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View Full Version : EXTREME post shower shedding WHYYY



H.e.L
October 1st, 2018, 04:30 PM
My average daily shed lately is anywhere from 40-80 hairs...Except on wash days.

I wash my hair 1-2 times a week. Sometimes I "only" lose 200 hairs after a shower, yesterday I lost closer to 500. I didn't count all of them, but I did count enough to guesstimate the total with relative accuracy.
(This doesn't count whatever hairs I may have already lost in the morning after taking down the sleep bun/braid to finger detangle.)

I eat lots of veggies, healthy fats, and I have sufficient protein in my diet, so I don't believe that's the problem. My ferritin and blood iron levels are good, and I take an iron supplement, Cod liver oil, and other basic vitamins as well.

I wash my hair 1-2 times per week with diy egg yolk shampoo (2 yolks, 1/4 c water, 1tbsp honey, 10 drops each rosemary & peppermint EO's) followed by an ACV rinse.

I used to use regular s+c, but even if I used high quality no sls, no weird chemicals, organic, unicorn tears stuff my scalp always eventually decided that it hated it and I'd get an itchy, sore scalp and shed like crazy. I tried diluting the shampoo and never let the conditioner touch my scalp. Didn't help.
I also occasionally used my prescription medicated shampoo for SD or dandruff when necessary. That made my head itch too.

I was previously doing WO which was great (lowest shed rate ever since I gave up combs/almost all brushes) except that I never got past the otter/oilslick phase despite excellent grooming habits. (Hence me trying egg yolks since shampoo bars/shampoo/conditioner/herb washes/baking soda and they all haven't worked.)

I do not manipulate my hair when it's wet hardly at all if I can get away with it as it's rather delicate f/m. (No combing/brushing in the shower, don't rip fingers through it while shampooing, blow dry briefly on warm or cool setting only. Finger detangle/finger comb only when 90% dry.)
That's why I'm pretty sure it's not unnecessary roughness causing the shedding. I do my best to be really really gentle when I'm washing it, and not yank or rip through it, ever.

Oiling/massaging my scalp has always way accelerated my shedding as well. My own sebum is fine, WO was going swimmingly for me on nearly every front but the aesthetic.

Is it the blow drying? The vinegar? The eggs? The handling? Lack of protein? My scalp just literally hates EVERYTHING?!?

It's really bizarre, my head is not itchy and there are no sore spots or flakes that might indicate SD, unlike every other time I needed to use the Nizoral/prescription shampoo. I don't have flakes at all.
There's literally nothing to suggest my scalp is maybe being irritated but the post-wash shedding.
Like I said, most days my shedding is well within normal parameters now that I almost exclusively finger comb.

(I just started doing green tea/3% PEO spray on the scalp only to see if I can fix it that way. It's one of the few things I haven't tried yet.)

Got any ideas what the heck's going on guys?
Am I missing something laughably obvious?
PLZ HALP. TIA.

Ylva
October 1st, 2018, 04:35 PM
Maybe shed hairs are staying in your hair until you wash, and thus it looks like you're shedding a lot at once?

Have you tried washing with rye flour? I haven't tried it personally (yet!), but I've read that the pH is very close to the pH of hair and skin. It would be close to WO, but cleanse a bit better.

lapushka
October 1st, 2018, 04:36 PM
Might just be fall shed. Did you have this last year around this time?

Zesty
October 1st, 2018, 04:38 PM
Is your hair actually feeling thinner or is it just a lot of hair seems to come out on wash days? If it's unusual for you then I get being worried, but washing always seems to cause more shedding. I shed large rodents during my weekly wash, but it's just because I don't usually manipulate my scalp a ton in between washes, so most of the week's sheds are coming out all at once.

lapushka
October 1st, 2018, 04:49 PM
Is your hair actually feeling thinner or is it just a lot of hair seems to come out on wash days? If it's unusual for you then I get being worried, but washing always seems to cause more shedding. I shed large rodents during my weekly wash, but it's just because I don't usually manipulate my scalp a ton in between washes, so most of the week's sheds are coming out all at once.

Same with me. I finger detangle Tuesday through Saturday by separating a few strands and getting sheds out (not by running fingers through the hair at all), but that doesn't get most of it out. I then brush pre-wash on Sunday, and post-wash too, and then yes, entire animals come out. LOL!

