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x0h_bother
April 12th, 2010, 02:31 PM
Long hairs are falling out, despite my shampoo and conditioner changes (that I thought were for the better!) I switched to a less harsh shampoo and an organic conditioner. What could it be?? Literally 10-20 longgg hairs fall out in my shower alone, and another 10-20 on my sink. And that's only the ones I see at those particular times. I swear I am shedding over 300 hairs a day now. My shorter "broken" hairs are no longer breaking off, but I'd almost rather that! :brickwall Help!

Capybara
April 12th, 2010, 02:34 PM
Has your ponytail circumference changed much?
I estimate that I shed almost 200 hairs a day, but I have maintained a 4.5 inch circumference. So, I'm still squeaking in on the thinner side of iii (: It's possible to shed large amounts of hair but still maintain thickness.

Have you had any dietary/lifestyle changes recently? I know many people who have shed more during times of stress. Hopefully, there's a simple solution to this. :)

Sorry I'm not more informed on the subject, HTH! :flowers:

mintyhot
April 12th, 2010, 02:36 PM
perhaps your shampoo has sodium lauryl sulfate in it? It is pretty extreme but you might have a thyroid problem

jera
April 12th, 2010, 02:37 PM
Long hairs are falling out, despite my shampoo and conditioner changes (that I thought were for the better!) I switched to a less harsh shampoo and an organic conditioner. What could it be?? Literally 10-20 longgg hairs fall out in my shower alone, and another 10-20 on my sink. And that's only the ones I see at those particular times. I swear I am shedding over 300 hairs a day now. My shorter "broken" hairs are no longer breaking off, but I'd almost rather that! :brickwall Help!

Exactly what changes did you make??

The fact that the hairs that are being shed are very long is not a bad sign because they may have been genetically programmed to shed anyway. :) I'd be much more worried if I was losing short hairs, though I understand where you're coming from.

spidermom
April 12th, 2010, 02:37 PM
You describe losing 20-40 hairs per day, then suddenly you jump to estimating you lose over 300 per day. That's a big jump. It's natural for each hair to shed once it has reached the end of its growth cycle. You can't stop it, nor should you. I recommend that you watch your health habits and do the best that you can, and remember - for every hair that sheds, a new hair grows (most of the time).

Melisande
April 12th, 2010, 02:43 PM
It might be seasonal - my cats, my girls and I shed more in spring, so maybe you do, too?

Did you try the essential oil mixture - there is a long thread about it, although I can't find it now.

Try not to worry too much. The body is a complicated thing, and sometimes hair falls as reaction to medical problems or treatments that you experienced months ago.

Every day, hair falls out and new hair grows. If you are worried, go to have your bloodwork done. Vitamins, iron, thyroid are some of the usual suspects.

How is the situation of your skin?

Eat well, sleep good and treat your hair even gentler. Dilute your shampoo and minimize all kinds of stress to your hair.

halo_tightens
April 12th, 2010, 02:49 PM
Has your ponytail circumference changed much?
I estimate that I shed almost 200 hairs a day, but I have maintained a 4.5 inch circumference. So, I'm still squeaking in on the thinner side of iii (: It's possible to shed large amounts of hair but still maintain thickness.

I second this... Is your hair becoming noticeably thinner? I shed TONS of hair every day, yet I still have thick hair. Some people just naturally shed more than others. If you have the same amount of hair that you've always had, maybe that's just normal for you.

If you know darn well that you used to have more hair on your head than you do now, only then would I worry about it. There could indeed be some identifiable cause, whether medical, product-related, or whatever.

Ksenia
April 12th, 2010, 07:52 PM
Have you counted the hairs in your drain after your shower? It gives you an idea of what types of hair you're losing. I started doing that and found that about 1/3 were breaks and the rest were full length hairs. I've learned that it actually looks like you've lost fewer than you actually have - I was happy to see a reduction today, and there were still 20-30 in my hair trap. 40-50 is normal for me in the shower.

A loss of 20-40 per shower is, I keep telling myself, not something to get too scared about because 40-60 per day (shower and brushing) is fairly normal for longhairs.

Is there any particular time that you find the loss increases? For a while I was having one then another then another then another come out during shampooing, I realised I was being a bit too rough and my hair wasn't 100% detangled before the shower.

x0h_bother
April 12th, 2010, 08:26 PM
:confused:
It might be seasonal - my cats, my girls and I shed more in spring, so maybe you do, too?

