Huge Shedding Issue - Proven Methods to Slow it Down?

[Corey89]

Hi,

I've never had a hair problem until a few months ago:

I developed scalp psoriasis earlier in the year because of stress. Just a mild case. It's effectively gone now. At least it feels like it - the itch and dandruff has been very minimal to non-existent for about two weeks.

Has anyone here used a sauna extensively? I've been using a far infrared sauna for the past month or so to treat psoriasis and it works very well it seems. Can that contribute to hair shedding? I was already shedding some before so it is hard to say and who really knows? I continually read about how heat styling like curling irons or flat irons can be detrimental or that the summer season and warm temperatures can cause shedding too.

I've used virgin coconut oil to help hydrate my hair in the sauna a couple times but that has clearly exacerbate the issue so I'm done with that. I've read here other people have had the same problem with gobs of hair coming out afterwards.

I do plan on seeing a dermatologist but have to wait until August. However, with the the already apparent thinning because of this and amount of shedding I experience (dozens of strands today in the shower after sauna and coconut moisturizer), I'm probably going to be bald before next month at which point will do me no good.

[lapushka]

I think maybe the psoriasis is causing the shedding; if it still itches, it's not all gone. Same goes for SD, seborrheic dermatitis, if it still itches it's not gone. But these are 2 very different conditions.

Did your GP diagnose you with psoriasis? What treatments did you get for it? Maybe it's something in the treatments that is causing the shedding.

There is a difference between direct heat (straighteners) & indirect heat (sauna). I would not worry about a sauna too much.

Also in your introductory post you said you had thinning? Visible thinning? Where? On the top of your head?

[dancedance]

Yes, lapushka is right, anything that causes dandruff can also cause hair loss. Even people who don't have visible dandruff but suffer from hair loss are recommended dandruff shampoos just in case.

[Ylva]

I guess one could say that I use the sauna extensively. All winter, I used the sauna whenever I'd wash my hair, so 2-3 times a week. I do not experience an increase in shedding because of it.

[guska]

I have used saunas my whole life but started ”sauna’ing” (yes, I know sauna cannot be used as a verb) regularly, aka once a week, two years ago. I do suffer from hair loss but sauna is not the cause of it.

[Ylva]

I have used saunas my whole life but started ”sauna’ing” (yes, I know sauna cannot be used as a verb) regularly, aka once a week, two years ago. I do suffer from hair loss but sauna is not the cause of it.

I've used this verb too. I say it can. ;) Nothing wrong with being a bit creative with words sometimes.

[milosmomma]

Hello there Corey88. Do you mean you put coconut oil on your scalp and had a big shed? A lot of people find oils and scalps do not mix. Mine doesnt even like conditioner above the ears or it throws hair out left and right. Are you sure it isnt just normal amounts of shedding that you are just paying more attention to? That would be the best case scenario. Maybe collect your sheds and keep an eye on the amount over time. When I was having a post pardum shed I even counted the strands but I'm not sure if I would recommend this as it may cause you stress(which can lead to shedding) it helps me though and does not stress me out. Actually today counting my hairs I lost eased my stress. I thought my hair ball looked huge and was worried I was starting another shed so I counted. Exactly 50 hairs which is the normal range and I felt better so it's a gamble when counting sheds :lol: I'm not sure how long your hair is but remember as it gets longer your sheds will look more just because every individual strand is getting longer.

[Tinyponies]

Hey Corey sorry to hear about your big shed. I’ve been through a bad one too which is how I found this place.

To help you better with specific information it would be great if we knew a few more things like milosmomma and lapushka asked, plus what’s the length of your hair and have you had long hair before? What’s your age? Exactly what hair products do you use? How’s your diet? Do you smoke? You mentioned stress and stress shedding can take a long while to stop.

A note about far infra red sauna-ing: take care with that, please use moderation. It doesn’t work the same way as traditional heat source sauna and you don’t want to cause additional body stress by cooking yourself.

With regards to all-rounders for hair loss, take a lot of care to hydrate yourself, whether using the sauna or not. Drinking a glass of the best water you can access when you first sit up in bed is a great way to start the drinking of the day, and also space your drinks an hour away from your meals. Little and often is better than all in one go, as there’s only so much you can absorb at a time.

Look at your diet and minimise things that cause stress in your body and add more calming ones, including drinks. Start paying kind, honest attention to how food and drinks make you feel.

Meditation, stretching, exercise all help the body to come out of chronic stress mode or “fight or flight” mode and get back on with the business of growth and repair. Or maybe play music that puts you in a good head space.

Make sure you get as good quality sleep as you can.

Pay attention to your thoughts, you can re train yourself to not go down dark ways and worries, or get caught in dramas.

Do it for your hair :) as many of us here are/have. It’s a great motivator to look after the whole of ourselves better.

Welcome to the boards, and wishing you all the best.

[Corey89]

I think maybe the psoriasis is causing the shedding; if it still itches, it's not all gone. Same goes for SD, seborrheic dermatitis, if it still itches it's not gone. But these are 2 very different conditions.

Did your GP diagnose you with psoriasis? What treatments did you get for it? Maybe it's something in the treatments that is causing the shedding.

