My hair shedding "experiment"

[gin]

This is long. Scroll to bottom for TLDR summary :)

Background: Since I started caring about my hair and lurking on LHC, about Feb-March this year, I was always curious about how much hair I shed. I think I shed a lot since my hair is everywhere, but being scientifically-minded, "a lot" doesn't mean much to me without some real numbers. I started to count my shed hairs when I washed. However, I was getting inconsistent numbers ranging from 20-90.

At some point I read about counting shed hairs throughout the entire day. I thought that was unrealistic for me, both because it would be impractical and impossible due to my daily routine, but also because if I committed to doing something like that I'd get too obsessive and it would do more harm than good. But like I said, I'm scientifically-minded, and I knew that only counting during washing wasn't giving me the full picture. For awhile I thought I was fine with that. Well, turns out I was wrong.

So a couple weeks ago I committed to counting ALL my shed hairs. This meant the following changes for me:
- Never wear my hair down (I wear it down for short periods throughout the day because my scalp is most comfortable with that)
- Always deal with my hair in the bathroom (comb, manipulate, put up, etc), where the tile is nice and big and also light-colored, making it easy to spot my dark hairs
- Always keep said bathroom floor clean to make sure I know which hairs are the newly-shed hairs vs. old
- Clean up other floors in the house to help spot stray hairs that escaped outside the bathroom

I also tried to minimize the number of times I messed with my hair. I'd put my hair up once in the morning after waking up, and if I was going climbing or somewhere, I'd put it up in another style. I combed through it with the same wide-toothed comb once in the morning and once before going to bed. For sleep, I put my hair up in its usual high braid. And of course, counting all the hairs I could find.

I did this for two full weeks, through 4 washes. Here are the results (starting on a wash day):

Day 1: 180 (wash)
Day 2: 15
Day 3: 40
Day 4: 32
Day 5: 200 (wash)
Day 6: 22
Day 7: 42
Day 8: 160 (wash)
Day 9: 27
Day 10: 29
Day 11: 58
Day 12: 235 (wash)
Day 13: 16
Day 14: 37

This averages in the upper 70s of hair per day. There's some padding in the wash day numbers to account for when my hair is down air drying. If I saw or grabbed any shed hairs while my hair was down, I still added it to the total, but I know I didn't get them all.

Couple main observations:
- I shed a LOT during wash than before. I definitely freaked out at first, haha. I attribute this to limiting the manipulation and combing of my hair to only morning and evening
- I shed a lot more hairs in certain situations than I previously thought. If I previously had to guess how many hairs were coming out while combing, I would've thought maybe 2-5 at most since that's around what I would notice. Combing over the tile floor, even with a wide tooth comb, made me realize that a LOT more hair comes out (up to 30-40), especially closer to wash day. Also, just letting my hair down from an updo, even if just for a couple seconds, I'd see some hairs on the floor. I knew my hair was getting everywhere, but now I was seeing in real time exactly how (and how many)
- It was nice having clean, long hair-free floors all over the house. We have 3 pets so their hair was still all over the place. :)

It was really hard for me to stick with only one or two styles per day, and my scalp was definitely not the happiest. Keeping the bathroom floor always clean of hair was annoying because I'd find some random hairs that I couldn't account for. And all the counting! So now I'm glad I can go back to my normal routine, also knowing what my average shed hair rate is. :)

TL;DR I count every shed hair for two weeks because my scientific mind wanted to know. I shed on average upper-70s of hair per day. Now I'm happier knowing and not having to count anymore. :)

[lithostoic]

That's pretty neat c:

[Tinyponies]

Love your experiment gin, and applaud the dedication to count them all for two weeks. Very cool and now you’ve got something to compare it to should you ever need it :)

[Simpscone]

That's super interesting, thanks for sharing! I've been getting worried about my shed hairs since there has just seemed to be so many when I wash, but I don't brush or comb my wurls at all on none-wash days so I'm assuming the hair just builds up a little bit more. I admire your dedication to counting them all!

[MusicalSpoons]

Fascinating! And well done you for a) keeping such good track, and b) not becoming obsessive and being able to go back to normal routine :applause:

[gin]

Love your experiment gin, and applaud the dedication to count them all for two weeks. Very cool and now you’ve got something to compare it to should you ever need it :)

Yeah, this was the main reason why I decided to do it - I wanted some sort of definitive baseline. Now I can know, at least with more confidence than before, whether or not changes to my routine are causing more shedding or not.


That's super interesting, thanks for sharing! I've been getting worried about my shed hairs since there has just seemed to be so many when I wash, but I don't brush or comb my wurls at all on none-wash days so I'm assuming the hair just builds up a little bit more. I admire your dedication to counting them all!

