Hair Shedding - do you have this problem? Is there a solution?

[Ginevra]

I mean, a solution besides taking a pair of clippers and giving myself a #1 buzz cut?

 

I have thick, long hair and - okay, I'm mostly thankful for nice hair. BUT! For the sake of all that is holy, would it please, please stop perpetually falling all over hell and creation? I understand hair goes through shedding cycles, and I may be in one now, but the reality is I shed hair ALL the time and it is getting so obnoxious!

 

I don't wash it every day. This would probably help some because any loose strands would be likely to shed in or just after the shower, but I can't wash it everyday unless I shave it off like GI Jane.

 

I just don't know how I can curb the annoyingness of this shedding. The places in the house where I sit are obvious, because there are long strands of hair all over the back and arm of these two pieces of furniture. My vanity in the bathroom has to be Swiffered daily. In church this morning, DD was picking hair strands off my back.

[Farrar]

I have the same issue. Always have. I do wonder if this means I'm destined to be thin haired one day eventually. I don't have it in me to fight it though.

[Farrar]

Oh, here's the worst thing about the constant shedding for me! Sometimes I get a hair caught on the back of my arm, or possibly on my shirt where it brushes the back of my arm. And then I spend eons reaching around with my other arm trying to snag it and get rid of it. One time recently I was standing in the kitchen doing this and dh was like, what the heck is wrong with you, are you have spasms or something. Sigh. No! Hair shedding!

[Critterfixer]

About twice a year, winter and summer. I always seem to have plenty of hair, though.

[Guest]

Oh, here's the worst thing about the constant shedding for me! Sometimes I get a hair caught on the back of my arm, or possibly on my shirt where it brushes the back of my arm. And then I spend eons reaching around with my other arm trying to snag it and get rid of it. One time recently I was standing in the kitchen doing this and dh was like, what the heck is wrong with you, are you have spasms or something. Sigh. No! Hair shedding!

Relate! Or a strand gets stuck in my bra and tickles me for hours in some public place until I go to the bathroom, pull my shirt up, and find the culprit! True story!

 

Also hair strand in the butt cheeks...

[Farrar]

Relate! Or a strand gets stuck in my bra and tickles me for hours in some public place until I go to the bathroom, pull my shirt up, and find the culprit! True story!

 

Also hair strand in the butt cheeks...

 

Oh, I know all those situations all too well.

[kewb]

My DD has long, thick, lustrous hair that she leaves everywhere. I wish she would cut it shorter.

When she brushes frequently through out the day it appears to cut down on her shedding all over the house.

[Southern Ivy]

My sister started taking prenatal vitamins. It helped her hair.

You can also get integral collagen which can help.

 

Sent from my SM-T530 using Tapatalk

[momacacia]

I was anemic. Still supplementing to get my ferritin levels up to.optimal level, but even raising them to half of optimal I notice a decrease in the hair loss. Wish I had had a CBC or at least iron panel several years ago, but at least I know now.

[RootAnn]

I always went through this for a short time after having my babies, but since the last one was born (almost 7 years ago!), I'm doing it all the time. It has almost become a fetish for me -- finding all the loose ones & rolling them up to throw them away (10x/day) before they fall everywhere. I'm constantly asking my kids to help check my back since I usually have 5-7 of them back there when I get dressed in the morning - some of which are caught under/around my bra & bug the heck out of me.

 

I know I'm not anemic since they check my iron levels when I give blood (although I can't give blood anymore, so I haven't had it checked in over a year -- but this has been going on for 6+ years). I take some hefty vitamins (better than all the off-the-shelf prenatals). When I shower daily, it is less, but my hair suffers. So, I feel the pain!

[Ailaena]

 

The only thing that merely paused it for me was being pregnant :/

 

But it was a GLORIOUS year :D

[Wheres Toto]

I can relate to all these posts.  Except I feel like it's only been shedding like this the past few years.  I don't remember it being nearly this bad before.  I know I'm Vitamin D deficient and I'm working on that, but I've had blood work and nothing else is low (although I've wondered about thyroid for a variety of reasons).