There is a difference between direct heat (straighteners) & indirect heat (sauna). I would not worry about a sauna too much.

Also in your introductory post you said you had thinning? Visible thinning? Where? On the top of your head?

Two different doctors diagnosed it as psoriasis. From my understanding it is an auto-immune response brought on by chronic stress around two months long which happened earlier in the year that I was very poor in handling. Since then I've effectively dealt with it. Both prescribed Betaderm but I didn't like it so I stopped using it. Next, my doctor issued Clobex shampoo which I have used the past three nights but otherwise not at all since she advised that my psoriasis was mild at worst and to use the shampoo if I experience a flare up. In addition to Clobex, I've used Nizoral 2% a few times, Hugo's natural shampoo, apple cider vinegar wash multiple times, or otherwise nothing at all.

Yes; my hair is noticeably thinner. It's a density issue; diffuse thinning, if you will. It's centralized to the top and center of my scalp so depending how I style my hair, the angle which it is viewed, and the lighting, it can look 'OK' or absolute hell. My hair stylist said that the hair on the top and back was less dense than the front but otherwise nothing to worry about. She said my scalp looked healthy, not red, and not flaky.

[Corey89]

Hello there Corey88. Do you mean you put coconut oil on your scalp and had a big shed? A lot of people find oils and scalps do not mix. Mine doesnt even like conditioner above the ears or it throws hair out left and right. Are you sure it isnt just normal amounts of shedding that you are just paying more attention to? That would be the best case scenario. Maybe collect your sheds and keep an eye on the amount over time. When I was having a post pardum shed I even counted the strands but I'm not sure if I would recommend this as it may cause you stress(which can lead to shedding) it helps me though and does not stress me out. Actually today counting my hairs I lost eased my stress. I thought my hair ball looked huge and was worried I was starting another shed so I counted. Exactly 50 hairs which is the normal range and I felt better so it's a gamble when counting sheds :lol: I'm not sure how long your hair is but remember as it gets longer your sheds will look more just because every individual strand is getting longer.

I don't think it's just a case of me paying more attention to the shedding; I shouldn't run my hands through my hair in the shower and see a dozen or two strands come out - this happened a whole bunch of years ago too where it scared me and I don't know why it happened. I started collecting and bagging all of my lost hair to prove I wasn't being paranoid. But then suddenly one day it simply stopped and that was it.

Regarding the oil, I showered my hair, then applied the coconut oil throughout including on my scalp since it was wet. Next morning I almost cried at all the hair that came out.

[lapushka]

Two different doctors diagnosed it as psoriasis. From my understanding it is an auto-immune response brought on by chronic stress around two months long which happened earlier in the year that I was very poor in handling. Since then I've effectively dealt with it. Both prescribed Betaderm but I didn't like it so I stopped using it. Next, my doctor issued Clobex shampoo which I have used the past three nights but otherwise not at all since she advised that my psoriasis was mild at worst and to use the shampoo if I experience a flare up. In addition to Clobex, I've used Nizoral 2% a few times, Hugo's natural shampoo, apple cider vinegar wash multiple times, or otherwise nothing at all.

Yes; my hair is noticeably thinner. It's a density issue; diffuse thinning, if you will. It's centralized to the top and center of my scalp so depending how I style my hair, the angle which it is viewed, and the lighting, it can look 'OK' or absolute hell. My hair stylist said that the hair on the top and back was less dense than the front but otherwise nothing to worry about. She said my scalp looked healthy, not red, and not flaky.

My mom (i thickness) has the same issue with her scalp, her thinning is all over, though, not in areas that it's "visibly" thinner, so it's just "thin hair" that she has. But it is challenging as well to style it up (which she always does, peacock twist). The "scalp cleavage" is real.

Maybe stick with the shampoo for a while. Is it one you are supposed to leave on in between sudsing like the Nizoral 2%? Has your doctor mentioned anything about that at all?

[Corey89]

Hey Corey sorry to hear about your big shed. I’ve been through a bad one too which is how I found this place.

To help you better with specific information it would be great if we knew a few more things like milosmomma and lapushka asked, plus what’s the length of your hair and have you had long hair before? What’s your age? Exactly what hair products do you use? How’s your diet? Do you smoke? You mentioned stress and stress shedding can take a long while to stop.

A note about far infra red sauna-ing: take care with that, please use moderation. It doesn’t work the same way as traditional heat source sauna and you don’t want to cause additional body stress by cooking yourself.

With regards to all-rounders for hair loss, take a lot of care to hydrate yourself, whether using the sauna or not. Drinking a glass of the best water you can access when you first sit up in bed is a great way to start the drinking of the day, and also space your drinks an hour away from your meals. Little and often is better than all in one go, as there’s only so much you can absorb at a time.

Look at your diet and minimise things that cause stress in your body and add more calming ones, including drinks. Start paying kind, honest attention to how food and drinks make you feel.

Meditation, stretching, exercise all help the body to come out of chronic stress mode or “fight or flight” mode and get back on with the business of growth and repair. Or maybe play music that puts you in a good head space.

Make sure you get as good quality sleep as you can.