They definitely build up, and I would think more so with wavy/curls than my straight hair! It was definitely a shock to see all the hairs come out on wash day. I still combed out twice a day too (though usually I comb/brush more often and thoroughly than this experiment).


Fascinating! And well done you for a) keeping such good track, and b) not becoming obsessive and being able to go back to normal routine :applause:

Thanks! I think I'm still going to try combing/brushing my hair in the bathroom. It's just much easier to clean up hairs. When I comb/brush in the closet, the hairs disappear into the rug and floor, until they build up into a huge gross pile that's much harder to remove. :)

I know shedding 75-80 hairs everyday is in the normal range, but I'm always wondering in the back of my head if I can reduce that number. It would be nice to not have my hairs literally everywhere. I also wonder if I'm shedding more than before, but of course I never paid attention before earlier this year so I have no clue. My husband says I've always shed a ton, so I'll take his word for it. :) My ponytail circumference hasn't changed either (in fact, it's increased a little), so I guess this is my normal! Hair piles everywhere!

[GrowlingCupcake]

Great observational experiment! Like others, I think your dedication to collecting, and counting is impressive, and, as MusicalSpoons said, so is your ability to go back to normal. Good on you :)

I've been wanting to try something like this though I'm coming from the opposite direction; I think I shed less than normal or low normal. However, between OCD, disability, and having dark carpets, this is out of my current reach. It is great to see other people's results.

[Brethil]

If one got a very accurate scale, it would be much less time consuming to weigh the hair instead. I'd be game for the rest of it, but no way I'm counting all my hairs. Unfortunately, jewelry scales are also way more than I'm willing to spend to assuage my curiosity.

Thank you for doing this. It's nice to have an accurate idea of what someone else's normal is. I think my shedding is lower than that, but considering the number of random hairs I find, I have no idea how much I actually loose.

[gin]

I've been wanting to try something like this though I'm coming from the opposite direction; I think I shed less than normal or low normal. However, between OCD, disability, and having dark carpets, this is out of my current reach. It is great to see other people's results.

It's definitely a commitment. I tried to get away with not counting, but I think it was starting to bother me more and more that I eventually knew I couldn't really "rest" until I did something like this. I actually feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders!


If one got a very accurate scale, it would be much less time consuming to weigh the hair instead. I'd be game for the rest of it, but no way I'm counting all my hairs. Unfortunately, jewelry scales are also way more than I'm willing to spend to assuage my curiosity.

Thank you for doing this. It's nice to have an accurate idea of what someone else's normal is. I think my shedding is lower than that, but considering the number of random hairs I find, I have no idea how much I actually loose.

Yeah, it's impossible to be 100% accurate unless you literally stay in one empty room the entire time, haha. Interesting idea with the weight scale. I actually have a .01g sensitive scale, but it's tiny and no way to fit my hair on it. Plus, I'd think it would difficult to weigh your hair in a consistent manner since the angle at which your hair approaches the scale will make a difference (and what products are in it, how hydrated the strands are, etc). Plus your hair is constantly growing, so you can't really know how much is getting lost vs. growing. There are a lot more variables IMO, though it is just another data point that would still be really interesting know. Hmmmmmmm....

[Brethil]

Yeah, it's impossible to be 100% accurate unless you literally stay in one empty room the entire time, haha. Interesting idea with the weight scale. I actually have a .01g sensitive scale, but it's tiny and no way to fit my hair on it. Plus, I'd think it would difficult to weigh your hair in a consistent manner since the angle at which your hair approaches the scale will make a difference (and what products are in it, how hydrated the strands are, etc). Plus your hair is constantly growing, so you can't really know how much is getting lost vs. growing. There are a lot more variables IMO, though it is just another data point that would still be really interesting know. Hmmmmmmm....


Oh no, I wasn't thinking of weighing the hair on your head. That's fun for a ballpark figure, but no way to get any kind of accuracy. I was thinking of weighing the sheds. Which would still vary depending on what products you're using, but would be a lot quicker than counting. Weigh 100 strands for a baseline, then you can figure out about how many you're losing each time with a bit of math. The accuracy wouldn't be perfect, but it would give you an idea.

When I've done inventory at work, it's way easier to use a scale than to count.

