How do you "count" your hair shedding?

[Dreamkitty]

I know 50-100 hairs are shed each day. But how do you keep track of how much you are shedding?

It's impossible to count them all but how do you estimate the number of hairs in your hairball?

For instance, I wash my hair once a week or twice at the most, alot of my shedding for some reason all comes out when I have a shower so I have this big hairball & its getting bigger as my hair is getting longer. But I don't know where im shedding too little, the normal amount or too much?

So I was wondering how everyone else knows how much they shed without counting?:)

[Vorvolaka]

I just gauge what is normal for me, I try not to compare to everyone else. And I only really pay attention to my shower furballs. Obviously, furballs get bigger as hair gets longer, so that is nothing to worry about. I've only ever counted strands once, I usually just give it a quick eye over and leave it at that. I don't obsess over it.

Just remember, if your pony circumference is remaining constant, then you have nothing to worry about!

[Leneveu]

I always wondered how people manage to count their shed hairs, too! :ponder:

[Messyhair]

I just count all the hairs that fall out in the run of a day. :confused: It's fairly simple to do, since no hair falls out if I leave my hair alone and have it up. You just count the shed hairs when you comb it out before washing, comb it out at the end of the day, and use a trap in the tub to catch those that fall out during washing (oh, and count those that happen to come out when you're putting your hair up, too).

I get an average of 100 hairs shed daily. Or at least, I did last time I bothered to check. :)

[Tiina]

One, two, three, four... :p

There is no point in obsessing over the exact number. If it looks like more than usual, then it probably is more than usual. But as long as the hair doesn't seem thinner, you shouldn't worry.

[milagro]

Well I just do count them from time to time if it seems like more than usual :D Mine come off mostly in shower while I am detangling, so it's not that difficult to gather them and count, pulling off one by one (or two). You don't need to count all, just estimate.

[Fethenwen]

I never count them accurately, I don't think that anyone really does count every single shed hair :p
I see like four hairs on my brush after I have brushed it. That is normal, if I see non at all it's mostly because I have brushed it already that day or due to oiling the day before (which reduces shedding).

I also see if some hairs come off when I shower. Or if I find some on my clothes. These things are put together and I can estimate an average shedding for a day. I don't usually put so much attention to it, but if I shed a lot I usually count them just to see if it's getting worse or better.

In a hair ball I try to estimate how many there are instead of trying to count one hair at a time. This gets harder the longer my hair gets because it always looks like there is more hair in a hairball than it really is because the hairs are longer.

[RadiantNeedle]

I count as I go, collecting when I detangle and comb, catching as many as I can when I wash, when I take my hair up or down and pick strays off my clothing. I pause while detangling to count the hairs I've collected one by one, then I ball them up and throw them in the bin.
It's not 100% accurate, but it's a start.

[tendingchi]

I just gauge it by how big the hairball is - though when I am combing downward, a lot of the breakage (not there is a LOT of breakage...) drops to the floor. I just *know* when it is more than usual.

[Speckla]

I did when I was shedding 3x normal. I was shedding about 300+ hairs a day and had visible thinning on top. It slowled drastically after I made some dietary changes and a few medical ones. I counted occasionally afterwards out of paranoia. It went down to the usual 100 or so a day.

[Fufu]

I never count, when my hair sheds i will like.

Oh my hair.. and walk away.

[madeline_]

I don't count, I just have a vague concept of "a lot" and "normal", "a lot" being over the summer when I had a brief dabble with conditioner only washing (without clarifying) which was causing me to go bald slowly. My ex-boyfriend was always mentioning long red hair in his sink, his shower drain, his bed, etcetera. At the time I just thought I was noticing it more because my hair was growing so the shed just seemed more. Ha. Guess again.

I'm now back to a normal rate and I notice about 2-6 hairs roughly on my hands when I fingercomb, a few in my wooden brush and some in the shower or on my clothes. I don't think I shed much nowadays, but then again, I don't have that much hair to begin with.

[QMacrocarpa]

Measuring your ponytail circumference once in a while seems like a much easier way to monitor things. It wouldn't have occurred to me to count individual shed hairs. :shrug:

[Madora]

If you want to count each hair, here's how Dr. George Michael suggested to do it in his book:

Take an envelope and date it.
Take each fallen hair and place it in the envelope.
Count each strand and label it on the envelope.

I've never done this myself since my shedding rate is much less than the usual fallout amount for my length.

[spidermom]

Generally, I don't even care, although on a few occasions I have looked at the fall from combing out my hair and said to myself "holey moley!" But count them? Please.