Did you try the essential oil mixture - there is a long thread about it, although I can't find it now.

Try not to worry too much. The body is a complicated thing, and sometimes hair falls as reaction to medical problems or treatments that you experienced months ago.

Every day, hair falls out and new hair grows. If you are worried, go to have your bloodwork done. Vitamins, iron, thyroid are some of the usual suspects.

How is the situation of your skin?

Eat well, sleep good and treat your hair even gentler. Dilute your shampoo and minimize all kinds of stress to your hair.
Yes, I do have sensitive skin and a dry scalp, but I'm not sure what that has to do with it?
I am anemic and I understand how that could affect it.
Spidermom, I only notice 20-40 hairs in the shower and then on the sink, but per day I extrapolate to the equivalant of more than 300 (which is standard to lose per day.) Because if I lose hair in the shower (20,) sink (20,) brush (20) sink at night (20), from taking down styles at night (20,) then that's 100 right there estimating at the low end, just based on the things I do to it and notice, not counting playing with my hair at work and just throughout the day.

Ponytail circumference has lessened, but it's been decreasing for quite some time. It doesn't make me less worried though.

Ksenia, I did notice how big/small the clump was in the drain and it is WAYYYYY worse! I would say double.

Jera, I switched to a "normal" SLS shampoo from a dandruff one and to an organic conditioner cone free, although I do use cones occasionally.

Could it be my hair is getting less slip from not using cones, and more buildup from not clarifying, thus causeing shedding from no slip when I wash and also natural shedding from a bad scalp?? Maybe my changes were for the worse..:confused:

x0h_bother
April 13th, 2010, 03:38 PM
Hey all, it was the AO conditioner that wasn't giving me enough slip in the shower/during the day, so I used a coney one and I lost only 5 in the shower and 2 on the counter and about 5 that I noticed so far throughout the day! Figuring it out can be tricky, but I'm certain it was the change in routine. Thanks guys!

FrannyG
April 13th, 2010, 06:21 PM
I might suggest that you are not actually losing as many strands as you think you are. When my hair was a few inches longer than it is now, I started to think that I was shedding more hair. I actually started counting shed hairs, and I realized that it looked like more hair, because it was much longer than it had been, so 10 hairs looked the way 20 or 30 hairs used to look when my hair was shorter.

Keep your eye on it, but try not to worry about it, unless you find you have some other medical problems.

If you are convinced that you're shedding abnormally, make sure you get a checkup, and have your thyroid checked if necessary.

x0h_bother
April 14th, 2010, 11:46 AM
I might suggest that you are not actually losing as many strands as you think you are. When my hair was a few inches longer than it is now, I started to think that I was shedding more hair. I actually started counting shed hairs, and I realized that it looked like more hair, because it was much longer than it had been, so 10 hairs looked the way 20 or 30 hairs used to look when my hair was shorter.

Yeah, I'm not sure per day if it's more, but definately in the shower and on the sink it was more. The reason I know is that I run my fingers through my hair in the shower and count hairs by putting them on the shower curtain (i know weird) and what falls on the sink/counter. But I feel confident now that the shedding is less :) yay.

kurlylox
April 14th, 2010, 12:35 PM
I seem to be loosing alot of hairs too, I find them on the floor in little clumps.
My hair seems very tangaly anymore.

PhillyGirl26
April 14th, 2010, 01:34 PM
Hmm, everyone loses a few strands a day but your case sounds extreme. Are you stressed out or anything?

x0h_bother
April 17th, 2010, 08:52 AM
Hmm, everyone loses a few strands a day but your case sounds extreme. Are you stressed out or anything?
Hi PhillyGirl, yes I am always stressed it seems! :headache:
I'm thinking it's diet because today was just unbearable- back up to 20 hairs in shower. My ponytail is so much thinner :(
I'm going to take iron and general mineral supplements and update you on how it's working out, in case others lose their hair and are wondering if it helps.
:shrug:

x0h_bother
April 27th, 2010, 11:31 AM
Well supplements have not been consistent so no update with their effects on hair loss yet. Interesting thing I noticed, though, when I use a round brush to distribute the sebum through my hair at night, and shower the next morning, I shed less! I also don't get many hairs in my roundbrush! Amazing! :-)