Fact or Fiction: 50 - 100 hairs lost per day is normal?

[tsiporah]

I agree with you. I always read people saying they lost 4 or 5 hairs during the washing process and i was like dang, what am I doing wrong. Then I found out most people wash their hair in the shower (I don't do this much, I'm a sink girl) so I knew why they only saw 5 hairs......because the rest were probably getting washed down the drain! When I do wash my hair in the shower I have strands of hair on my shoulders, the shower curtain, the wall, sometimes I find small balls of hair hanging from random places in the shower, lol.....not to mention what goes down the drain.

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Well, overall you will lose less hair in the shower simply because your are washing and combing in the direction of the shower--downward which helps to detangle the hair. When you lean over in the sink, hair is going upwards and then you have to comb it down to get the hair to go down. This can lead to some extra tangles in contrast to showering.

It's not to say one sheds less, but showering does help in the process of keeping hairs vs. sink washing.

 

[ebonylocs]

IA. I feel my strands are strong as well. In fact, I pull at some of the hair that has fallen out and it so strong. It doesn't break when I pull at it so I feel there isn't anything more I couldn't have done to prevent them from falling out.

But see... there is no connection at all between the strength of the hair and the rate at which it sheds. Don't confuse shedding and breakage. *Weak* hair *breaks*. On the other hand, shedding is an internal process. If your anagen phase is finished, the hair rests and sheds, and that's it. The only thing I've heard can slow this down (i.e. extend the anagen phase) is taking MSM.

I don't know about the exact number of hairs per day. But the way I see it, if most of the hairs you're seeing are long and have a bulb at the end, then you are doing ok - they're shedding naturally. You don't need to worry unless you see little bitty pieces of hair everywhere (breakage), or if illness, medication or malnutrition is speeding up your *shedding* rate.

 

[Vintageglam]

Normal if you have lots of hair/ strands - freakin nightmare for a fine haired person like me. My strands are already clinging on for bare mercy

 

[IDareT'sHair]

Normal if you have lots of hair/ strands - freakin nightmare for a fine haired person like me. My strands are already clinging on for bare mercy

Chile.....Not "Bare" Mercy!

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

I shed about 50 a day :-( It's been scaring me since I started doing my hair but I guess it's normal!

 

[30something]

So if I wore a plastic bag over my head for a week.. then comb my hair out count the hair in the bag I should see 350-700 on average?! Whoa, I always found that 50-100 a day seemed a bit extreme. Guess its true, since its scientifically proven right?

 

[nymane]

I think it's normal, but not for me...I don't get that much

 

[FemmeCreole]

I shed a large amount of hair everyday but my hair still appears to be growing and it's not thinning..... it still freaks me out though.

 

[dimechiq]

Girl thats fiction. People with hair loss on hair loss boards lose that kinda hair. Yes they count to monitor solutions Don't let that "you should be 5'7" and 100lb" like rule fool you. I'm talking closer to 70, 80, 100 hairs a day.

 

[Gigi-07]

The American Association of Dermatology (AAD) says that losing 50-100 hairs per day is NOT a cause for alarm; however, I become concerned when I see ANY hair in my comb or sink. I have limited when I comb my hair (only in the shower) and the number of times I comb my hair (only on wash days) out of concern for ANY hair loss.

ETA: I do not brush my hair at all now.
http://www.aad.org/public/Publications/pamphlets/HairLoss.htm


So, what do you ladies think...is losing 50-100 hairs a day fact or fiction? Is it possible to NOT lose any hair? If you lose 50-100 hairs per day will your hair stay at the same length? Your input on this topic would be helpful.

Well, if you've ever worn braids for a long period of time, you know this is true. LOADS of hair is combed out when you take them down, like thousands of strands.

And how could it be possible to not lose any hair? We shed skin every day, why would hair be different? Shedding is a natural function of the body.