Excess Hair Shedding

EXCESSIVE SHEDDING!

Thinning hair affects almost 21 million women in the U.S. A wide range of factors can cause excessive shedding. Most women shed some hair every day. But occasionally, we find that we're shedding more hair than usual.

If you experience a tremendous amount of shedding or your hair has become dull and lifeless, consider what factors could be affecting the health of your hair.

DO YOU HAVE HAIR LOSS OR HAIR SHEDDING?

A minimal amount of hair shedding is quite common. Excessive shedding and hair loss are considered two distinct conditions. Excessive shedding is known as telogen effluvium, while hair loss is known as anagen effluvium. For more information about these two conditions, see this scientific study on nutritional factors and hair loss and the American Hair Loss Association's information on effluviums.

WHAT IS NORMAL SHEDDING?

The body sheds around 100 hairs per day as a part of regular daily hair loss, with no visible effects on hair thickness. If your hair is shedding more than usual, you could be suffering from excessive hair shedding. Hair shedding is a temporary condition associated with an incredibly stressful life event, or it can be caused by hormonal changes, over-styling or nutritional deficiencies.

In contrast, hair loss, or anagen effluvium, happens when something stops hair from growing. The most common causes of hair loss include hereditary hair loss, immune system overreaction, and certain drugs and treatments.

In contrast, women who inherit the genes for hereditary hair loss may need medical treatment to regrow their hair. Tight hairstyles or braids that pull on the hair, or damaging products and hair colour, can cause temporary hair loss.

CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE HAIR SHEDDING

There are many different hair shedding treatments available. When choosing how to stop hair breakage and shedding, first you should is to stop actively damaging your hair. Heat damage from blow-dryers, curling irons and flat irons, as well as hair colour, bleach and hair extensions are prevalent causes of female hair shedding.

Another way to reduce hair shedding is to identify and eliminate sources of physical or mental stress. If you cannot stop the source of stress itself, try to change your reaction to it by adding de-stressing activities to your lifestyle, such as meditation, yoga, cardiovascular exercise or writing in a journal.

One of the best secrets to hair growth, thickness and shine lie within the body. If you provide your body with the nutrients it needs, it will grow thicker hair on its own. On the other hand, poor nutrition weakens hair and prematurely pushes outgrowing hairs, resulting in thinning dull or shedding hair. Critical nutrients for hair include proteins, Iron, Zinc, Vitamin C and B Vitamins. Take a daily hair multivitamin that contains all these nutrients to reduce hair shedding.