Losing 400+ hairs a day. Need advice ASAP!

[mjk258]

I've been noticing hair loss for over 6 weeks. When I've wash my hair I've thought "hmm this seems like an awful lot of hair to be losing if the average person loses 100 hairs per day" Especially since I shower and wash my hair 2x a day.


I decided to see how much hair I'm actually losing. I shampooed my hair with high quality salon shampoo. I would gently rub my scalp for about 20 seconds and then look at my hands and count. After each 20 seconds I would look at my hands and count. I did this process for about 10 minutes.

When I got to 350 hair I stopped. Including the hairs I missed this is well over 400 hairs especially since I washed my hair this morning.

About 80% of the hairs were miniaturized, at least partially. My hair strands are normally coarse so it is easy to tell.

What in the name of god am I supposed to?

Here is what my hair looks like (before my test).

 

[twenty.five]

I've been noticing hair loss for over 6 weeks. When I've wash my hair I've thought "hmm this seems like an awful lot of hair to be losing if the average person loses 100 hairs per day" Especially since I shower and wash my hair 2x a day.


I decided to see how much hair I'm actually losing. I shampooed my hair with high quality salon shampoo. I would gently rub my scalp for about 20 seconds and then look at my hands and count. After each 20 seconds I would look at my hands and count. I did this process for about 10 minutes.

When I got to 350 hair I stopped. Including the hairs I missed this is well over 400 hairs especially since I washed my hair this morning.

About 80% of the hairs were miniaturized, at least partially. My hair strands are normally coarse so it is easy to tell.

What in the name of god am I supposed to?

Here is what my hair looks like (before my test).

"High quality salon shampoo". LOL! Bet the ingredients are similar to any $2 shampoo.

Anyway, some people lose lots of hair every day but they grow enough that they never start balding. Is it possible you've always lost heaps and just only noticed now?

If you've got no family history of male pattern baldness, then I would probably wait six months to see what happens. Maybe get some blood tests if you're worried. You don't look like you've got hair loss.

If you do have a family history, consider treatment options.

 

[mjk258]

I've been noticing hair loss for over 6 weeks. When I've wash my hair I've thought "hmm this seems like an awful lot of hair to be losing if the average person loses 100 hairs per day" Especially since I shower and wash my hair 2x a day.


I decided to see how much hair I'm actually losing. I shampooed my hair with high quality salon shampoo. I would gently rub my scalp for about 20 seconds and then look at my hands and count. After each 20 seconds I would look at my hands and count. I did this process for about 10 minutes.

When I got to 350 hair I stopped. Including the hairs I missed this is well over 400 hairs especially since I washed my hair this morning.

About 80% of the hairs were miniaturized, at least partially. My hair strands are normally coarse so it is easy to tell.

What in the name of god am I supposed to?

Here is what my hair looks like (before my test).

"High quality salon shampoo". LOL! Bet the ingredients are similar to any $2 shampoo.

Anyway, some people lose lots of hair every day but they grow enough that they never start balding. Is it possible you've always lost heaps and just only noticed now?

If you've got no family history of male pattern baldness, then I would probably wait six months to see what happens. Maybe get some blood tests if you're worried. You don't look like you've got hair loss.

If you do have a family history, consider treatment options.

I don't know much at all about my family history I saw them maybe 5 times when I was young. Additionally, two of my uncles died tragically before I was part of the picture.

My dad is 55 and still has a decent amount of hair. My dad's dad went bald early. Thats all I know.

My hair looks thick but it used to be incredibly thick. Its the rate that is worrying me, not the current situation.

 

[Paulgreer]

Hey man i feel you, ive been shedding about 300+ a shower recently. Im getting pretty obsessive over it and like you i just have to stop counting.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

if you're actually shedding that much

A) dermatologist

and\or

b) Propecia\finasteride

 

[mjk258]

if you're actually shedding that much

A) dermatologist

and\or

b) Propecia\finasteride

Is the way I measured a reasonable way of measuring hair loss? Did I cause hair loss by rubbing my hair? I wasn't rubbing vigorously.

 

[Rawtashk]

A better way to judge hair loss is to get a hair catch for your shower drain. NOT a metal one with large holes, a plastic one with small ones. Then go about your normal showering and see how many get caught in the hair catch after the water drains out. I do this, and it really helps to be able to monitor my sheds and overall loss.

 

[mjk258]

I did previously try rubbing my scalp when my hair was dry and the hair loss rate wasn't nearly as alarming, so I don't know...

 

[Naltima]

wash my hair 2x a day.

I'm guessing this is a big part of your problem. There's no reason anybody should be washing their hair two times a day unless you work in a mine or something. Washing your hair that much especially with shampoo dries it out.

Cut back to washing it only once a day or every other day and see where you are in 2-3 weeks.

Also try switching shampoos, don't go for the salon marketing hype, it's all marketing, nothing else. Try using Nizoral 3 times a week and some kind of an organic shampoo with natural ingredients in it for the other days.

 

[mjk258]

Maybe I was just looking for hairs to fall out. Are healthy hairs fragile enough to be rubbed out?

 

[beaner]

Maybe I was just looking for hairs to fall out. Are healthy hairs fragile enough to be rubbed out?

No.

The hair that is falling out is in the telogen (resting) phase and would have fallen out regardless of what you do or how many times you wash your hair, etc.

You really shouldn't worry about how much hair is shedding because everyone sheds hair on a daily basis whether they have male pattern baldness or not. You need to be concerned about the quality of the hair that grows back. Is it thinner and weaker than the hair it is replacing?

You don't even appear to have a problem. Post some more pictures in a couple of months.

 

[Paulgreer]

That makes sense. But, are there treatments that can slow the amt of telogen hairs or keep them in anagen ? =\

 

[beaner]

That makes sense. But, are there treatments that can slow the amt of telogen hairs or keep them in anagen ? =\

Minoxidil can keep the hair in the anagen phase for longer than it normally would be. This is why when people stop using it they may have a massive shed----all the hair that has been artificially kept in anagen suddenly goes into telogen phase.

Also, since Male Pattern Baldness shortens the anagen phase as well as causing an increase in the percentage of hair that is in telogen phase, I would think that finasteride would also have an effect on telogen/anagen phases---it would increase the length of the anagen phase and decrease the number of hairs in the telogen phase.

 

[mjk258]

so I've artificially coaxed (rubbed) the telogen hairs that were still atached to my scalp off my scalp? Now that I've sone that I shouldn't be losing any more hair for a week?

 

[beaner]

so I've artificially coaxed (rubbed) the telogen hairs that were still atached to my scalp off my scalp? Now that I've sone that I shouldn't be losing any more hair for a week?

No. You probably will not dislodge all of them and there are new hairs entering telogen every day. At any given moment 10% (or more if you have male pattern baldness) of your hair is in the telogen phase and will fall out within 90 days. These are usually replaced with normal hair. Men with male pattern baldness don't really "lose" hair. It is just continuously replaced by thinner, weaker hair until eventually they are tiny and colorless.

 

[beaner]

You guys should read the link below.



viewtopic.php?f=44&t=12865

 

[Paulgreer]

Hey that threads awesome thanks. I grabbed some minoxidil from Walmart today going to try it out!

 

[UKguy84]

if your constantly looking for shed hairs your going to find them, no matter if your balding or not and the ammount varies by person and seasons.
Its when they come back miniturized thats the problem.

I went through an initial phase of pulling at my hair and seeing if any came out, this was when I first started to realise i'm losing it.
Its a really stressful thing and I did it for about a month, now I hardly ever touch my hair I'm looking in the mirror less and less.
All pulling at your hair does is create more stress.

You really need to go see a Derm,
He/she is the only person that can give you an answer

or show us more pics, you should put more up of different angles.
comb your fringe over your forehead wet and dry take a pic, same with your anterior scalp and then crown, get some close ups of your temples and look for miniturization.

But judging by that 1 pic the only person who would think your losing hair is you, ya just need to remember that.

 

[mjk258]

I appreciate the replies. I will post more pics this evening.

Could it be Telogen Effluvium? One thing I know for certain is that the "pull test" is negative. It seems that the hairs that are shedding are shorter than the "main hairs". Could it be that my "main hairs" are guarding the Telogen hairs when I do the pull test?

I am a stressed person. Why? I am a 3rd year engineering student with a B average despite having a few learning disabilities. As you can imagine that is quite stressful. However, I am not nearly as stressed as I was 12-16 months ago when I would wake up in the middle of the night and realize I've been doing math equations in my head.
I've never noticed hair shedding before but I've also never really looked for it before so there is a possibility it has happened in the past but I've never realized it.

Also are some hairs naturally more miniaturized than others?

I will consult a physician today.

 

[hairhoper]

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