Hair Fall: How Much Is Too Much?

If you’re unsure about whether your hair loss is within a normal range or could be a sign of a more serious issue, it’s essential to know the difference. Here’s a simple guide to help you recognize when hair loss is normal and when it might signal a deeper concern.

Firstly, we need to understand what constitutes normal hair loss before understanding the external factors that lead to the loss of hair.

Our hair has a life cycle. Typically, a hair strand can last for about 2-5 years. When you shed old hair, new hair follicles replace them. However, you need to understand hair shedding patterns to estimate how much hair loss is normal in a day.

Other causes of hair loss include lack of hygiene, stress, heredity, lousy diet, exposure to pollution, chemical infused cosmetics, and hairstyling. All this leads to weakened strands, dandruff, and hair breakage.

Split ends usually indicate a lack of moisture in your hair. It can also be due to increased hair brushing. It can weaken the hair, prevent nutrition from reaching the tip, and as a result, you lose an inordinate amount of hair.

Certain conditions like alopecia, thyroid disorders, anaemia, lupus, pattern baldness, and scalp allergies can cause hair loss.

Hair loss and hair shedding are two separate terms and cannot be used interchangeably. Hair shedding is when you lose hair as a natural process, and the hair follicle is still active. Hair loss is when your hair is abnormally falling off, and there is no sign of new hair.

Hair shedding is not a cause of concern. If you have no anomalies and your hair is just going through a predefined process, it is not alarming. The scalp health and hair lustre indicate your hair health.

However, if you suffer from hair loss, you will have a patchy scalp with no sign of new hair growth. You will have to address the root cause of the problem; else the situation can worsen, leading to baldness.

There are many reasons for hair loss. It can be genetic or due to some ailment. The most common is radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Cancer treatment has intense radiation and prominent side effects. One of them is increased hair loss. They don’t grow back until the treatment is done, and the exposure to chemotherapeutic waves stops. In this case, the loss is unavoidable and even necessary to combat a more significant issue.

It is crucial to understand how much hair loss is normal in a day for us to understand your hair loss pattern. Any healthy person loses about 50 to 100 strands daily under normal conditions. There are different stages in the life cycle of your hair and here is how they are –

• Your hair (80-90% of it) is mostly in the ‘anagen’ phase where it continues to grow. Hair usually grows by a centimetre every month.
• Then comes the ‘catagen’ phase and only a small portion, that is, 1-2% of your hair is in this stage. Hair stops showing further growth at this stage.
• The last phase is the ‘Telogen’ phase. At this point, the hair will start to prepare itself to detach from the scalp, and about 9% of your hair will be in this stage every day.
• When you have scalp and hair fall issues, more than 10% of your hair will enter the telogen phase, increasing hair loss.

According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, it is okay to lose about 50-100 strands of hair per day – in both males and females.

Another major question is how much hair loss is normal for a male when washing hair. When your hair is wet, it is much more vulnerable, and that is why you will find them falling off. This is common in both males and females.

When females have hormonal fluctuations during their menstrual days, they end up losing more hair then.

When men use helmets or rough head scarfs, they tend to say goodbye to more hair strands than the normal 50 – 100 strands per day.

Now that you know how many hairs you lose in a day, you can also do a simple test to decode if you are losing too much hair unknowingly. This is called the ‘pull test’, and you need to do it when your hair is not wet or oiled. Take a small portion of your hair, preferably with something around 100 strands in it. You don’t have to count them and can take a rough estimate. Tug them gently twice or thrice, holding them at the tip. If more than ten strands of your hair are coming off the scalp, you should be worried. Otherwise, it is completely normal.

However, do not do this test immediately after coming indoors if you have been outside for a while. Your hair has been exposed to free radicals, pollution, and direct heat from the sun. So, the results might be influenced by these environmental factors.

If you doubt that hair loss is getting out of hand and the strand count is increasing day by day, it is advised to not stick to mere home remedies and visit a doctor. There may be an underlying health issue that you might not be aware of.

At HairMD, you will get personalised solutions to all your hair problems. HairMD also offers Advanced Hair Transplant Method Follicular Unit Extraction, a highly feasible and on-point hair transplantation method.

The clinic is equipped with the latest machinery and is handled by experienced staff. They are also trained to deal with hair issues in both males and females. You can expect a success rate of over 98%! The experienced team of doctors will make this journey easier and less stressful for you. After transplantation and expert guidance, you can say goodbye to scalp issues, and your hair will grow back beautifully, shining and bouncy. The distinct before and after results will be visible to everyone to appreciate.

Book an appointment with HairMD today for your hair loss concerns!