How much hair do you lose when brushing/washing?

[RhubarbGnT]

Hi,

Just that really.

Getting increasingly worried about the amount I'm losing. My hairdresser thinks it's just normal shedding. I'm really not sure.

When I run my fingers through, I'd say I lose about 5 - 10 hairs every time, but when I brush, loads comes out! I haven't counted and I don't know what 100 hairs (average amount of hair shedding apparently) looks like. It's just a proper handful.

Anyway, just wondered if this was normal or something I should see the GP with?

TIA

There always seems to be loads of hair on my brush and I'm quite worried about it. Not really helpful to you though.

Do you bleach your hair? I do and I've noticed I pull about a handful out of my brush every two days. Not a big handful, but definitely more than I shed when I was red or brunette.

What products and tools are you using? High heat, hair dye, poor diet, lack of conditioning . . . all kinds of things can lead to your hair becoming brittle and breaking more easily. Some of them are surprisingly simple, but women don't think of them.

I know a woman who went bleach blonde, who had only ever used shampoo (no conditioner). She couldn't understand why her hair was so dry when she was doing what she'd always done. I knew another woman who used to brush her hair wet, straight down from the roots to the ends, with a regular hair brush (not a Tangle Teezer or a Wet Brush Pro). If she reached a tangle she'd just sort of hack away at it until she could pass the brush through (eg, until it snapped). She had always brushed her hair this way and it had honestly never occurred to her it might be damaging.

Not to say any of this is you, but hair care is a big picture and you might find you're overlooking something that's a surprisingly easy fix.

I went through a phase in my mid thirties where more hair than usual was falling out, which I put down to ageing. It stopped eventually. Not sure how old you are.

@contactusdeletus, I've had a couple of balayage treatments, so yes, but only once every 9-12 months or so. I do get my roots dyed too though (dark to cover some grey). Wondering if that has anything to do with it more than the bleach, because it's coming from the roots. It's not breakage.

It's definitely thinner than it was about 5 or so years ago, but then most people wouldn't know because I have very thick hair. Well...had.

I'm much thinner at the top of my head, hence it's starting to look quite flat, which does not suit my moon face 😫

I've heard wonderful things about castor oil, but do I really want to be rubbing thick, gloopy grease into my head for half an hour every night? 🤔... not so much. Plus I only wash my hair every 5 days, so I don't want to have to start washing it every day. It's not good for my hair. Starts making it greasy at the top and dry on the ends. Not a good look.

I'm already taking a multi vitamin, specifically for hair, skin and nails, so not really sure what else I can do. Oh and I take extra iron for anaemia, so I'm definitely not deficient in that.

I'm hoping it's early autumn shedding(?) I've heard this can be a thing.

@TableNiner, I'm 36. I guess hormones could have something to do with it.

I have always lost lots of hair. Constantly having to clean out shower plug, hoover gets tangled with my hair and have to be careful it doesn’t fall out when preparing food ! It literally falls out as I’m standing still. But thankfully have got thick hair and even post menopausal, although it has slightly thinned, I’m constantly being told what thick hair I’ve got.

Since I was a teenager that my hair falls A LOT!!!!! My mum would blame on the current season.... regardless of the season!

But I still have hair! And whenever I go to hairdresser they always say I have lots of baby hairs growing. Oh well! That combined with my small ears means I always have wings.... have to pin them down.

Depends on what is normal for you and whether you are starting to have bald areas or not. If so check with the doctor! There is treatment for that

Loads atm.

It always happens this time of year as summer comes to an end.

As I out in conditioner and run my fingers through I get chunks.

Have to empty plug hole every time too.

Lots dammit. It is like a mouse's nest!

I'm 54 , menopausal for 3 years and also a thyroid which was hyper but is not going hypo and I'm losing loads of hair, it's quite worrying - I have new hair growing too, but not as fast as I'm losing the existing hair!

48 here and about the same amount of loss as you, OP. Luckily I also have above-averagely thick hair (still!) so it doesn't notice.

I think about this every time I wash my hair as I pull them off my hands so they don't go down the plughole, have definitely been losing hair since my 20s (except during pregnancy) but it seems to have increased with peri menopause symptoms.

However I only brush my hair when I wash it, every 2-3 days, so always assume I get more coming out with the brush because I do it so infrequently.

My hair fell out a LOT more when I had any bleach in it, its the reason why I stopped. I went to one hairdresser who was commenting on how thin my hair was, I swapped hairdressers and haven't touched bleach in about 4 years and now my new hairdresser comments on how thick my hair is every time I go

Surprisingly little. I only comb my hair wet, with conditioner, so about 3 times a week and it's only about as much as you're describing, each time. I'm menopausal with very thi k, dense hair.

Loads more than normal at the mo for me. But I haven't had my hair cut since last November (it's now below shoulder length) and as it's all messy/curly/mixed lengths so I put it up each day and as it's curly I only brush it before washing and once washed with a wide toothed comb. So I'm guessing it's partly because of that and also I have gone through periods when I appear to shed more than usual and then it stops. So trying not to worry too much!

Just a thought, but if you've been anaemic it's possible your iron stores (ferritin), which is different to your circulating iron, may still be low. Like full blown anaemia, this would also cause hair loss. I think they say that levels under 50 can cause hair loss, while levels need to be over 70 for regrowth. If you've had recent bloods, might be worth checking! I lose loads of hair in the shower, which I put down to being a menopausal old hag, but my recent bloods showed ferritin at 24, which is classed as iron deficient.

@EllenRipley I always have low ferrtin, even with a daily supplement I'm only at 30 (I do a lot of sport that doesn't help) and yes that causes hair loss. Here in France you aren't considered iron deficient until your ferriting goes below 10.

As per pps, I'm anaemic and have incredibly low vit d and one of the signs one or other is bad is increasing hair loss. I always lose quite a lot, but it sometimes looks very scary.

I lose loads. I have very long hair. I have found that taking Viviscal supplements helps. I stopped bleaching my hair, had it dyed back to my natural colour and didn't dye it for ages but it didn't make any difference so i went back to blonde. Im pretty sure that having low iron is the biggest issue, im currently taking Spatone to see if that helps.

maybe see the GP? certain conditions can cause hair loss such as thyroid problems. I had low ferritin/iron when my hair was shedding loads.

If it is an 'internal' problem. things like caster oil won't sort it.

I don't brush mine because it's curly and I wash it every 3-5 days . I lose a large handful . I think it's perfectly normal to lose loads of hair .

Loads for me too. My hairdresser thinks it’s fine. I suspect it’s a combination of a large amount of wright loss and age.

*weight

There is a condition called Telegon Effluvium

dermnetnz.org/topics/telogen-effluvium/

If you are shedding more than is normal for you, this may be the reason. It can be acute or chronic. The good news is, it should stop at some point and the hair regrow. You need to identify your trigger though - low ferritin, low thyroid, vitamin deficiency etc. A lot of people are excessively shedding c 3 months after a nasty bout of COVID. Were you ill a few months ago?

I’d get a full set of bloods done and a decent set of vitamins aimed at hair loss. It can take several months to see results though. Good luck!

I've been losing lots more hair than normal for the past month and wondered if it is due to having a "mild case" of coronavirus (it laid me out for three weeks) Doctor said it's possible, but I need blood tests to rule out anything else. I've not had the results yet.