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View Full Version : Is this too much hair in the drain (pic included)



Nbvoid97
May 19th, 2017, 11:09 AM
Im currently growing my hair long. I wash my hair every 3-4 days (shampoo and conditioner) It's currently shoulder length. It's very thick and wavy (2c-3a).

Recently I have noticed that the hair I find in my drain after a shower has increased. Pic below

http://imgur.com/H8hru0N


I take my time washing my hair. Around 30-40minutes. I spend a good 15minutes washing conditioner out. Is this too long? I'm thinking it could be because I'm tugging my hair a lot so it will fall out more. But I've always done this? This has only started to happen recently. I'm a male (20years old) if that makes any difference.
I don't oil my hair or use any heat products either although I do intend to start oiling it soon.

lucid
May 19th, 2017, 11:40 AM
I would count the hairs, one by one (do not count broken strands). It is normal to shed up to 100 hairs a day in periods. But if this amount of shedding is something that has started recently, and if it doesn't subceed anytime soon, I would suggest visiting a doctor to find the reason for the excess shedding.

Nbvoid97
May 19th, 2017, 11:49 AM
I would count the hairs, one by one (do not count broken strands). It is normal to shed up to 100 hairs a day in periods. But if this amount of shedding is something that has started recently, and if it doesn't subceed anytime soon, I would suggest visiting a doctor to find the reason for the excess shedding.

It has only really happened the last 2-3 washes. My hair doesn't shed a lot unless I wash it. I don't find any strands on pillows/clothes and my hair sheds a "normal" amount when i brush it. It could just be that my hair is getting longer so it would appear that it's shedding more. Not sure.

Kat-Rinnč Naido
May 19th, 2017, 01:01 PM
Note well this is just my opinion and your mileage may vary.

I believe that is a lot of hair to loose during every wash.
Basically everyone has round about the same scalp size give or take a few centimetres. Spending 15 minutes over-stimulating the scalp in an attempt to clean will result in more hair shed as well as breakage. Which can be avoided. Depending on your hair length and type one would spend more time to condition and detangle.
What is your hair type and length?
Count the strands, as longer hair tends to look like more hair loss due to the extra length.

I have 3b hair and may only loose a maximum of 10 strands in the shower except during my autumn shed which would be more about 35 during the whole process of wash and style.

ETA: I see you have stated your length and hair type.

BraidFreak
May 19th, 2017, 01:07 PM
I personally don't lose that much hair during my shower. If this isn't normal for you then there might be something wrong, have you considered going to the doctors and getting a blood test just to make sure everything is fine? If its stressing you out then you should just go and speak to a professional.

Arctic
May 19th, 2017, 01:07 PM
It looks rather lot to me - but these things are very individual. Since it's recently incresed, keep an eye on it (and measure your ponytail to keep tabs on it). No need to run to the doctor right away, though, at least in my opinion. It could be just a normal spring shed that lasts few weeks, maybe you were sick 3-4 months ago and this shed is a temporary reaction to it, maybe you have, as new LHCer, been a bit more experimential with washing frequency, products, methods and you scalp doesn't like it.

If your scalp is healthy I would wait month or two before going to doctor, but that's just me. Naturally you can go see one right away. If you do, photos like these will be good to show them, and also tell them if your pony measurement has gotten less.

Kat-Rinnč Naido
May 19th, 2017, 01:09 PM
Hi! I have noticed in another thread, you was enquiring about oils for hair. Sometimes applying oils to your scalp can cause excessive shedding. Have you been applying oil to your scalp?

Kiiruna
May 19th, 2017, 01:15 PM
That does look like a lot of hair to lose in one wash. Have you had stress? Have you not been eating well?
On the other hand thick hair may seem to shed more because of the amount of strands is usually higher. Manipulating scalp might lead into more shedding because it's kind of pulling out hair that would shed pretty soon.
Do you feel well? If not, I'd go to the doctor. Otherwise I would monitor ponytail thickness for a few months.

lapushka
May 19th, 2017, 01:46 PM
To me that's more than normal, meaning my "normal" for a week's worth of shed hair. But I detangle beforehand, and then about half of that amount comes out in the drain catcher thingy. Then after that I shed about half of your amount again detangling after my hair comes out of the towel, before styling. So all in all, for a *week* I lose 3 halves of your amount, and this is long hair, so it looks to be more than it is.