Pay attention to your thoughts, you can re train yourself to not go down dark ways and worries, or get caught in dramas.

Do it for your hair :) as many of us here are/have. It’s a great motivator to look after the whole of ourselves better.

Welcome to the boards, and wishing you all the best.

My hair length on the sides is a '3' with the razor and maybe a couple inches on top. I'm 29; I don't use any hair products generally except for this Fast Food conditioner to add some life to it which I have used regularly before in the past without problems.

Regarding diet and such:

I don't smoke
I rarely drink
My diet is about as good as it's ever going to get because I exercise and weight lift regularly: lots of greens, quality carbs and proteins, quality fats, little to no refined sugars and rarely anything ever processed. I do a gym multivitamin as well as 1000UI of C + D. I've been eating a serving of fermented kimchi or sauerkraut with my greens every to correct any 'leaky' gut problems. I was using apple cider vinegar drink for about a month.
I've been using 5000mcg of Biotin
I've been using a 1mm dermaroller for the past 5 or 6 weeks in an attempt to stimulate collagen.
I've been taking a quality collagen supplement (10g) since last Sunday
I've tried using the onion juice recipe with garlic for the past four weeks
I take 10ml of organic Pumpkin seed oil and Flaxseed oil (supposed to inhibit DHT if this is truly pattern loss)
And of course I've been using the sauna for about three weeks now to help promote blood flow, circulation, and the numerous other benefits that seemed to have helped so far.
I've been reducing my stress big time with yoga and deep breathing exercises (30 minutes a day), mediation music at work, walks at the lake; my stress compared to where it was three months ago has been vastly reduced to where I don't feel stressed anymore.

Beyond these things there is not much more I can do until the dermatologist tells me it is only stress related loss that will eventually rebound or it is my worst fear in which case I am in big, big trouble.

[Corey89]

My mom (i thickness) has the same issue with her scalp, her thinning is all over, though, not in areas that it's "visibly" thinner, so it's just "thin hair" that she has. But it is challenging as well to style it up (which she always does, peacock twist). The "scalp cleavage" is real.

Maybe stick with the shampoo for a while. Is it one you are supposed to leave on in between sudsing like the Nizoral 2%? Has your doctor mentioned anything about that at all?

Clobex you leave on for 15 minutes; Nizoral I mentioned which she said is fine to use and that you leave in for 3-5 minutes, and the Hugo's shampoo I put in, scrub gently and briefly before washing out.

I really do hope this is just stress related and my hair rebounds sooner than later; baldness doesn't run in my family aside from my dad, but he was the only one to have kids among his brothers so maybe that had something to do with it lol. But the guys on both sides of the family have thick heads of hair so this is really difficult to comprehend why it is so suddenly happening to me. From a thick head of hair to start the year to wondering whether I'll be bald by Christmas..

[milosmomma]

I am sorry you are dealing with this and have to go through it. I dont have experience with psoriasis so I wont try and give advice there. I just offer some support and understanding how scary and stressful it is to see the hair fall and feel the thinning. I am sending you some internet hugs and wish you and your hair a quick recovery. You mentioned it happened in the past and ceased suddenly one day so that's what I am hoping will happen again. Now the best thing I can advise is to take care of yourself mentally and physically as best you can and hope your hair follows too. Keeping stress levels low (I know next to impossible) just try and treat yourself to something nice daily.

[Corey89]

I also bought a shower filter last month to remove as many impurities as possible and went for a blood test and to check for thyroid and possible nutritional deficiencies (zinc being the one of concern) - I didn't receive a call back so I assume I'm fine in that regard

Thank you for the support ladies. Yes, it is very nerve racking considering I am otherwise a very healthy individual aside from the stress related incident at the beginning of the year which has unleashed absolute hell on me. This has to be stress related. I don't understand how it could be anything else - and by all accounts my hair should recover over time. If this is DHT related loss then that is one hell of a coincidence given that it is happening at roughly the same time as the chronic stress. It was at least more nerve racking when this first became an obvious problem but I've mostly dealt with the stress now where it doesn't consume me all day long like it had been and I sleep comfortably. And I've taken solace in knowing I've done everything I can do this point and only time will tell what's going to happen here.

[lapushka]

Clobex you leave on for 15 minutes; Nizoral I mentioned which she said is fine to use and that you leave in for 3-5 minutes, and the Hugo's shampoo I put in, scrub gently and briefly before washing out.

I really do hope this is just stress related and my hair rebounds sooner than later; baldness doesn't run in my family aside from my dad, but he was the only one to have kids among his brothers so maybe that had something to do with it lol. But the guys on both sides of the family have thick heads of hair so this is really difficult to comprehend why it is so suddenly happening to me. From a thick head of hair to start the year to wondering whether I'll be bald by Christmas..

I always leave my Nizoral on 10 min. (used to be 5). Leaflet says 5 to 10 min. If I do the max. it rids me of my issue in one go, if I'm treating it fast enough!

I think once you get your psoriasis in a good place, maybe the shedding will stop.

It works like that with my Nizoral as well, for me. When my SD (seborrheic dermatitis) is under control, the shedding stops.