Does everyone's hair go through a massive shed at some point?

[Mairéad]

I certainly am not complaining about this, but my hair doesn’t seem to shed very much at all. It does, but I’ve never been able to get enough shed hairs to make a henna hair ball and it may be months before I have to clean out my hair brush. It also doesn’t seem to split or tangle very much at all either. Again, not complaining.


However, my question is, does everyone’s hair go through a massive shed? I’ve read many threads here where members have hair that is heavily shedding for a period of time, and to the point where it makes an impact on the overall thickness of hair.


I keep thinking that even though I’m shedding so few hairs today that one day it’s going to “catch up” and a whole mess of them are going to shed. There have been times, since as when I colored and heat styled hair, that it split and shed a bit more, but I still think it was well below average considering what I used to do to my hair. (Wash twice a day, eek!)


I treat my hair well now and it seems to have become even more resilient, but I’m curious about all this. Did I hid a genetic jack pot or I am bound to have a massive shed at some point? I just can’t recall a time where my hair has shed too much.

[AnqeIicDemise]

I didn't really notice how often I shed until my hair got long. I started clogging the drain and the vaccum. (I learned to now brush before showering to avoid this.)

There was a time in April where I lost a LOT of hair. It was starting to affect its overall thickness. I did not realize it was stress related (I thought I was just losing my winter coat) until I got my b-day message and the therapist mentioned she was having a REALLY hard time to get me to relax. I felt so alien when I left her table (I had been so tense for a long time, I no longer felt it) that I started to evaluate my life to see what the culprit was.

A massive, massive shed is abnormal. Usually there's a medical reason behind it.

I mean, the most normal shed I ever heard of was during menopause but even then that stops too and a handful of women never deal with it. I know my mother hasn't and neither did my grandma. My aunt, though.. that's a different story.

[Roseate]

The only time I've had a really big shed is when I went off of hormonal birth control. Other than that, it's been pretty steady. Even that shed wasn't too traumatic, it was over fairly quickly and then back to normal.

You may find changes in your shed rate as you get older and go through more natural hormonal changes, but your hair is definitely not "saving up" all the shedding you're not doing now in order to inflict it on you in the future!

[jojo]

Ive often wondered this too, my hair is nearly hip and I hardly shed at all. I often lose more in September for some reason but never anything much. Maybe some people just get lucky!

[BlazingHeart]

My sheds have all been medically related - low thyroid, mild anemia, allergic reaction, specific medications like depo, that sort of thing. Other than that, my hair is very consistent about how much it sheds.

[Chetanlaiho]

I'm currently experiencing massive shedding (thought it stopped but it seems to have started up again =( ) and I definitely do not consider that normal. Lost about 1 cm from my ponytail so far. Went to the doctor a while ago but have yet to get the results back from the blood test >_<

[Cowgirl16]

I don't think your "saving up" for a big shed. I believe that how much someone sheds is as individual as they are. I had always maintained my hair thickness until a recent hospital stay and sickness threw me into a big shed. I fully expect to get my thick hair back, it just takes time.

[Mairéad]

Thank you everyone. I knew that most big sheds are medical in nature. But, I thought there was a point that hairs just, you know, fall out. I guess I just do that slowly.

I heard 100 hairs a day is average but I shed NO WHERE near that much. I'm glad I have such a slow shed rate, but I usually have to strand test on a small piece of hair that's still on my head. Otherwise I'd have to collect my shed hair far, far in advance. :o

[jojo]

My sheds have all been medically related - low thyroid, mild anemia, allergic reaction, specific medications like depo, that sort of thing. Other than that, my hair is very consistent about how much it sheds.

I also have hypothyroidism but *touches wood* no problems with my hair, hope you get your health sorted out too.