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View Full Version : my hair is falling out--please help



::delight::
June 24th, 2009, 01:31 PM
I am new here and am so happy I found this forum. First a little about my hair, I have blonde hair that falls just past my shoulder blades, it is thinish, fine, and straight (used to be wavy and I could manipulate it to get really wavy/curly but after I had kids it just stays straight :(, wish it would go back). I currently use Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Oil soap to wash and coconut oil to condition. I wash about every 3 days. Before I was using TIGI Oatmeal and Honey shampoo followed by cheap conditioner, once they ran out I made the switch. I heard that sls and silicone in body products were not good for you thats whay I stopped using conventional shampoo and conditioner. My problem is that everytime I wash or comb my hair some of it falls out. I don't want to be bald by the time I'm 30 and am willing to try most anything to stop this from happening. Also I have a bit of a problem with picking my split ends, I have gotten much better about it but still do it :o. And I have not had a hair cut in over 2 years, I am afraid whoever cuts it will cut off too much soI keep putting it off. One last thing, I wear my hair up, in a ponytail, most days in the summer and down in the winter. I also wear it in a ponytail or braid for bed.

TIA
delight

Fractalsofhair
June 24th, 2009, 02:21 PM
Hair does shed about 100 hairs a day. Are you talking chunks falling out from the root, or what? Silicone isn't bad for your skin if you don't react badly to it(It dries out my skin and hair, but it's not a dangerous chemical as far as I know, pretty inert.). The issue with SLS is that some SLS products can be contaminated. The biggest issue with those is that they are drying. If you're getting chunks falling out from the root, see a doctor. If it's just shedding, be gentle with your hair. If it's breaking, that's damage. If you have a lot of damage, you can cut your hair yourself(look for split ends and only cut that hair).

::delight::
June 24th, 2009, 02:40 PM
ok so it is not coming out in chunks, no bald spots. I know it is damaged. can anyone reccomend a good shampoo/conditioner routine or products for damaged hair? is coconut oil ok to continue to use for conditioning?

Norai
June 24th, 2009, 02:57 PM
Dr. Bronners is pretty harsh as far as soap goes - if you're going to use it you definitely want to follow with a vinegar rinse, otherwise combing is going to be more difficult than it should be (might be where some of the shedding is coming from). Soap is very basic and causes the cuticle (is that the right word?) on your hair to open. Your hair shaft likes to be acidic, so the vinegar rinse helps it get back to where it likes to be and close the cuticle.

If you like to use bar soap, you might want to consider shampoo bars - Chagrin Valley is often recommended here... haven't tried them myself.

Fractalsofhair
June 24th, 2009, 03:17 PM
I like Alaffia for a soap based rich product for my damaged hair. I use shea and honey, but if I put coconut milk on my hair, I'm able to use Doc Bronners. I agree with the suggestion about a vinegar rinse, you dilute a table spoon of vinegar in cup to a liter of water and rinse your hair with that. Check out the thread on soap bars here, it's helpful! Burt's bees is a fairly nice mild more "natural"(Not Alaffia/Doc Bronners, but mostly just safe synthetics as opposed to questionable ones in Super Shiny), shampoo but it's too harsh for my very dry hair. I like Alaffia, it works wonders! It looks brown, but it won't darken your hair! (Since you're a blonde, as I am, it's good to know, I was worried when I bought it!)

Thila
June 24th, 2009, 04:23 PM
Just curious if you have had your thyroid checked lately? I only ask because my hair was doing the same thing and fortunately I had a good physician that knew what was happening. I had a LOT of hair coming out at the root...not breaking off. It is a simple test to get it checked and I was put on medication after they figured out what was going on. It all grew back in so no worries. Hope that helped.

loves2spin
June 24th, 2009, 04:41 PM
When you do the vinegar rinse, that is after the last wash, and then you rinse out the vinegar rinse and if you use conditioner, do it then and then rinse one last time. I have a friend whose hair sheds more if she conditions. She started using my homemade shampoo bars and the problem stopped and no conditioner is needed. We just wash, rinse, vinegar rinse and rinse again. Good luck! Physical/emotional or other stresses can cause hair loss, like childbirth (but it always comes back) or a sudden loss of weight or change of diet. Take care of your health and your hair should be healthy if nothing is wrong... like the thyroid suggestion.

mellie
June 24th, 2009, 07:43 PM
You could try soapnuts! They are good for stopping shedding, if that's the problem. I've been washing with them for about 9 months now and I shed a LOT less now. It's especially cool when I shower and there's like NO hairs on the drain cover! :cheer: You can see my method and recipe in my siggy link if you want to give it a try!

augustspy
June 25th, 2009, 02:52 PM
It's been suggested that you get your thyroid checked. You might want to study up on this for specific information. It can be overwhelming starting out. The other important thing to check is your ferritin. Ferritin is stored iron. Low ferritin, anything below 70, can cause dramatic shedding. Ask me. ;-( Many women are low from monthly periods. When I first discovered my low ferritin I was losing massive amounts of hair and my hair was miniaturizing too. Short growth cycles as well. These are signs of low ferritin. My ferritin was 17.

