Sebum buildup = more shedding?

[YepLilly]

I find that washing my hair every 2-3 days is what works best for me. If I happen to go 4 or more days without washing it, I notice an increase in the hair that falls from my head (when I run my fingers through it for example). So I'm guessing this all due to the scalp having more sebum. Is that true? Does sebum buildup actually increase the amount of shedding? Thanks!

[kouran]

I have noticed this as well. I wash my hair once a week, and a tend to shed more hairs on the last day before washing it...

If you still want to stretch washes, go slowly: now that your hair is used to being washed every 2-3 days, maybe you could try to wash it every 3-4 days.

[virgo75]

I have this same issue and it's why I wash almost daily and don't CO wash = shedding. I do think that excess sebum contributes to hair shedding in some people(myself being one of them).

If you want to stretch further kouran's suggestion of leaving an extra day between washings seems like a good one. Or if you're worried about your hair's health you could continue to wash at your current frequency but try using a mild or sulfate free shampoo and see if that works for you. Personally I found CWC to be the best of both worlds for me: My hair gets all the conditioner it likes and my scalp gets clean as often as it likes. :)

[spidermom]

I'm with virgo75: wash hair whenever it needs to be washed using the CWC method. I also dilute my shampoo with warm water in a squirt bottle.

[AceOfCurls]

I'm having the same problem, if I go too long without washes. I hadn't realized it might be due to sebum build up.

[sun-kissed]

I've always thought that the shed was due to the hair not being pulled out by water; as in, it slowly startes shedding 'more' if you stretch your washes, because it is not falling out as a result of the water in the shower.
But I may very well be wrong, that was just my assumption.

[Yame]

My hair sheds like crazy regardless of what I do. It has for years (as long as I can remember?) and somehow I am still not bald... I should get myself to a dermatologist one of these days and see if there is something wrong with me, but I am always afraid they will give me dumb advice and recommend medication.

I do stretch washes and I am down to once a week now, which was my goal. I do feel like when I wash my hair, more hair comes out than it did on each wash before I stretched washes, but I get the impression that this is due to the shed hairs not having had the opportunity to come out more often. So it looks like I am shedding more, but I am just shedding at once everything that I would have shed over the course of 3 or 4 washes.

So while it can be a little alarming to come out of my shower with a massive hairball, I don't think that hairball is any bigger than it would be if I had washed my hair 3 times that week and gathered all those hairballs together into one, if you know what I mean. And in my case, my hairballs before I stretched washes were always pretty large and scary anyway, due to my hair being long, coarse, and black, and due to the fact that my hair does shed more than average.

[YepLilly]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one! I've been having good results with CWC so far. My scalp becomes oily way before my length, so CWC makes a lot of sense.

I don't think for me it's a case of hair that will be shed when washing anyway, since the difference in the amount of hair that falls going from 2-3 days to say 4-5 is a lot.

I wonder why a low-poo will be better in this case, wouldn't a stronger shampoo prevent the sebum from building up so fast? Right now I'm alternating between no sulfates and sulfates.

[arcane]

I find I notice shedding more near the 4-5 day mark, but I always attributed to the fact that on those days I wear my hair tied back more and so the hair doesn't get to fall out over the course of the day.

I also CWC, but I'm starting to pay more attention too my scalp and scrubbing the scalp more. I've noticed that my hair is shedding a bit less.

[dulce]

Yes,for me it does,most definitely.

[seaj]

I don't think sebum buildup causes shedding for me. I think I pretty much loose the same amount of hairs everyday, depending on the season, but they don't fall out until they are loosened. Isn't the average person suppose to lose around 100 hairs a day?

I shed the most hair while/after I shampoo, simply because of all the scalp scrubbing. It's the part of my hair care routine where my hair gets the most manipulation so it make sense to me that it's the day I shed the most hair. My hair is dutch braided all the time except while it's air drying so all my shed hairs are easy to track.

Typically, I detangle twice a day on days when I don't wash, and I lose gradually increasing amounts of hair every day until I shampoo and condition which is usually every 4 to 6 days. Often times by wash day my hair is saturated with sebum 6 inched past my roots. Let's just say I don't get out much haha.

The day after I shampoo I lose around 5-10 hairs at most. On wash day I can sometimes find as many as 100 (that's all the hair I find in my brush while I detange before I shower, from the tub, and all the hair I lose while I detangle again). So a if I were to average things out that would be about 30-45 hairs a day.

If I brush my scalp while I detangle I loosen more hairs and therefore shed more.

Most people think it's gross, but it seems like sebum is my hair's favorite conditioner. I can already tell that my ends are missing the stuff now that my hair is getting longer.

I'm sure that sebum buildup does affect some people though. I just like to believe that leaving my hair alone as mush as possible is the best thing for it.

[PurusNox]

Wow, nearly everyone has said more sebum = more shedding, for me it seems like the opposite. I'll have to look into it more carefully.

[Yame]

I don't think sebum buildup causes shedding for me. I think I pretty much loose the same amount of hairs everyday, depending on the season, but they don't fall out until they are loosened. Isn't the average person suppose to lose around 100 hairs a day?

I shed the most hair while/after I shampoo, simply because of all the scalp scrubbing. It's the part of my hair care routine where my hair gets the most manipulation so it make sense to me that it's the day I shed the most hair. My hair is dutch braided all the time except while it's air drying so all my shed hairs are easy to track.

Typically, I detangle twice a day on days when I don't wash, and I lose gradually increasing amounts of hair every day until I shampoo and condition which is usually every 4 to 6 days. Often times by wash day my hair is saturated with sebum 6 inched past my roots. Let's just say I don't get out much haha.

The day after I shampoo I lose around 5-10 hairs at most. On wash day I can sometimes find as many as 100 (that's all the hair I find in my brush while I detange before I shower, from the tub, and all the hair I lose while I detangle again). So a if I were to average things out that would be about 30-45 hairs a day.

If I brush my scalp while I detangle I loosen more hairs and therefore shed more.

Most people think it's gross, but it seems like sebum is my hair's favorite conditioner. I can already tell that my ends are missing the stuff now that my hair is getting longer.

I'm sure that sebum buildup does affect some people though. I just like to believe that leaving my hair alone as mush as possible is the best thing for it.

Well said... My thoughts exactly!

[clairenewcastle]

The only time I ever shed hair is when I shampoo so for that reason I try to stretch shampoos as long as possible.
However, I shed the same amount if I shampoo after three days as when I shampoo after six days.

[sugar&nutmeg]

I wonder why a low-poo will be better in this case, wouldn't a stronger shampoo prevent the sebum from building up so fast? Right now I'm alternating between no sulfates and sulfates.

It's my understanding (somebody correct me, if I'm wrong) that the stronger the shampoo, the more it 'strips' the natural oils from the scalp, so the scalp produces even more sebum to try to replace that loss.

[YepLilly]

It's my understanding (somebody correct me, if I'm wrong) that the stronger the shampoo, the more it 'strips' the natural oils from the scalp, so the scalp produces even more sebum to try to replace that loss.

Oh, that does make sense! Didn't think about it that way. Thank you :)

[Audhumla]

I get increased shedding if I wait longer to wash my hair but I always assumed that it was just because of the increased time between massaging anything into my scalp so more hair that would've fallen out has accumulated. To me that seems more likely.

[MajorasMask]

Yeah, I noticed quite a bit more hair fall out when I'm stretching... But on wash day I have hardly any. Weird.

[Megz]

My shedding's nowhere near as bad as it used to be (I have mastered the art of sewer snaking), but I don't notice much of a difference by stretching (other than my hair just not liking the stretch part for long). I think a lot of it is due to sulfate-free shampoos and better, overall scalp condition than what I had a few months ago.

I agree, that most of the average shed rate is probably staying put until it's washed after those 4 days (or however long someone goes), since it's being manipulated more, and maybe the warm water/steam from a shower opens up the scalp or softens it, releasing hairs more easily.