My hair shedding "experiment"

[gin]

This is long. Scroll to bottom for TLDR summary

Background: Since I started caring about my hair and lurking on LHC, about Feb-March this year, I was always curious about how much hair I shed. I think I shed a lot since my hair is everywhere, but being scientifically-minded, "a lot" doesn't mean much to me without some real numbers. I started to count my shed hairs when I washed. However, I was getting inconsistent numbers ranging from 20-90.

At some point I read about counting shed hairs throughout the entire day. I thought that was unrealistic for me, both because it would be impractical and impossible due to my daily routine, but also because if I committed to doing something like that I'd get too obsessive and it would do more harm than good. But like I said, I'm scientifically-minded, and I knew that only counting during washing wasn't giving me the full picture. For awhile I thought I was fine with that. Well, turns out I was wrong.

So a couple weeks ago I committed to counting ALL my shed hairs. This meant the following changes for me:
- Never wear my hair down (I wear it down for short periods throughout the day because my scalp is most comfortable with that)
- Always deal with my hair in the bathroom (comb, manipulate, put up, etc), where the tile is nice and big and also light-colored, making it easy to spot my dark hairs
- Always keep said bathroom floor clean to make sure I know which hairs are the newly-shed hairs vs. old
- Clean up other floors in the house to help spot stray hairs that escaped outside the bathroom

I also tried to minimize the number of times I messed with my hair. I'd put my hair up once in the morning after waking up, and if I was going climbing or somewhere, I'd put it up in another style. I combed through it with the same wide-toothed comb once in the morning and once before going to bed. For sleep, I put my hair up in its usual high braid. And of course, counting all the hairs I could find.

I did this for two full weeks, through 4 washes. Here are the results (starting on a wash day):

Day 1: 180 (wash)
Day 2: 15
Day 3: 40
Day 4: 32
Day 5: 200 (wash)
Day 6: 22
Day 7: 42
Day 8: 160 (wash)
Day 9: 27
Day 10: 29
Day 11: 58
Day 12: 235 (wash)
Day 13: 16
Day 14: 37

This averages in the upper 70s of hair per day. There's some padding in the wash day numbers to account for when my hair is down air drying. If I saw or grabbed any shed hairs while my hair was down, I still added it to the total, but I know I didn't get them all.

Couple main observations:
- I shed a LOT during wash than before. I definitely freaked out at first, haha. I attribute this to limiting the manipulation and combing of my hair to only morning and evening
- I shed a lot more hairs in certain situations than I previously thought. If I previously had to guess how many hairs were coming out while combing, I would've thought maybe 2-5 at most since that's around what I would notice. Combing over the tile floor, even with a wide tooth comb, made me realize that a LOT more hair comes out (up to 30-40), especially closer to wash day. Also, just letting my hair down from an updo, even if just for a couple seconds, I'd see some hairs on the floor. I knew my hair was getting everywhere, but now I was seeing in real time exactly how (and how many)
- It was nice having clean, long hair-free floors all over the house. We have 3 pets so their hair was still all over the place.

It was really hard for me to stick with only one or two styles per day, and my scalp was definitely not the happiest. Keeping the bathroom floor always clean of hair was annoying because I'd find some random hairs that I couldn't account for. And all the counting! So now I'm glad I can go back to my normal routine, also knowing what my average shed hair rate is.

TL;DR I count every shed hair for two weeks because my scientific mind wanted to know. I shed on average upper-70s of hair per day. Now I'm happier knowing and not having to count anymore.

[lithostoic]

That's pretty neat c:

[Tinyponies]

Love your experiment gin, and applaud the dedication to count them all for two weeks. Very cool and now you’ve got something to compare it to should you ever need it

[Simpscone]

That's super interesting, thanks for sharing! I've been getting worried about my shed hairs since there has just seemed to be so many when I wash, but I don't brush or comb my wurls at all on none-wash days so I'm assuming the hair just builds up a little bit more. I admire your dedication to counting them all!

[MusicalSpoons]

Fascinating! And well done you for a) keeping such good track, and b) not becoming obsessive and being able to go back to normal routine :

[gin]

Love your experiment gin, and applaud the dedication to count them all for two weeks. Very cool and now you’ve got something to compare it to should you ever need it

Yeah, this was the main reason why I decided to do it - I wanted some sort of definitive baseline. Now I can know, at least with more confidence than before, whether or not changes to my routine are causing more shedding or not.