Note- I check my own ferritin now. It can easily slip for many of us once you've built it. I order a requisition form from LEF.org. You can join for $25. a year. Ferritin tests cost $21 as a member. You can't beat this. You take your requisition form to a Labcorp. They pull a vile of blood and LEF emails or mails the results to you. I tested once a month starting out because I had trouble getting some of the iron forms to build. No sense in spending months with an iron and finding out then.

Here is a great article on it-

http://www.femail.com.au/iron-levels-tony-pearce.htm

I am going into my 5th month of iron and my shedding is finally starting to lower.

Good luck with whatever you discover.

AG

QUOTE=::delight::;646688]I am new here and am so happy I found this forum. First a little about my hair, I have blonde hair that falls just past my shoulder blades, it is thinish, fine, and straight (used to be wavy and I could manipulate it to get really wavy/curly but after I had kids it just stays straight :(, wish it would go back). I currently use Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Oil soap to wash and coconut oil to condition. I wash about every 3 days. Before I was using TIGI Oatmeal and Honey shampoo followed by cheap conditioner, once they ran out I made the switch. I heard that sls and silicone in body products were not good for you thats whay I stopped using conventional shampoo and conditioner. My problem is that everytime I wash or comb my hair some of it falls out. I don't want to be bald by the time I'm 30 and am willing to try most anything to stop this from happening. Also I have a bit of a problem with picking my split ends, I have gotten much better about it but still do it :o. And I have not had a hair cut in over 2 years, I am afraid whoever cuts it will cut off too much soI keep putting it off. One last thing, I wear my hair up, in a ponytail, most days in the summer and down in the winter. I also wear it in a ponytail or braid for bed.

TIA
delight[/QUOTE]

::delight::
June 25th, 2009, 08:20 PM
First off thanks for all the responses and advice. I use Dr. Bronners because it is economical, my husband uses it to wash with (he keeps his hair buzzed) and so I started to buy it by the gallon and use it too, I also use it in some of my homemade household cleaning products. I will have to try the vinegar rinse, after I wash with it I finger comb coconut oil into my hair and do notice it is quite tangled. I use a good amount of coconut oil, I don't mind the greaseness (sp?) of it since I keep it up most of the time.

Like I said it is not clumps of hair, but it is the whole length of the hair minus the root and also brakage. I am a little worried about the health issues mentioned. :confused: Are there any other signs of thyroid problems or things too look for? I don't have insurance so I would want to be very sure before I go in to have tests done. Are thyroid test expensive? About the iron thing, again are there any other signs or things to look for? I guess I am off to do some research, but first I'm going to wash my hair followed with a vinegar rinse. :)

Thanks to all of you again and I will let you know what happens.

pdy2kn6
June 26th, 2009, 12:00 AM
everyones does, i think we all have been through that worry phase, we just have to realise that hair falls out everyday, so i wouldnt worry about it. Try n ot to get hung up on it, you will be fine. The wrose is if you end up stressing about it, that would lead to more severe problems with regards to your hair loss. im pretty sure its just shredded hair :)

MunchkinBubble
June 26th, 2009, 09:01 AM
I'm dealing with this right now too!! Out of nowhere the past 3-4 weeks I've been shedding like crazy! I swear my couch and clothes have more hair on them then my head. Every time I even touch my hair more comes out - which has led me to pretty much never detangling my hair (uck!)

The only thing that comes to mind is that I switched back to using CV bars about 2 months ago, but I never had problems in the past using them. My hair is pretty dry so I don't want to go back to sulfates and cones so I think I'm going to hunt down some sulfate/cone free shampoo (Giovanni maybe?)

Hopefully we'll both get this figure out soon!!
Good luck!

GlassEyes
June 26th, 2009, 09:05 AM
Everyone does shed some; that you're losing entire hairs is normal, because it's shed at the root. Anything else is the result of breakage.

That said, if it's an abnormal amount compared to what you experienced before (it could just be that you're noticing it now, after joining and noticing more), I'd get your thyroid and iron levels checked, ASAP. Hair loss can be an indicator of a number of health issues.

birdiefu
June 26th, 2009, 01:57 PM
I also agree that a lot of people will notice how much they shed after joining LHC, and may think a normal amount is too much. Especially with longer hair, as the volume of shed hairs is greater than the same number of short hairs.

A person can normally shed up to 100 hairs a day (usually closer to 100 during seasonal sheds, yes humans can have seasonal shedding!). If you are very concerned, you can do a 24 hour count of your shed hairs. The way I did it was to pick a time of day to braid my hair for 24 hours. Comb thoroughly (but gently) beforehand to get any already-shed hairs out, then braid or bun up. Don't take it down until 24 hours have passed, then comb/brush out the hair (I would not suggest to do this over a carpet, smooth floor is best to find the hairs) and count the number of shed hairs.

