Breakage vs Shed Hair

Ahhhh! Every time you comb, brush, or even touch your hair, you see hair coming out. When you wash you hair, there is hair in the bathtub. What's going on???

Well let's figure that out. The hair that you find lying around could be shed hair or broken hair. There is a very big and important difference between the two.

SHED HAIR is hair that is naturally released from the scalp as a result of being at the end of it's growth cycle. Each and every piece of hair on your head goes through a growth phase. The duration of this growth phase is what differs from person to person. However, the average can be anywhere between about 2-6 years (this is based on genetics). There are three stages of hair growth:

Anagen-the active phase of hair growth. Most of the hair on your head is in this phase at a given time.

Catagen: the shortest stage lasting about 2-3 weeks. This is the transitional time when the hair strand begins to stop growing. About 2-3% of your hair stands are at this stage.

Telogen: This is the resting stage of the hair follicle. At this stage, the hair has ceased all growth and is essentially, dead hair waiting to be pushed out by the new growing hair. This stage can last up to 3 months and about 10-15% of scalp hair may be in this stage. (Side fact: Eyebrow, eyelash, body hair, remain in this stage for much longer. That's why you don't have scalp hair length on your face and body :) )

So, shed hair is the hair that is in telogen phase and is pushed out naturally.Shed hair will have a white bulb at the end of it. We loose up to 50-100 hairs a day due to this cycle. That seems like a lot but keep in mind that we have around 100,000 hair follicles on our head and that this is a continuous cycle. The amount of hair we shed can be accelerated due to different things like stress, diet, exercise, season (summer tends to produce more growth), age (the cycle begins to slow down after 30), and a variety of other things. That's why you may note that you seem to be losing more hair on some weeks, and less during others. Therefore, keep in mind what normal shedding looks to you on an average day, so that you can be aware when things seem to be changing.

Now, BROKEN HAIR is what you want to minimize. Broken hair is hair that is just that...broken...due to external stressors. These stresors can be:

Chemical: color, perming, or any other chemical which may weaken the hair strand over time.

Mechanical: pulling, combing, brushing (especially when wet), use of high heat (ie: flat ironing, curling, etc)
Hair accessories: scrunchies, barrettes, etc that pull the hair too tight.

Health: changes in your health that result in weaker hair strands growing in.

When you have broken hair, you won't see the bulb at the end of the strand and the hair will usually be short. So, when you hear that "snap" noise coming from your head, you've probably just broken some hair.

Take a look at what you're losing. If it's mostly shed hair, then good job! If it's mostly broken hair, then start making changes in your daily practices. Reduce the manipulation of your hair, heat, or constant use of harsh chemicals. Strengthen the strands with a protein treatment once in awhile.

Until next time,
Happy Hair Growing!

Bee