That's super interesting, thanks for sharing! I've been getting worried about my shed hairs since there has just seemed to be so many when I wash, but I don't brush or comb my wurls at all on none-wash days so I'm assuming the hair just builds up a little bit more. I admire your dedication to counting them all!

They definitely build up, and I would think more so with wavy/curls than my straight hair! It was definitely a shock to see all the hairs come out on wash day. I still combed out twice a day too (though usually I comb/brush more often and thoroughly than this experiment).

Fascinating! And well done you for a) keeping such good track, and b) not becoming obsessive and being able to go back to normal routine :

Thanks! I think I'm still going to try combing/brushing my hair in the bathroom. It's just much easier to clean up hairs. When I comb/brush in the closet, the hairs disappear into the rug and floor, until they build up into a huge gross pile that's much harder to remove.

I know shedding 75-80 hairs everyday is in the normal range, but I'm always wondering in the back of my head if I can reduce that number. It would be nice to not have my hairs literally everywhere. I also wonder if I'm shedding more than before, but of course I never paid attention before earlier this year so I have no clue. My husband says I've always shed a ton, so I'll take his word for it. My ponytail circumference hasn't changed either (in fact, it's increased a little), so I guess this is my normal! Hair piles everywhere!

[GrowlingCupcake]

Great observational experiment! Like others, I think your dedication to collecting, and counting is impressive, and, as MusicalSpoons said, so is your ability to go back to normal. Good on you

I've been wanting to try something like this though I'm coming from the opposite direction; I think I shed less than normal or low normal. However, between OCD, disability, and having dark carpets, this is out of my current reach. It is great to see other people's results.

[Brethil]

If one got a very accurate scale, it would be much less time consuming to weigh the hair instead. I'd be game for the rest of it, but no way I'm counting all my hairs. Unfortunately, jewelry scales are also way more than I'm willing to spend to assuage my curiosity.

Thank you for doing this. It's nice to have an accurate idea of what someone else's normal is. I think my shedding is lower than that, but considering the number of random hairs I find, I have no idea how much I actually loose.

[gin]

I've been wanting to try something like this though I'm coming from the opposite direction; I think I shed less than normal or low normal. However, between OCD, disability, and having dark carpets, this is out of my current reach. It is great to see other people's results.

It's definitely a commitment. I tried to get away with not counting, but I think it was starting to bother me more and more that I eventually knew I couldn't really "rest" until I did something like this. I actually feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders!

If one got a very accurate scale, it would be much less time consuming to weigh the hair instead. I'd be game for the rest of it, but no way I'm counting all my hairs. Unfortunately, jewelry scales are also way more than I'm willing to spend to assuage my curiosity.

Thank you for doing this. It's nice to have an accurate idea of what someone else's normal is. I think my shedding is lower than that, but considering the number of random hairs I find, I have no idea how much I actually loose.

Yeah, it's impossible to be 100% accurate unless you literally stay in one empty room the entire time, haha. Interesting idea with the weight scale. I actually have a .01g sensitive scale, but it's tiny and no way to fit my hair on it. Plus, I'd think it would difficult to weigh your hair in a consistent manner since the angle at which your hair approaches the scale will make a difference (and what products are in it, how hydrated the strands are, etc). Plus your hair is constantly growing, so you can't really know how much is getting lost vs. growing. There are a lot more variables IMO, though it is just another data point that would still be really interesting know. Hmmmmmmm....

[Brethil]

Yeah, it's impossible to be 100% accurate unless you literally stay in one empty room the entire time, haha. Interesting idea with the weight scale. I actually have a .01g sensitive scale, but it's tiny and no way to fit my hair on it. Plus, I'd think it would difficult to weigh your hair in a consistent manner since the angle at which your hair approaches the scale will make a difference (and what products are in it, how hydrated the strands are, etc). Plus your hair is constantly growing, so you can't really know how much is getting lost vs. growing. There are a lot more variables IMO, though it is just another data point that would still be really interesting know. Hmmmmmmm....

Oh no, I wasn't thinking of weighing the hair on your head. That's fun for a ballpark figure, but no way to get any kind of accuracy. I was thinking of weighing the sheds. Which would still vary depending on what products you're using, but would be a lot quicker than counting. Weigh 100 strands for a baseline, then you can figure out about how many you're losing each time with a bit of math. The accuracy wouldn't be perfect, but it would give you an idea.

When I've done inventory at work, it's way easier to use a scale than to count.