Hair Shedding? Or Is It Hair Breakage?
It’s been a while since my last post. 2 months now or so? Do pardon me for going AWOL on you, I’ve been so busy with my new job, it takes up about 99.9% of my time. I’m hoping to find a balance between this new job and blogging. I’ve missed blogging about natural hair and I may not be as frequent as I used to be but I’ll try my "bestest" to give a post or two weekly/bi-weekly.
So, I am going to be writing on something that concerns many “naturalistas”, which is hair shedding and hair breakage.
Have you ever taken your big comb to straighten out your twists or to untangle your hair and you see strands fall off as you comb?
Probably also after combing your hair, you see a large pile of hair stuck on your comb?
I understand this could get very worrisome, we have all been there, I guess…
The problem here is discerning what exactly the problem is, which brings us to hair shedding and hair breakage, the next couple of posts will be analyzing these problems, getting to know which one affects you and how to address the issue.
Now, most people tend to mistake these hair conditions, which is the beginning of failure in resolving the matter but put your mind at rest, we are about to take your hair to the very next level.
Let’s start with hair shedding…
What is hair shedding?
Hair shedding is described to be a normal process which occurs daily, it is said that we lose about 50-100 hairs a day, therefore hair shedding can be said to be normal. Shedding is a way of the body getting rid of old hair strands to create space for the growth of new hair strands.
When does your shedding become excessive?
Hair growth is controlled by Hormones. Basically, a hormone called the Growth Hormone, when there is a physiological imbalance which could occur due to:
- Stress
- Post Pregnancy
- Weight loss
- Sickness
- Change in diet (low protein) etc.
These factors which cause physiological imbalance cause fluctuation of the hormone which leads to hair loss, it is usually temporary and stops when the body is restored to the normal physiological state.
You may also ask,
Why do I shed a lot of hair and my friend or sister doesn’t?
Everyone has a different genetic makeup, and our body systems or how our bodies respond to our genetic make-up. Hair growth is divided into four different stages and the last being the Telogen stage where shedding occurs, these stages occur at different lengths of time which is usually determined by your genetic make-up.
So, Vanessa sheds less hair than you do probably because her Telogen stage length is shorter than yours!
How can I be sure it’s hair shedding and not hair breakage?
This is quite simple, long strands of hair about the length of your hair you see on your comb are most likely shed hair from your scalp, this can also be confirmed by picking up a strand, to check the ends, and at a particular end you will see a white bulb which is of Keratin, if absent its most likely breakage.
That should explain shedding.
Now, let's talk about hair breakage.
What is hair breakage?
Hair breakage is an abnormal form of hair loss, it is exempted from the normal 50-100 hair that should be lost daily. Hair breakage occurs before the final stage of its growth which is the Telogen stage (Shedding stage). It occurs due to hair mismanagement and other possible causes. And since this is abnormal, it is certainly not a good sign for a supposed healthy hair.
When does hair breaking occur and what are the causes?
Unlike hair shedding which occurs due to internal body changes (Hormones), Hair breaking occurs most of the time due to external factors, external stress on the hair, it could include:
- Overheating/Frequent heating.
- Over-processing/Frequent bleaching- this could make your hair brittle making it prone to breakage.
- Frequent touching or twirling of your hair(hand in hair syndrome)- At some point, you start to pull out strands.
- You style your hair too tight- too much pressure on the hair could lead to pulling out of hair strands.
- Dry hair.
- Use of poor hair products or hair products your hair isn’t compliant with.
- Poor diet amongst others.
How can I be sure its hair breakage?
When your hair is breaking, the strands are short or shorter than the actual length of your hair and of course, there is the absence of the white bulb at any end of a strand. Hair breakage occurs from any point of the hair, the top, middle or bottom, but unlike hair shedding it doesn’t pull from the scalp creating the absence of the white bulb.
Watch out for the next post!
If you have any questions or need clarity on anything related to this topic let me know.
Have an awesome week ahead!