Yes, oiling (if you are oiling the scalp) can cause huge sheds - that means you can't tolerate it at all. I would stop doing that in that case.

Good luck to you. If it's not all that, I'd check with the doctor, if it doesn't ease up.
Mind you it *is* spring and that means some of us shed more!

Anje
May 19th, 2017, 01:56 PM
To me, that looks like a large wad of hair. But I don't know how long your hair is -- longer hair means the same number of hairs makes a bigger blob. Also, your hair looks far coarser than mine, which makes it also look bigger and denser. Additionally, I tended to comb my straight-ish hair multiple times a day, so lots of sheds would be removed between washes; with your curly hair, I imagine that you probably detangle mostly during the wash with conditioner, so you probably get several days' worth of sheds all at once. That would also lead to a bigger wad of shed hair without any increased shedding.

Your washes sound long to me. When my hair was long (it's on hiatus right now), I'd say a shower with a hairwash would be about 15 minutes total, though I don't detangle during the wash. Thickness might make a difference, and I'm certain water pressure does.



I think the most telling thing, though, is that this seems like a lot more shedding to you, and that it's increased only for the last couple of washes. If it's more than normal, it's more than is normal for you.

Have you changed products (or have any of your products changed formulation?) recently? There could be a reaction to something in one of them.

Another possibility -- were you under a great deal of stress a while back, especially about 3 months ago? Many of us have noted that severe stress can trigger shedding, but there seems to be a roughly 3 month delay (which happens to also be the time that telogen is said to last).

Have you started or stopped any medications? Sometimes meds affect shedding. (Hormonal birth control doesn't seem likely to apply to you, but many people shed when they stop that or change brands.)

Finally, it could simply be a seasonal shed. Lots of people shed more than normal for a couple weeks in the spring and/or fall. For the moment, I'd say just to keep an eye on it. If it goes on for more than maybe a month, you might want to seek out a doctor to make sure nothing is wrong.

lapushka
May 19th, 2017, 03:43 PM
Err... what exactly do you mean by "tugging" your hair? That is totally not necessary. Just FYI. Maybe try and stop that as well, and see what that does?

Nbvoid97
May 19th, 2017, 03:57 PM
Hi! I have noticed in another thread, you was enquiring about oils for hair. Sometimes applying oils to your scalp can cause excessive shedding. Have you been applying oil to your scalp?

I haven't applied any oil to my hair. Was planning on starting soon. I guess it makes sense that it would make your hair shed more. Might reconsider.


To me, that looks like a large wad of hair. But I don't know how long your hair is -- longer hair means the same number of hairs makes a bigger blob. Also, your hair looks far coarser than mine, which makes it also look bigger and denser. Additionally, I tended to comb my straight-ish hair multiple times a day, so lots of sheds would be removed between washes; with your curly hair, I imagine that you probably detangle mostly during the wash with conditioner, so you probably get several days' worth of sheds all at once. That would also lead to a bigger wad of shed hair without any increased shedding.

Your washes sound long to me. When my hair was long (it's on hiatus right now), I'd say a shower with a hairwash would be about 15 minutes total, though I don't detangle during the wash. Thickness might make a difference, and I'm certain water pressure does.



I think the most telling thing, though, is that this seems like a lot more shedding to you, and that it's increased only for the last couple of washes. If it's more than normal, it's more than is normal for you.

Have you changed products (or have any of your products changed formulation?) recently? There could be a reaction to something in one of them.

Another possibility -- were you under a great deal of stress a while back, especially about 3 months ago? Many of us have noted that severe stress can trigger shedding, but there seems to be a roughly 3 month delay (which happens to also be the time that telogen is said to last).

Have you started or stopped any medications? Sometimes meds affect shedding. (Hormonal birth control doesn't seem likely to apply to you, but many people shed when they stop that or change brands.)

Finally, it could simply be a seasonal shed. Lots of people shed more than normal for a couple weeks in the spring and/or fall. For the moment, I'd say just to keep an eye on it. If it goes on for more than maybe a month, you might want to seek out a doctor to make sure nothing is wrong.

I might try to shorten the time of my washes. Seems like that's the only thing it could be.


Err... what exactly do you mean by "tugging" your hair? That is totally not necessary. Just FYI. Maybe try and stop that as well, and see what that does?

