Hair Shedding Vs Hair Loss: When you see more strands on your hairbrush, hair band, or on your pillow, than normal, you may have hair loss. Or you could be experiencing hair shedding. Yes, hair shedding and hair loss are two different things. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, shedding 50 to 100 per day is a normal hair cycle. You should not worry about it.
There are nearly 1,00,000 or more hair follicles on a human head, and a normal hair cycle allows them to shed at least 50–100 strands a day. However, losing more than 100 stands per day could be a sign of balding and should need medical attention or prevention. In this article, we have explained hair shedding versus hair loss, which will help you to know the difference.
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Hair Shedding Vs Hair Loss – What is hair Shedding?
The medical term for hair shedding is telogen effluvium. When a person sheds significantly more excessive hair than normal, this condition is called hair shedding. Normally, a human body can lose approximately 100 strands daily. It is healthy hair loss, and it is not a reason to be concerned. Sometimes, some negative factors, like stress and tension, can lead to hair shedding. It can be easily prevented if you recognize the cause of shedding hair.
Fortunately, hair shedding will often stop on its own. People notice that they are losing more than 100 hairs a day, but after some time, say 1-2 months, their body readjusts itself and the extra hair fall stops itself.
In women, pregnancy is the time when women shed more hair than normal. For example, most women see hair shedding at its peak about 2 or 4 months after giving birth to a child. This hair shedding is temporary, not permanent. When their bodies readjust, the women regain fuller hair.
On the other hand, hair shedding can also be long-lived. It means people who have a lot of stress or who are working under pressure are likely to experience long-term hair shedding.
Causes of Hair Shedding
There are some major factors that contribute to hair shedding, and in this section of the article, we have focused on the core causes of shedding hair.
Stress Excessive hair fall is common in people who work under pressure or deal with stress. High-level stress is the biggest culprit of excessive hair loss. Stress promotes the androgen in your body, which leads to hair fall and also turns your hair grey.
Age: As you age, your body acts accordingly. Your hair becomes thinner and becomes prone to hair fall. In women, menopause is also a reason for hair shedding. Due to hormonal changes, you might experience excessive hair fall.
Hormonal Imbalance: Sometimes, changes in hormones disrupt your body’s functions and become a reason for hair shedding. If you have too much androgen in your body, it can mess up your hair cycle and cause you to lose more hair than usual.
Other factors include illness recovery, childbirth, weight loss, high fever, use of birth control pills, and so on.
What Is Hair Loss?
Unlike hair fall, the medical term for hair loss is anagen effluvium. It is different from hair shedding. It occurs when you shed hair and it does not grow back. When something stops your hair growth, it is called hair loss. It is mainly experienced due to several external factors.
Anagen effluvium is the loss of hair that stops growing because of impaired mitotic or metabolic activity of hair follicles. According to the dermatologist, hair loss is reversible and can take approximately three months. It can be treated with effective medication.
Unfortunately, hair regrowth treatments don’t result in hair regrowth for everyone. The sooner you start prevention and treatment, the better it is. A team of board-certified dermatologists can suggest prescription medicines and treatments and what to expect from the treatments. In extreme cases, hair loss turns into permanent alopecia.
Hair loss is a condition when you observe patches on your head with thinner hair. Bald spots are also a sign of hair loss, and it is completely different from normal shedding or hair shedding. Its causes are also different from hair fall.
Hair Loss Causes
What are the causes of hair loss? To answer this common question, we have mentioned the main causes of the anagen alluvium condition.
Heredity hair loss: Heredity hair loss is linked with genetic composition. When some people don’t see the signs or causes of hair loss, then it’s probably heredity hair loss by genetics.
The reaction of drugs: Sometimes, certain medications can also disrupt the hair growth cycle. Treatments, for example, chemotherapy, can cause temporary balding. Fortunately, your hair will grow back when you stop the treatment.
Lack of Nutrients: The imbalance of nutrients or lack of nutrients is one of the major factors in hair loss. Oftentimes, a poor diet is responsible for imbalanced nutrients. Vitamins like B vitamins, iron, proteins, fats, and vitamin D play a vital role in hair growth and a deficiency of these essential nutrients leads to hair loss. If you can reverse the hair loss by incorporating nuts and seeds into your diet, Additionally, avoid over-processed foods for better results.
Heat styling: exposure to the heat from styling tools such as straighteners and curlers will steal the hydration and shine of your hair, and it also affects the health of your hair. Heat can damage the hair’s internal protein and cause breakage. You can prevent this by avoiding heat-style tools. Minimize the use of these tools and get back to healthy, shiny hair.
Hair Loss Vs Hair Shedding: Differences
A normal hair growth cycle has two phases: the growing phase and the resting phase. It is known as anagen and telogen. Normally, when new hair grows in place after hair shedding, this is called normal hair fall. Normal hair fall can be seen while combing hair, bathing, shampooing, etc. You will probably lose 50-100 strands in 24 hours, and it is normal hair shedding. Your scalp will not be visible or you will not notice a sudden change in hair volume. If you are experiencing more hair fall than normal, you need professional help.
In one study, it was found that genetic hair loss is majorly seen in men. It affects men by the age of 50. Up to 50% of men are affected by this hair condition. At present, various treatments, topical solutions, and supplements are available to regrow the lost hair.
The initial attempts to regrow the hair are between 2% and 5%. However, it doesn’t prove effective for everyone.
Furthermore, women lack nutrients due to starvation, and an eating disorder is the major cause of hair loss. Iron-deficient women also experience hair fall. It is resolvable if you eliminate the causes and main stressors that are causing the loss. While the problem can be solved by improving the diet and taking supplements and treatment.
Normal hair shedding vs hair loss can be explained by the count of strands falling per day. If it is more than normal hair fall, then it could be a loss of hair. Excessive hair shedding can lead to hair loss if you do not get treatment on time. You should remember that the type of hair loss and its causes can be different from person to person because of gender and genes.
Balding vs Shedding
Balding is also known as alopecia, and the common word for hair shedding is hair fall. It is necessary to know the hair growth cycle to distinguish between the two terms. The dynamic hair cycle allows approximately 100 hairs to fall out in a day. Recognizing the anagen, and telogen phases helps to get an idea of whether you are suffering from hair fall or loss of hair.
The individual who is experiencing this condition or increased shedding can take support from clinical treatments or drugs. Clinical evaluations have made treatment easy and effective. Hair loss, balding, and alopecia are similar terms. Typically, men have a receding hairline at the brow and hair thinning at the crown of the head.
However, in females or women with pattern baldness, they have a visible scalp and a wide and thin bald spot at the top of the head. It can be prevented with proven treatments. If you have any type of hair loss, start the treatment soon to restore the growth and prevent further hair loss.
Summary
Everyone wants flawless hair, but hair thinning and hair fall become major hair problems. If you are worried about hair fall or baldness, you are not alone. There are millions of people going through the same trauma. Thankfully, we have hair loss prevention brands and dermatologists to provide us with effective solutions.
Excessive hair shedding is common due to stress, but if we stop the causes, it can be prevented. On the other hand, it is not a big deal either, as research proves that it is reversible. You can restore hair growth by making simple changes in your life. Develop healthy eating habits, do yoga or exercise, take supplements, and avoid stress as much as possible. Changing a few things can change your life and support hair growth.
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