MoonRabbit
October 1st, 2018, 05:33 PM
I would just keep an eye on your overall thickness for the next few months and see if anything changes drastically. For me personally, the more aware I am of all my shedding the more worried I become but it has always turned out to be unnecessary anxiety. I used to only brush my hair on wash day which is once a week and I would shed a large ball. Lately I have been trying to comb/brush my hair daily and guess what..I still shed the same amount. So it must be the scalp massaging during shampoo time that is loosening all the hairs that were going to come out anyway that the brush just wasn't getting.

You also have to take into account that the longer your hair gets the bigger the sheds will appear.

Corvana
October 1st, 2018, 05:55 PM
So the same thing happens to me every wash, and I watched my pony circ and it went up. I then concluded that it's likely I'm only getting like half my actual sheds out while combing/brushing/whatever and the rest comes out when I wash. I still keep an eye out but I'm not overly worried about it.

If it's something that's always happened, and you don't see any thinning, then I honestly wouldn't worry about it.

Eta: imagine you shed 100 hairs a day, but only 60 come out. There's 40 still in there! Then the next day, the same, but 80 have stuck in. Repeat for a week and how many extra is that?

H.e.L
October 1st, 2018, 07:16 PM
Thanks ladies, I feel a little better.
I guess I'm just paranoid. I had several pretty bad sheds in the last couple years due to pregnancy, diet, and what I can only assume is contact dermatitis.
My hair is JUST starting to recover noticably. I'll go ahead and track circumference.
Since until recently I've never NOT brushed, I hadn't thought of the fact that shed hairs can get 'stuck' til next wash.
Hopefully the tea scalp spray helps.
Thanks again!

Doreen
October 1st, 2018, 09:12 PM
Are your essential oils diluted with a carrier oil first? It may not be a problem but I know my scalp reacts badly to undiluted essential oils.

Stormynights
October 1st, 2018, 10:55 PM
I was having a horrible shed before I tried the borax wash, It stopped it or the shed just happened to stop when I started using the borax.

H.e.L
October 2nd, 2018, 12:27 AM
Doreen:
I just put the EO directly in a glass spray bottle and filled the rest with brewed tea. I shake it before each use to incorporate it all together enough to apply.
I can't oil my scalp without masses of shedding, so I can't cut the EO that way. I'm hoping that diluting them like this and shaking to mix will be sufficient.
If it starts to irritate my scalp I plan to immediately cease adding the EO and go back to just tea in the spray bottle.

Joules
October 2nd, 2018, 03:35 AM
My average daily shed lately is anywhere from 40-80 hairs...Except on wash days.

I wash my hair 1-2 times a week. Sometimes I "only" lose 200 hairs after a shower, yesterday I lost closer to 500. I didn't count all of them, but I did count enough to guesstimate the total with relative accuracy.
(This doesn't count whatever hairs I may have already lost in the morning after taking down the sleep bun/braid to finger detangle.)

I eat lots of veggies, healthy fats, and I have sufficient protein in my diet, so I don't believe that's the problem. My ferritin and blood iron levels are good, and I take an iron supplement, Cod liver oil, and other basic vitamins as well.

I wash my hair 1-2 times per week with diy egg yolk shampoo (2 yolks, 1/4 c water, 1tbsp honey, 10 drops each rosemary & peppermint EO's) followed by an ACV rinse.

I used to use regular s+c, but even if I used high quality no sls, no weird chemicals, organic, unicorn tears stuff my scalp always eventually decided that it hated it and I'd get an itchy, sore scalp and shed like crazy. I tried diluting the shampoo and never let the conditioner touch my scalp. Didn't help.
I also occasionally used my prescription medicated shampoo for SD or dandruff when necessary. That made my head itch too.

I was previously doing WO which was great (lowest shed rate ever since I gave up combs/almost all brushes) except that I never got past the otter/oilslick phase despite excellent grooming habits. (Hence me trying egg yolks since shampoo bars/shampoo/conditioner/herb washes/baking soda and they all haven't worked.)

I do not manipulate my hair when it's wet hardly at all if I can get away with it as it's rather delicate f/m. (No combing/brushing in the shower, don't rip fingers through it while shampooing, blow dry briefly on warm or cool setting only. Finger detangle/finger comb only when 90% dry.)
That's why I'm pretty sure it's not unnecessary roughness causing the shedding. I do my best to be really really gentle when I'm washing it, and not yank or rip through it, ever.