When I say tugging, I don't actually mean tugging. Just meant rubbing/massaging my scalp, running conditioner or fingers through hair etc. I never pull or tank it or anything. I'm pretty gentle. Idk why I used the word tug

Robot Ninja
May 19th, 2017, 04:04 PM
Have you recently started using conditioner on your scalp? That causes increased shedding for some people. The good news is, the shedding stops when you stop doing that.

Also, are you noting how much you're shedding in the day or two after you wash? Sometimes that increased shedding is just hairs that were about to shed coming out a bit sooner than they would otherwise have, especially if you're manipulating your hair a lot in the shower.

spidermom
May 19th, 2017, 04:38 PM
30-40 minutes to wash your hair? You're kidding, right? I would estimate that it takes me 10 minutes from start to finish, more if I'm doing a deep conditioning treatment. That also looks like a lot of hair to shed. I think you would know if you're pulling hair out by the roots; that freaking hurts. Hair that sheds out naturally was meant to shed out. First growth stops, then the root shrinks, then hair sheds. Extreme stress can cause the hair to stop growing, then shed out. Were you under a lot of stress 2-3 months ago?

akurah
May 19th, 2017, 07:19 PM
I still feel like there's not enough information, but I may have missed if someone already asked and it was answered.

Are you recently trying to stretch your washes or is it the same regularity? Are you detangling less between washes?

I wash once anywhere between 4 to 7 days, and my hair wads are easilythat big because I do not detangle my hair often. Most of the time when I take a comb to it, it's to smooth the scalp hair to make it all lay one direction, so I tend to have a lot of shed hair just hanging out in the body of my hair. So when I detangle and wash, my wads are that big because i'm getting all the shed hairs from the past however many days out all at once. I'd wager that if you took my hair wads apart and counted the hairs, if it was 4 days since my last wash, you'd possibly count as many as 400 hairs, if 7 days, close to double that. My hair is almost tailbone length, probably 70-80% medium "thickness" for the individual strands, with the remaining thickness being split between what you would consider coarse or fine.

That said, if this is new and nothing at all has changed in your routine (your wash frequency is the same, etc), go to a doctor ASAP. Hair fall can be an early symptom of a number of things, some "harmless" (except to maybe ego), some dangerous.

Kat-Rinnč Naido
May 20th, 2017, 04:49 AM
I haven't applied any oil to my hair. Was planning on starting soon. I guess it makes sense that it would make your hair shed more. Might reconsider.



I might try to shorten the time of my washes. Seems like that's the only thing it could be.



When I say tugging, I don't actually mean tugging. Just meant rubbing/massaging my scalp, running conditioner or fingers through hair etc. I never pull or tank it or anything. I'm pretty gentle. Idk why I used the word tug

Since oil can be ruled out.

Now we need to know in detail your routine before and after wash. If there has been any new product that you have introduced into your hair care routine. Do you condition your scalp and have you previously done so. Have there been any changes in your lifestyle and diet wise.
Should everything be fine. You will need to visit your doctor and have some blood tests done.
Be calm and don't stress yourself about this. Just work on getting to the source. We are here to support and share best practices. Good luck :grouphug:

Jo Ann
May 20th, 2017, 09:06 PM
Goodness! Must be nice to have all that hot water!! :p

I spend as much time rinsing conditioner out of my hair as I spend rinsing out the shampoo--and my showers last about 10 minutes (and I wash-condition-condition [WCC]). Ah, youth!

Why do you spend so much time rinsing out your conditioner? Is it a new type? Are you just starting to use a conditioner? Like some have said, some people's scalp can't take conditioner, but others handle it just fine (well, there IS that shedding thing). Your wad of hair resembles mine after I get done washing my hair. Personally, with my shed, because it's something that has happened for as long as I can remember, I don't think too much about it.

If it's something you're noticing now, I would check the obvious:

New shampoo/conditioner?
Over-rinsing (I'm assuming that's a new thing--then again, my Dear Nana would pound on my door, asking if I died in the bathroom :mad: )?
What about your routine has changed recently? Are you shampooing more/less than usual?
Possibly a change of season? Are you swimming, maybe?
Are you under stress (new job, relationship, etc)?

I'm also in agreement with some others--if you haven't changed anything recently, and it doesn't clear up soon, I'd be boot-scootin' to the doctor's office...