 

I haven't found anything that works.  I leave hair everywhere, brushing my hair makes it look like someone got a haircut in the sink.  I still seem to have plenty left but I do wonder how long it can keep up at this pace.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Another vote for brushing more. I have waist long hair, but it is so straight and slippery that it almost never tangles. So then I forget to brush it and leave a trail of hair everywhere I go. If I brush thoroughly, it helps a lot.

[fraidycat]

I can, unfortunately, totally relate to all of these. LOL at spasms in the kitchen - BTDT!! :D I have not found a solution. Hmmm, I love having my hair brushed by others, though - so maybe I can bribe my family into more hair brushing sessions.

[MEmama]

Yeah, this is totally me too. It's revolting. But my hair is still thick after years of shedding so somehow it doesn't seem to be adversely affecting it. Every morning after a shower I wonder how that can be.

[mamakelly]

Totally me too, ugh it's annoying.

[Tita Gidge]

The only thing that merely paused it for me was being pregnant :/

 

But it was a GLORIOUS year :D

 

I was going to post the same!

 

I only wash my hair a few times each week, for the same reason as Quill.  But I do brush it each morning and each evening to distribute the oils and take out the tangles. I try to brush it at least once during the day just to get out the loose strands.

[HS Mom in NC]

I was anemic because I lost the ability to process B-12 from food.  After a very intensive B-12 shot schedule for about 2 months I'm just on B-12 shots every 10 days or so.  It helped a lot with the hair shedding but I still shed a little.

If your B-12 levels are very low supplements can't help you make up the gap.  Some people can maintain their normal levels after the intensive shot series gets their levels back up to normal, but some people just have to stick with the shots for the rest of their lives.

[mysticmomma]

Biotin can help.

[Wheres Toto]

I wonder if any of the others who are experiencing this are peri-menopausal or post-menopausal?  I'll be 47 next month and I'm definitely peri.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, this is totally me too. It's revolting. But my hair is still thick after years of shedding so somehow it doesn't seem to be adversely affecting it. Every morning after a shower I wonder how that can be.

This is exactly what I think, but then I get superstitious and don't want to say that out loud in case thinning hair is right around the corner. But at present, shampooers at the salon marvel at my hair. And it takes three color kits to color it.

[Guest]

I wonder if any of the others who are experiencing this are peri-menopausal or post-menopausal? I'll be 47 next month and I'm definitely peri.

I'm peri, though the hair shedding has been going on for several years at least.

[Guest]

I was anemic because I lost the ability to process B-12 from food. After a very intensive B-12 shot schedule for about 2 months I'm just on B-12 shots every 10 days or so. It helped a lot with the hair shedding but I still shed a little.

 

If your B-12 levels are very low supplements can't help you make up the gap. Some people can maintain their normal levels after the intensive shot series gets their levels back up to normal, but some people just have to stick with the shots for the rest of their lives.

I haven't had a profile like this done in a few years. I do eat eggs fresh from my hens, though, and would not think I am deficient in B-12. But I cannot say for sure without a panel.

[plansrme]

Have you considered stepping outside to engage in a daily vigorous brushing? I am not sure it would help, but it helps with my dog, so. . ..

[ktgrok]

I was anemic. Still supplementing to get my ferritin levels up to.optimal level, but even raising them to half of optimal I notice a decrease in the hair loss. Wish I had had a CBC or at least iron panel several years ago, but at least I know now.

 

I was going to post this, that Iron is the biggest nutrient factor with hair loss. People always say to take biotin, but research shows iron is more likely what you need if you have excessive hair loss. 

[goldberry]

My daughter has thick amazing lustrous hair and sheds enough to clothe a small animal every day.  I fail to understand how she isn't bald.  She uses a vacuum to clean her bathroom (including counters) before trying to wipe down.