Oiling/massaging my scalp has always way accelerated my shedding as well. My own sebum is fine, WO was going swimmingly for me on nearly every front but the aesthetic.

Is it the blow drying? The vinegar? The eggs? The handling? Lack of protein? My scalp just literally hates EVERYTHING?!?

It's really bizarre, my head is not itchy and there are no sore spots or flakes that might indicate SD, unlike every other time I needed to use the Nizoral/prescription shampoo. I don't have flakes at all.
There's literally nothing to suggest my scalp is maybe being irritated but the post-wash shedding.
Like I said, most days my shedding is well within normal parameters now that I almost exclusively finger comb.

(I just started doing green tea/3% PEO spray on the scalp only to see if I can fix it that way. It's one of the few things I haven't tried yet.)

Got any ideas what the heck's going on guys?
Am I missing something laughably obvious?
PLZ HALP. TIA.

Does your scalp itch even a little bit? Do you get sore hair follicles? Is your scalp naturally oily? I mean does washing 1-2 times per week mean you're stretching washes or is it really an optimal schedule for you?

How does your scalp react to sulfates? Like, plain and simple drugstore sulfate shampoo, was it irritating for your scalp? What made you change it for a sulfate-free one?

I'm asking so many questions because unless you have dry and sensitive scalp (or an allergy to sulfates), you probably need stronger shampoos to properly cleanse your scalp. Sebum is a great breeding ground for fungus called malassezia, and it can cause greater shedding if you repeatedly stretch washes and not cleansing your scalp. Early symptoms of malassezia overgrowth are itching (even mild), sore hair follicles and unusual shedding, it can seem minor and not worthy of attention. I used to get sore follicles and insane shedding quite a lot when I was alternating between low poo and no poo and I just thought my scalp was sensitive to tight updos (my scalp is still sensitive to tight updos, but not even nearly as much). This can lead to full blown SD if not treated, and since you said you sometimes use prescription medicated shampoo, it leads me to believe you're already prone to this stuff.

I got early symptoms of malassezia overgrowth after years of low-to-no shampoo and stretching washes, and that is considering I have normal scalp. Oilier scalps can develop it way faster.

I've also seen people get diagnosed with SD without visible flare-ups, so you definitely don't need to be an itching flaking mess to know you have a problem.

I'm saying that because not many people on this forum seem to talk about how important clean scalp is. Sure no-poo can work for some people, but I've read a lot of stories of women getting scalp issues after jumping on a trendy sulfate-free bandwagon, and it just doesn't seem to be worth it for me. Maybe you're shedding more with washes because you don't brush out all the sheds between wash days, and you don't need harsher clarifying. I still think it's important to voice the importance of proper cleansing, trichologists always point out that healthy hair starts with healthy scalp, and I'm inclined to believe them.

Doreen
October 2nd, 2018, 04:25 AM
Doreen:
I just put the EO directly in a glass spray bottle and filled the rest with brewed tea. I shake it before each use to incorporate it all together enough to apply.
I can't oil my scalp without masses of shedding, so I can't cut the EO that way. I'm hoping that diluting them like this and shaking to mix will be sufficient.
If it starts to irritate my scalp I plan to immediately cease adding the EO and go back to just tea in the spray bottle.

Since oil and water (or tea) don't mix, shaking it together like this will only disperse the oils, not dilute them. When shaken they will form little "bubbles" like the wax in a lava lamp -- they may be surrounded by water but their composition and strength remain the same. Try adding 20-40 drops of olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, etc before shaking as this will dilute their strength (and irritating properties) while still maintaining their benefits. If you're concerned about having too much oil on your scalp, consider reducing the EOs to 5 drops each and then putting 10 drops of the carrier oil.

It may not be the cause of the shed, but if you have a sensitive scalp it's probably for the best to do this to reduce potential caustic effects anyway. I hope that explanation made sense.

g_lou
October 2nd, 2018, 07:13 AM
If this happens every time and you don’t notice any thinner patches, could it just be you’re a heavy shedder? I shed 100-200+ hairs per day and it’s a lot more on wash day, even if I brush twice daily. Maybe because (thick especially) hair tends to hold on to sheds until there’s manipulation (when washing). I know it doesn’t seem ‘normal’ but hair is different for everyone. I hope you find something that works for you, sorry if this doesn’t help.