I've been reading and reading.  Here and other sites about people with hairloss anxieties and realities.  Myself have gone through some humdinger sheds over the last two years Every Single Time I switched hormone levels or even brands.

Now I think we all know when we shed more than usual but I am honestly beginning to believe that most people underestimate their daily average.

Lemme 'Xplain myself because I'm sure not calling anyone a liar or to dumb to count.

Most polls you read, especially people with long hair don't count the hair lost in a wash, which is damned near impossible anyway.  Then there is the hair lost just walking around if it isn't bunned, or even if it is there are the shorties that some of us have that have a short enough terminal length that they'll not be caught in the buns.   I also here a lot about people being afraid to massage because that causes a lot of shed, which IMO is perfectly normal and not a bad thing.

All I know is I have never in my life had an average lower than 100 per day and most of the time it's probably closer to 150 - and I make the same guestimates most people do.

Sure, on days I don't wash or massage and just comb gently I might get really low numbers but that is always made up for the minute the scalp is manipulated like wash or massage.

If you really have to shed way less than 50 per day to get really long hair it will never happen for me, and yet, somehow I still think I will be able to make at least waist with a solid hem ...gabi

I personally think that when you begin to shed more than normal, it can make you anxious which in turn makes you shed even more. Its a vicious cycle I'm caught in at the moment.

Combing my hair after getting out of the shower is utterly depressing. I am definately losing way more than the allotted "100 hairs a day". I hate it!! It's so depressing.  :(

I'm unsure as to what is causin it, but my best guess is that it's hormonal. I agree with Gabi that most people underestimate their daily average. I don't know what my average really is...my hair is so fine that every hair I lose makes me feel like I'm that much closer to having a really bad comb-over!

Strange thing occurs when I shed after showering though....the hair comes out from all over the head, and every place that it comes out, it itches for a little while.

Does anyone else get that???

If you have thick hair (many hairs on the scalp), I would think you would tend to shed more hair than a person that has thin hair (fewer hairs on the head).  

Another factor to consider:  is the hair actually a shed hair - a complete hair from the root, or is it a broken hair - with the root left on the head?  Broken hair would not be included in the shed count.

What it all comes down to, is a simple question - is your hair still gaining length?  If it is, then you have not reached terminal length.  Isn't that your real concern?

I don't count my shed hair.  I don't measure my length every month.  I try to be gentle with my hair so I don't damage it needlessly.  Other than that, what happens, happens.  If my hair grows, it grows.  If/when it stops growing, THEN I'll decide if my shed rate is significant.

I guess I'm trying to say - RELAX!  Enjoy your hair, don't let it control you.

For me, 90% of the hairs that come out of my head have a wee bulb on them from the root and are not just breakage. I don't count the hairs either...I'd go nuts if I did.  :P

The only reason I'm uptight about my hair loss now is that it's gone beyond a normal shedding period.
I suppose the best thing for me to do is to just ignore it and stop thinking about it, although that is difficult.
Especially when a ton comes out after every shower and my scalp itches afterward. Kinda hard to ignore!

(The worry wart inside of me strikes again!)

I can't remember now where I read this, maybe it
was even on this site, but I read that most people
tend to shed more in the fall/autumn.  I have been
shedding a lot more it seems like, too the last few
weeks(Rua, I know what you mean about fine  hair,
every time a hair falls out or comes out Im afraid I'll
go bald!).  But a friend of mine told me she's been shedding a lot too.  I think it may be the time of year?
I don't know!

It could be the season...I think for me it's a combo of hormonal and season change!! Hubby reckons it's my stressful job. I must leave a trail of hairs everyday when I come home from work. LOL!

I've been noticing my shedding lately, not so much with concern as with a resignedly cocked eyebrow (that's c-o-c-k-e-d if the profanity checker nabs that word, LOL).

My hair locks itself into curls and doesn't shed much except when I wash it. Even when rinsing, I don't lose more than 20 hairs or so. I have a bad habit of sticking my shed hairs on the shower wall, so a few weeks ago I bit the bullet and counted the little suckers after a wash. It was well over 100, so I figure an average of 50 per day is probably about right for me. It sounds like that might be the case for you too, Gabi. It all evens out in the end.

And as Bikerbraid said, if you have thick hair, you can probably shed a couple hundred and still be "normal." Just make sure you're taking a multivitamin, ignore the shedding, and practice new hairstyles.  ;D

As for me, I need to go unclog the shower drain. Again.  ::)

/Kate

I'm one of those people you're suspicious of, I know. But when your hair gets as long as mine, you really do notice when a hair falls out, because it gets tangled on your hands,  on your clothes, and in the food you're trying to fix.

When I wash my hair, I find about 3 hairs in the drain, and half a dozen more come out on my hands. I comb out a few hairs a day. I only need to dehair my bbb less than once a month.

So even if I'm off by a factor of 2, it's still not very much.

Sorry.

No No Katherine - I'm not suspicious of anyone in particular, or everyone,  don't take it wrong please...g

I'm really not taking it personally. I understand that my experience is so different from yours that it's hard to imagine, just a I would have trouble imagining curly or coarse hair experiences.

I used to lose a lot more hair, but it's been a long time, must be hormones.

Here's my suspicion issue: According to the rating system, my hair falls in the "medium" thickness category. Then why is it that often other people who are also mediums have braids that are so much thinner than mine? Is it a volume issue related to how much bigger a ponytail can seem when your hair doesn't easily compact? This would mean that a curly with much less hair than I have could put themselves into the "thick" range if they didn't pull the tape tight when measuring.

