Shedding or Breakage?

Many ladies (and some gents) have difficulties when it comes to recognizing shedding and breakage.  Often, we have no problem actually seeing the hair fall out.  However, sometimes it is difficult to tell whether the hair is constantly breaking, or if it is just going through the shedding phase.  The following aims to provide some help for the issue.

Breakage can be easily recognized.  It is often in the form of shorter pieces of hair (shorter than the length of the hair).  It can be caused by relaxers, chemicals, split ends, excessive dryness, moisture overload, etc.   When you over-manipulate the hair, combing or styling it too much, you may see a heightened occurrence of breakage as well.

Shedding is accompanied by a white bulb on the tip.  This signifies that the hair has come from the root.  Therefore, the strand will be the length of the hair.  Keep in mind that the hair will shed naturally, and this is something that should not alarm you.  On the other hand, excessive shedding comes from something on the inside that has gone wrong.  50-100 strands daily is in the “normal/average” range of shedding.  You may not see this if you do not comb your hair daily (which is common among naturals), in result, you may see more of the shed hair on the day that you actually comb the hair.  The hair goes through a grow, shed, rest phase that we should be conscious of so we do not panic at every hair that we may see.

There are many factors that may lead to excessive shedding.  Stress and anxiety because the stress cuts off the circulation of blood to the scalp.  As stated in the “Does your diet affect your hair?” you need a balanced diet in order to help the hair grow and thrive.  When you switch your diet up dramatically, or when you do not eat correctly, your hair displays it as much as the body does.  Moreover, certain medicines lead to shedding as well.  Frequent travelers may experience more excessive shedding as opposed to those who are in the same climate all the time.  Also, when traveling, make sure that you have a satin pillowcase to prevent dryness and breakage.

Hopefully this has helped you be able to be more mindful of the two different types of hair loss.  Happy Healthy Hair Growing!