 

I have thin pitiful hair, but do not shed.  

 

So there ya go!

[momacacia]

I wonder if any of the others who are experiencing this are peri-menopausal or post-menopausal? I'll be 47 next month and I'm definitely peri.

I'm 43, but while by age I'm likely peri, I have no symptoms of it otherwise.

[MEmama]

I'm 43, but while by age I'm likely peri, I have no symptoms of it otherwise.

Same. Everything is like clockwork.

[SparklyUnicorn]

story of my life...

 

I have very thick hair and it sheds . Despite all that shedding, it is still thick.

 

 

[TammyS]

After my last pregnancy when I started shedding (because you mostly don't shed while pregnant, but then it all falls out after the birth) I actually killed a vacuum cleaner with my hair. 

 

If you have a lot of hair (as in many strands) you will shed many strands as well.  That's not a sign of illness. 

 

One thing that helps is to go outside to brush your hair, especially the first brushing of the day.  At least it's going into the wind.

[Annie G]

Gosh I can relate to these posts! (even the hair in the butt cheeks!) It's super annoying because I always feel like there's a spider crawling on me. 

I'm post menopausal and my shedding is getting *slightly* better.  Also, my leg hair and underarm hair is growing a lot more slowly and is finer. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh and don't forget hair in food. 

 

At least at home I know where the hair came from.  :laugh:

 

Oh, and we ALL have super thick hair here!  It's just mine is longer.  Although my son's is now I believe longer than mine. 

[ktgrok]

Ok, reading more sounds like you are just normal. If it isn't thinning, just lots of shedding...that's just part of having lots of hair. Brushing helps, so it gets caught in the brush. But yeah...my roommate in college and I BOTH shed hair like that, and our bathroom floor was gross...she used hairspray too so the floor would get sticky and then we would shed on it while blow drying. ick. And yeah..hair in the butt crack in the shower, hair in my food, hair on my clothes. I don't wear black :) 

 

[Guest]

After my last pregnancy when I started shedding (because you mostly don't shed while pregnant, but then it all falls out after the birth) I actually killed a vacuum cleaner with my hair.

 

If you have a lot of hair (as in many strands) you will shed many strands as well. That's not a sign of illness.

 

One thing that helps is to go outside to brush your hair, especially the first brushing of the day. At least it's going into the wind.

This is really sounding like a good idea.

 

I do give it a good combing, on the theory that a comb will grab more of the loose hairs. But standing outside is a good idea.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I bought the Dyson Animal for me...before I had animals!

 

Oh and that is another issue.  The hair gets wrapped on the roller of the vacuum so I have to clean that thing geesh every other use.  Which is annoying.  Dyson has not perfected a way to deal with that issue! 

[fraidycat]

Oh and don't forget hair in food.

 

At least at home I know where the hair came from. :laugh:

 

Oh, and we ALL have super thick hair here! It's just mine is longer. Although my son's is now I believe longer than mine.

I have the thinnest hair in my household, which is ...not thin. But, mine is the longest. DD's hair is so thick and her scalp so sensitive that we chopped hers all off a couple years ago - to relieve both the weight of it off her scalp, and the fights about combing her hair.

 

DH and DS both have thick hair, but DS is just "shaggy boy" and DH is a Marine, BUT his hair is thick enough that I can still snag the comb in a tangle on top of his head when it's only 1/2 inch long!! (I do his weekly haircut)

Edited June 13, 2016 by fraidycat

[SparklyUnicorn]

I did chop off a lot of hair recently.  It doesn't shed less, but the strands are not as long at least.

 

 

[J&JMom]

I have waist length hair and every morning (almost) I brush it and braid into a ponytail. I always have a wad of hair to clean from the brush.  Because it is in a braid (all day and all night as I sleep with it braided), I don't shed around the house.  I am perimenopausal and wash my hair on average once a week. I think the average person loses hundreds of hairs a day and the length of ours makes more noticeable :  a hair a yard long will have more volume that one a few inches long. 