[milosmomma]

This is a very interesting experiment and I'm glad it didnt cause you to panic or stress out. Icounted and collected my sheds during my post partum shed and it helped me and actually lessened the stress knowing my shed were staying the same or slowly decreasing back to normal. I know for some it would cause more stress and possibly more shedding to be so vigilant with shedding.
As far as weighing, I dont know how accurate that would be. For my hair personally I have all different thicknesses and lengths of sheds. A 4 inch fine hair will weigh much less than a 30 inch coarse strand. I'm not sure how that would affect the results.
While I was being hyper-vigilant with my shedding I noticed that I shed more the week of menstruation, has anyone else noticed increased shedding in correlation to the monthly cycle? I've since stopped paying so close attention but this topic is very interesting to me.

[FrayedFire]

If you tared the scale , you could just put the hair in a bowl and weigh it that way...

[gin]

Oh no, I wasn't thinking of weighing the hair on your head. That's fun for a ballpark figure, but no way to get any kind of accuracy. I was thinking of weighing the sheds. Which would still vary depending on what products you're using, but would be a lot quicker than counting. Weigh 100 strands for a baseline, then you can figure out about how many you're losing each time with a bit of math. The accuracy wouldn't be perfect, but it would give you an idea.

When I've done inventory at work, it's way easier to use a scale than to count.


If you tared the scale , you could just put the hair in a bowl and weigh it that way...

Hmmmm I could try this with my sensitive scale. Now my curiosity is piqued. :) I'm not convinced it's sensitive enough for even 100 strands of hair, but might as well try right!

Though honestly, for me, the counting was the easy part. The hard part was restricting myself to the bathroom to do ANYTHING hair related, the vigilance required to catch all the hairs, and for my scalp, the minimal hairstyles. My scalp is very happy that I'll let my hair back down for periods of time now. :)


This is a very interesting experiment and I'm glad it didnt cause you to panic or stress out. Icounted and collected my sheds during my post partum shed and it helped me and actually lessened the stress knowing my shed were staying the same or slowly decreasing back to normal. I know for some it would cause more stress and possibly more shedding to be so vigilant with shedding.
As far as weighing, I dont know how accurate that would be. For my hair personally I have all different thicknesses and lengths of sheds. A 4 inch fine hair will weigh much less than a 30 inch coarse strand. I'm not sure how that would affect the results.
While I was being hyper-vigilant with my shedding I noticed that I shed more the week of menstruation, has anyone else noticed increased shedding in correlation to the monthly cycle? I've since stopped paying so close attention but this topic is very interesting to me.

I've read from others that they experienced something similar. I don't know if I've noticed anything in particular myself, but with the amount of hair I shed I don't know if I could tell a difference (a lot vs. more than a lot, haha). I don't know how people can have an idea of how much they shed based on eyeballing a cluster of hair. To me, 150 strands looks pretty similar to 50 strands - just looks like a lot of hair. :) That's why I had to count, haha.

[EdG]

My hypothesis is that the weight of shed hairs remains fairly constant, independent of length or number. This is because weight results from growth rate and total number of hairs on the head, both of which vary much less than terminal length.

I would love to see evidence supporting this hypothesis.
Ed

[Tinyponies]

In my case, weighing the sheds would not translate into number of hairs lost because I have such a high number of hairs that shed out at short (~5”) lengths. But I would consider weighing another useful piece of data when kept as a simple weight.

[EdG]

Tinyponies - yes, terminal length varies widely, and so will the number of shed strands. The weight should remain fairly constant because weight depends on growth.

Weighing shed strands requires a laboratory scale. This experiment is beyond the scope of what most LHC'ers can do.
Ed

[gin]

Weighing shed strands requires a laboratory scale. This experiment is beyond the scope of what most LHC'ers can do.
Ed

So true. It's an interesting thought nonetheless. If I had access to the equipment I'd totally try it. :)

[milosmomma]

Hmmmm I could try this with my sensitive scale. Now my curiosity is piqued. :) I'm not convinced it's sensitive enough for even 100 strands of hair, but might as well try right!

Though honestly, for me, the counting was the easy part. The hard part was restricting myself to the bathroom to do ANYTHING hair related, the vigilance required to catch all the hairs, and for my scalp, the minimal hairstyles. My scalp is very happy that I'll let my hair back down for periods of time now. :)



I've read from others that they experienced something similar. I don't know if I've noticed anything in particular myself, but with the amount of hair I shed I don't know if I could tell a difference (a lot vs. more than a lot, haha). I don't know how people can have an idea of how much they shed based on eyeballing a cluster of hair. To me, 150 strands looks pretty similar to 50 strands - just looks like a lot of hair. :) That's why I had to count, haha.

During my shed I would often just "eyeball" the shed ball. But I had many balls of already counted hairs to compare to and still counted them frequently. I would just use the eyeball method on days when feeling lazy or when time was an issue. It definitely helped to have hair balls that I knew how many hairs they contained for comparison. :lol:

[gin]

During my shed I would often just "eyeball" the shed ball. But I had many balls of already counted hairs to compare to and still counted them frequently. I would just use the eyeball method on days when feeling lazy or when time was an issue. It definitely helped to have hair balls that I knew how many hairs they contained for comparison. :lol:

One thing I learned from doing this for two weeks was just how BAD I am at eye-balling! I'd guess how many hairs I'd think a pile was, and then I'd count the pile. I was always off, and not consistently either. Sometimes I thought 5 hairs was 15, or 50 hairs was 15. You'd thunk after 2 weeks I'd see or learn a pattern, but nope. My hair piles just all look the same to me, no matter how big or small. So now I know that eyeballing for me is NOT an option. :)

[AutobotsAttack]

I’m soooo gonna try this. I don’t feel like my accuracy would be that well, since my shed hair tends to stay stuck amongst my other hair. But quite a bit of it comes out anyways.

[gin]

I’m soooo gonna try this. I don’t feel like my accuracy would be that well, since my shed hair tends to stay stuck amongst my other hair. But quite a bit of it comes out anyways.

Good luck! Yeah, it's amazing how many shed hairs just stay in your hair until you wash. Just looking at my numbers you can easily tell which days were wash days. :) And my hair is really straight and slippery, which I would think make it easier for hairs to fall out than having curls like yours!

[iamjessica26]

wow your experiment is amazing! I feel like I shed constantly but I'm obsessed with messing with my hair all day long. I have to sweep a lot at work and everytime I do I have a nice clump of my hair and my shower drain gets clogged everytime I turn around!

[gin]

wow your experiment is amazing! I feel like I shed constantly but I'm obsessed with messing with my hair all day long. I have to sweep a lot at work and everytime I do I have a nice clump of my hair and my shower drain gets clogged everytime I turn around!

I know what you mean, my hair gets everywhere too! But since I started putting my hair up more and trying to mess with it mainly in our bathroom, my hair doesn't clump around everywhere anymore. I still find my hair here and there in all corners of the house, but it's usually just 1 or 2 strands vs. a pile. It's actually super nice. We have two dogs and a cat so there's still plenty of hair everywhere!

[gin]

While I was being hyper-vigilant with my shedding I noticed that I shed more the week of menstruation, has anyone else noticed increased shedding in correlation to the monthly cycle? I've since stopped paying so close attention but this topic is very interesting to me.

So I had my period the past few days, and my shedding definitely increased! I never noticed this before but will pay some more attention to this. I read a few articles that say this is most likely due to the change in hormones and also a drop in iron levels (from bleeding). I did also have a fair amount of blood drawn a couple day sago for some lab tests too, not sure if that compounded it either...

[gin]

Alright, time for an update to this thread! I'm actually glad I really did this experiment, because it made me a lot more aware of my shedding in general. Turns out, when I did this experiment, my scalp wasn't in its best condition (at the time I thought it was fine/normal, but after some scalp experimentation I came to realize it wasn't - but that's another topic!). After making some changes to my routine, my scalp has been much better, and I decided to re-do this experiment, though I was a little more liberal with leaving my hair down more often around the house (my scalp is happier that way), so there were probably hairs that I didn't get to count. I allotted an extra 10-15 hairs for those times.

When I first did this experiment for this thread, I was averaging around 75-80 shed hairs a day. Now, I average about 45-50, some weeks lower 40s. This is a 38-40% decrease. Turns out, keeping that scalp happy makes a difference!

[Tinyponies]

Wowza that’s a big difference. Thanks for the update it’s so interesting!
I must have fallen out of the loop, what did you tweak in your routine ?

[gin]

Wowza that’s a big difference. Thanks for the update it’s so interesting!
I must have fallen out of the loop, what did you tweak in your routine ?

Long story short:
- I stopped putting my hair up in a bun all the time and opt for loose braids or wrapping it instead. If I do a bun now, it is usually a high bun on top of my head rather at the back, unless I know it's going to be for a short period of time.
- I wash more often (from 2x/week to 3x/week)
- I started blow drying just my scalp after washing to minimize how long it was damp.

[lapushka]

Alright, time for an update to this thread! I'm actually glad I really did this experiment, because it made me a lot more aware of my shedding in general. Turns out, when I did this experiment, my scalp wasn't in its best condition (at the time I thought it was fine/normal, but after some scalp experimentation I came to realize it wasn't - but that's another topic!). After making some changes to my routine, my scalp has been much better, and I decided to re-do this experiment, though I was a little more liberal with leaving my hair down more often around the house (my scalp is happier that way), so there were probably hairs that I didn't get to count. I allotted an extra 10-15 hairs for those times.

When I first did this experiment for this thread, I was averaging around 75-80 shed hairs a day. Now, I average about 45-50, some weeks lower 40s. This is a 38-40% decrease. Turns out, keeping that scalp happy makes a difference!

Hormones might help your hair not shed as well! Hormones are a big part of hair.

[gin]

Hormones might help your hair not shed as well! Hormones are a big part of hair.

For sure, though these numbers were still the same prior to finding out I was pregnant. :) Also my thyroid/hormone levels were tested earlier this year and came back normal.

It'll be interesting to see if anything changes during the pregnancy!

[Tinyponies]

Thanks for the extra info in a nutshell gin, and best wishes for your pregnancy :heart: :heart:

[lapushka]

For sure, though these numbers were still the same prior to finding out I was pregnant. :) Also my thyroid/hormone levels were tested earlier this year and came back normal.

It'll be interesting to see if anything changes during the pregnancy!

Had no idea you tested before that period. I just thought, let's chalk it up to hormones. :lol:

Enjoy the period of less shedding (I shed so much more than you; so individual isn't it).

But in the end it's about maintaining your circumference. It can vary during the year, which is why it's best to only measure that once, as a reference point, same month every year.

[gin]

Had no idea you tested before that period. I just thought, let's chalk it up to hormones. :lol:

Enjoy the period of less shedding (I shed so much more than you; so individual isn't it).

But in the end it's about maintaining your circumference. It can vary during the year, which is why it's best to only measure that once, as a reference point, same month every year.

I've heard about the time of the year thing, so I'll keep an eye on it. I've only been taking care of and paying attention to my hair since early this year, so not even a full year yet. I'm still very much a newbie in this space!

[gin]

Another update! I'm 18.5 weeks pregnant now, and it looks like I'm *maybe* seeing a very slight decrease in shedding, though it's only the last couple weeks that it changed, to about ~35 hairs/day. Prior to the last couple of weeks it was staying at 45ish. I'm curious if it will decrease more...

Also, I've stopped washing my hair as often due to lack of energy/laziness. :) I now wash my hair 1-2x/week, about every 5-6 days. I stopped doing scalp-only washes and just do full washes since they're fewer in between. It hasn't affected my hair shedding at all. So I think the main change to my routine that affected my shedding was minimizing the updos and drying my roots after washing to keep my scalp healthy.

[GoddesJourney]

I do remember shedding quite a bit less during pregnancy although I more than made up for it postpartum. You probably are shedding less. Also, reading your experiment echoes the shedding pattern I have seen in my own hair (sheds a ton more when shampooed).

I would like to mention that I love your science brain and totally geeked out over your post. Thank you for that. Anything that hits my nerd button puts a smile on my face.

[gin]

I would like to mention that I love your science brain and totally geeked out over your post. Thank you for that. Anything that hits my nerd button puts a smile on my face.

So glad you appreciate it too! I love numbers and data if I can have them. :) Now that I'm shedding a lot less than I originally was when I started this thread, I actually find myself still counting my shed hairs even when I'm not "experimenting". With the lower numbers it's not that hard and takes no time, and I just like knowing the numbers, haha.

[gin]

Okay, I washed my hair today and there was a drastic decrease in shed hairs compared to my usual wash days that I had to give an update. Prior to pregnancy (but after my initial experiment outlined in the beginning of this thread after I made some changes) I was shedding maybe 110-120 hairs on wash day. The last month or so it had decreased a little bit to 80-90. Today, it's looking to be less than 55ish or less! (It's in the low-40s now and I'm just accounting for how many more hairs that might shed before I go to bed).

It's such a huge difference that I just had to say something. :) I'm super curious to see how my next washes go.

[gin]

I've been sick the past week and I didn't wash my hair for almost two weeks. Finally washed my hair today and I am definitively shedding a lot less now. I was still keeping track of my shed hairs (it's just my thing now), and it was actually not that difficult since I barely let my hair down due to being home sick all the time and not doing all that much. :) Over 12 days, I shed 125 hairs. I shed another 35 washing my hair. So now I'm at 160 for 12 days, which is an average of just over 13 hairs/day. I am going to shed a little more between now and tonight when I go to bed, usually another 10-20. So if I say I lost 190 over 12 days, that comes out to almost 16 hairs/day, which is still a TON less than pre-pregnancy. I'm NOT looking forward to the post-pregnancy massive shed! :(