Good Good  ;D

Your point on volumn - I experience that on my own head of hair, so I think it probably happens a lot.

My hair can look anywhere from very thick to thinnish depending on the humidity and what I've used on it - I just have hair that has many various textures within it.  The actual density seems to be right smack medium 3" squeezed tight ponytail.

I wonder if the shedding thing has something to do with the variation of lengths people have within their length.  I have always had a lot of short curlies, whispies and an all around 1 to 2" of hairline that is shorter than the rest and my hair never looks that smooth shiney dense from the hairline that I so admire.  Maybe you just have a whole head of hairs that most have a really long terminal length.  Sooner or later that would logically translate into longer hair potential.

I wonder about the underestimating because it seems a lot of people get very nervous about the "normal" 50-100 per day.  Maybe that is because those of us who want it as long as possible are not going to be totally happy with something in the waist length range, which is probably what you get with a "normal" shed.

I'm just speculating, but you are totally correct that I can't imagine not getting a handful after a vigorous massage  :o ... gabi

wrote on Oct 7^th, 2004 at 7:19am:

Maybe that is because those of us who want it as long as possible are not going to be totally happy with something in the waist length range, which is probably what you get with a "normal" shed.

Interesting..... I don't have many RL longhair friends.  But of those I do know who choose to grow their hair "until it stops", none have had their hair "stop".  I have very fine hair with average thickness (thinner than when I was younger, but still average now).  I would have thought waist length would be my terminal length, but it has grown to hip length and is still steadily growing.  Classic length is a certainty.

Anybody know anyone who is really trying to grow their hair long who has hit "terminal" length?  Maybe terminal length is really the length at which a person gives up on their long hair and cuts it.  :o

Just a thought.

My Granny hasn't had her hair cut since WWII. She wears it up every day, and it is cared for gently (my Mom washes it for her nowadays). The only harmful thing done to her hair is blow-drying, but that's only once every 2 weeks, and at a low temperature.

Her terminal length hair is right around classic length, and is in great shape.

/Kate

wrote on Oct 7^th, 2004 at 11:43am:

My Granny hasn't had her hair cut since WWII. She wears it up every day, and it is cared for gently (my Mom washes it for her nowadays). The only harmful thing done to her hair is blow-drying, but that's only once every 2 weeks, and at a low temperature. Her terminal length hair is right around classic length, and is in great shape. /Kate

Wow!  That's fantastic!  Just curious - how thick is her hair and is it straight, wavy or curly?

Her hair is iron gray (when I was a girl it used to be brown on the ends, I always remember that). I would say the individual hairs are medium, and her hair overall is slightly on the thick side of normal. It is wavy, a bit like flaming bunny's.

I'm looking forward to practicing updos on her!

/Kate

How lucky of your granny to have nice thick hair!  It is very common for hair to thin out as we age.  Menopause, in particular, usually brings on a significant thinning that is permanent.

Here's hoping you have your granny's hair genes!

That is really encouraging.  The only people I know personally with long hair claim to not be able to get below waist.  Now I don't go home with them so who knows what they do there  8)

I hope very much to get below waist but that average of 100 seems pegged; 'course I'm guestimating too but I'm sure I'd be turning cartwheels if I ever hit the majic numbers Katherine is hitting.

I guess there is always Rogaine but I really don't want to go there, it's forever or don't bother ...gabi

The idea of menopause(which I haven't started yet)
scares me because my hair is thin enough now as it
is.   Some of my friends and one of my Grandma's
hair got real thin when they got older.  My mother's
however, stayed fairly thick.   I cant afford my hair to
get any thinner!

wrote on Oct 8^th, 2004 at 1:49pm:

The idea of menopause(which I haven't started yet) scares me because my hair is thin enough now as it is.   Some of my friends and one of my Grandma's hair got real thin when they got older.  My mother's however, stayed fairly thick.   I cant afford my hair to get any thinner!

I found that taking MSM, biotin and silica helped reduce the shedding/thinning significantly.

Yes, BB I've been taking those!  I've actually been taking
GNC Ultranourishair which has all three,  but when I
am done with these, I will probable take them separatly
because the Nourishairs tend to upset my stomach
and so I can't take the full dosage.  I haven't noticed
a difference yet- but its only been about 45 days, and
I don't take the full dosage, either(2 pills) I only take one pill a day with my regular multi. After this I'm going
to get them separatly.  Granny's hair got so thin she
wore wigs every day, which probably excacerbated the
problem.  I don't know if she was on meds, which may
have also exacerbated the problem, too. She passed at
94

When I was younger, my hair was always what I considered to be unmanageably thick. Now my daughter has hair like that, but I find mine is manageably thick now, so I guess it's thinned out a bit. It's hard to compare my experiences with anyone else. I recall that before I went through menopause, my fallout was much higher than it is now, so perhaps when the hormones settle down again, fallout naturally tapers off.

I'm not taking HRT, so that's something else that may be a factor.

I had to have a total hysterectomy 8 years and I do take HRT.  Premarin 1.25 mg per day and my hair has not thinned.  My sides are thin, but were always thin but my ponytail measures out at a healthy ii normal thickness, my hair is fine, and straightish.

It's a decision everyone has to make on her own, but I will take HRT as long as I can get it.

HTH,
strawberryfine