Edited June 13, 2016 by J&JMom

[TammyS]

I bought the Dyson Animal for me...before I had animals!

 

Oh and that is another issue.  The hair gets wrapped on the roller of the vacuum so I have to clean that thing geesh every other use.  Which is annoying.  Dyson has not perfected a way to deal with that issue! 

 

I found you can clean it off pretty quickly by taking a pocket knife and cutting through the hair and then just pulling it straight of the roller, like a sheet.

[Guest]

Mine did this until I had my thyroid stuff straightened out. I would suggest some blood tests.

[Beth S]

And FYI, if it is "thinning" (beyond shedding), it can be stress related (if a thyroid test comes back negative).

Then you can google "telogen effluvium" , even from prior WTM threads, for more info.

Our dermatologist said there is no easy solution, just dealing with the stress (our dd got it in nursing school).

 

Just BTDT.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I found you can clean it off pretty quickly by taking a pocket knife and cutting through the hair and then just pulling it straight of the roller, like a sheet.

 

I use scissors usually. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Mine did this until I had my thyroid stuff straightened out. I would suggest some blood tests.

 

Although this has been this way FOREVER for me so I doubt it is a thyroid issue.

[Tita Gidge]

I bought the Dyson Animal for me...before I had animals!

 

Oh and that is another issue.  The hair gets wrapped on the roller of the vacuum so I have to clean that thing geesh every other use.  Which is annoying.  Dyson has not perfected a way to deal with that issue! 

 

I burn motors by not cleaning out my vacuum cleaner regularly, leaving my hairs wrapped around the rollers.

 

But I just buy the inexpensive $50 vacuums and replace every 1-2 years as needed. It's less than $5 a month to do it this way, and definitely more preferable to the time it takes me to clean the rollers after every vacuum!

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I have long hair as well (profile pic is very old).  I notice that I shed a lot less if I use a shampoo that doesn't contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate.  This has been the case ever since I had a bout of telogen effluvium several years ago.  If I stick with the sulfate free shampoo, I hardly lose any hair.  

 

 

ETA: Oh, and the best vacuum I've found for long hair is Panasonic.  They have very large rollers that do a great job of directing hair into the bag, without getting all wound up with it.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2016 by Suzanne in ABQ

[nd293]

Dd's red hair is everywhere! Ds gets so annoyed because it gets tangled in the wheels of his remote controlled cars. At the moment his remote controlled helicopter is somehow out of commission with dd's hair tangled in the blades...

 

I wash the floors once a week and sweep as needed, but it's never enough.

[MEmama]

I use scissors usually.

I'm relieved to find out I'm not the super freak I thought I was for doing this too. ;)

[MEmama]

Oh and don't forget hair in food.

 

At least at home I know where the hair came from. :laugh:

 

Oh, and we ALL have super thick hair here! It's just mine is longer. Although my son's is now I believe longer than mine.

Ugh, yeah. I try to wear my hair back when I cook but a strand often finds it way into dinner somehow anyway. Poor DH is usually the recipient.

 

Makes me paranoid about cooking for other people.

[Guest]

I'm relieved to find out I'm not the super freak I thought I was for doing this too. ;)

But, not the good scissors. :D

 

 

I actually have small scissors and a tweezer that I use for just this purpose.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I burn motors by not cleaning out my vacuum cleaner regularly, leaving my hairs wrapped around the rollers.

 

But I just buy the inexpensive $50 vacuums and replace every 1-2 years as needed. It's less than $5 a month to do it this way, and definitely more preferable to the time it takes me to clean the rollers after every vacuum!

 

I basically did that many years ago, but most of those vacuums just didn't work well enough to do the job.  I've had the Dyson for 11 years now.  I have had to replace the hose and the canister. The canister cracked when my kid dropped the vacuum.  And the hose...well we were vacuuming up a lot of crazy things when doing renovations (glass, etc.)  So I don't think that's so bad.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn