coconut oil was shown to reduce damage during washing, see study for details: http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2003/cc054n02/p00175-p00192.pdf) and oil rinses (oils help detangling - esp. wet detangling - a lot and reduction in split end formation, see study for details: http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2009/cc060n02/p00273-p00280.pdf). If you see more breakage overall, consider hydrolyzed protein treatments (followed by moisture treatments).

As for shedding, 22 strands shed in the shower seems like a very low number. :)
A lot depends on how frequently you wash, of course. But more shed hair comes out during manipulation: e.g. washes, scalp massages, brushing, etc... so it's normal to notice more shed strands come out during and right after these procedures.

[Anje]

FWIW, if I comb/detangle in the shower, I shed like crazy. I find that with my mildly wavy hair, detangling when soaked in conditioner just isn't something I need to do. (Curlies DO tend to find this is the best way to detangle with the least breakage.) It might be worth evaluating how much you're manipulating your hair while you shower and whether you can reduce it. See if that helps.

That said, 22 hairs and 3 broken isn't all that much. It's more than I shed when I'm careful about manipulation, but it's decidedly less than if I were to comb it.

[lithostoic]

Thanks you guys

[gthlvrmx]

Check for a root bulb on the hairs as well. It might just be 25 regular shed hairs.

[lapushka]

I remember the days (not too long ago) where I suddenly -out of nowhere- had breakage. My hair was all virgin. No white dots. No split ends. And still I had about 5 hairs just break off (4 inch pieces).

I went back to the rinse-out oil method (link is in my signature should you be interested, just FYI), and it resolved itself quickly. Next wash, 3 hairs, next wash, no hairs (breakage I mean). So that might help as well.