You can also compare your ponytail circumference measurement. If you have a good baseline of what your pony circumference is and it seems to be getting significantly smaller, then you know you are losing more hairs than are growing at the moment. However, this method has it's drawbacks as it can be hard to get a consistent measurement, and by the time you see a big difference you would have lost a bunch of hair already.

I had a very large shed last year (cause still unknown) where I lost over 1/2" of my pony circ over 9 months, and when I counted I was shedding over 170 hairs a day (I stopped counting at that point as it depressed me, but probably 200+). The shed suddenly stopped over the course of a week, going to only around 20 hairs a day, it was a huge difference.

There can really be a ton of reasons why people can lose hair abnormally, from stress to hormones to any number of other health problems. The hair is often a reflection of our state of health (mental and physical), as it is one of the last places that our body puts it's energy into maintaining. I would try to determine first if your shed truly is abnormal (aside from usual shed rate or seasonal shed) before you approach a doctor about it.

Regarding your ends, there are many cone-free conditioners out if you want to try that on your hair. I would recommend doing a moisture treatment of some sort on the ends, and well as a thorough S&D session (find the splits and cut them off one at a time with very sharp hair scissors). Also look into trying out some buns, they can help protect the ends more than ponytails or braids. Also regarding the ponytails, what type of elastic are you using? As there is a possibility that you are getting breakage from wearing a ponytail in the same spot frequently with some types of fasteners.

Hope this helps some, welcome to LHC. :)

Cherry_Sprinkle
June 26th, 2009, 02:17 PM
First of all, stop using the soaps you're using on your hair right now.. if its drying when you already have damage its going to cause it to break off much more than it would normally because its continuing to dry it out. Try starting out with CO the length of your hair and using a gentle shampoo on the scalp only and letting the water rinse it down to the ends of your hair.. then condition again. Then try using SMT and some hot oil treatments.. You mgiht also look into the catnip for moisture thread.. I've found the treatment to be helpful for my hair type.. and i have fine wavy hair.. its possible your curl/wave will return once your hair is in better condition.

Second, start taking a multi-vitamin. If you are lacking nutrition in your system it greatly effects your hair as well as your over all health. Start micro-trimming your hair.. if you can't do this ask the stylist to cut no more than 1/2" (about 1 months growth) at a time. If you're having a lot of breakage the only real way to end it is to stop damaging it and cut it off.. if you bleach your chemically process your hair, stop doing that until the breakage stops and then only do the roots... I would continue to oil but I would never use any heat or dye-type products on it right now. VO5 & Suave are great conditioners, VO5 shampoos are good for clarifying, and Queen Helene Mint Julep shapoo is good for every day use (at least on my hair)

Good luck! I hope that helps!

::delight::
July 1st, 2009, 01:35 PM
Thanks everyone for all the advice. My hair is natural, no dyes or perms and not heat (curling/flat iron or blow dry). Also I use ouchless rubberbands to hold my hair in a low ponytail most every day. I started taking my prenatals vitamins (not pregnant but nursing), not sure why I stopped I guess I always forgot. First I tried washing with Dr. Bronner's followed with a vinegar rinse and coconut oil. The vinegar rinse made a big difference, also found I did not need as much coconut oil. I also took the advice from Cherry_Sprinkle and did:
coconut oil, rinse
a little Dr. Bronner's on the scalp only, rinse
cocnut oil, rinse
and this left me with very little shedding, but pretty oily hair which I don't mid too much as it is always in a pony tail.

I do wear my hair the same way almost everyday, I should probably change that but don't know how to the various cool hair doos I have seen picture of. Is there a place to look for that here? I also went back to braiding my hair for bed and that seems to help a little.

Today I bought Suave coconut shampoo because I used to use this stuff and love the smell, is this ok for dry/damaged hair? I have always been told by hairdressers that any shampoo/conitioner other then "salon quality" is the same as using laundry detergent on your hair. Is this trus or do they just say that to get you to buy the expensive stuff they sell in salons? I was also going to buy hair sheers to cut my split ends rather then pick them but they cost $17! To me that seems like a lot for sisccors, is it?

Also what is SMT? Any recomendations for hot oil treatments, I have never done that before and would need instructions as well as a homemade recipe or a place to find that information.

So tonight when I wash my hair I will put coconut oil on the length of my hair; rinse; Suave shampoo, on the scalp only; rinse; coconut oil on the entire length of my hair focusing on the ends; rinse.

Thanks everyone! Any more tips or advice would be appritiated. I will let you know what happens.

loves2spin
July 2nd, 2009, 04:39 AM
I could be wrong, but I don't believe you can just rinse coconut oil out. When I use it, I wash my hair as usual, put on the coconut oil, braid my hair and let it sit on there all night and wash and rinse and condition in the morning. Others have other routines I am sure.