Can Hair Loss Amounts in the Average Range Be Too Much?

Can Hair Loss Amounts in the Average Range Be Too Much?

Hair-loss amounts in the "average" range can sometimes still be excessive. If you count your hair over a few weeks and notice that about an average of ninety hairs fall out, you might decide that this is okay because it fits nicely in the "normal" range. However, if you were only losing, say, forty-five hairs per day when you were washing before, ninety is twice as many hairs as your normal average. This could mean that you have excessive hair loss. Therefore, it is important that you only compare your hair fall with your own history, not with another person's hair history.

Can Hair-Loss Amounts that Are More than the Average Range Be Okay?

Hair-loss amounts higher than the "average" can be normal. If you count ninety hairs as an average and you're only used to seeing forty-five, you would probably become concerned. However, you need to ask yourself, "When did I previously wash my hair?" If you used to wash your hair every day and noticed about forty-five hairs falling out but recently skipped a day or two between washes, then seeing ninety hairs could be normal. The reason for this is that hair loss accumulates; the less often you wash your hair, the more hair fall you see when you do wash it. Therefore, the forty-five hairs that you lost on a daily wash basis will accumulate to ninety if you wash every two days, one hundred thirty-five if you wash every three days, and so on.

Clearly the old wives' tale that says washing your hair makes it fall out more is incorrect! Wash your hair as often as you want. Any hair that comes out has already been released by the follicle and so is ready to fall. By not washing your hair, you allow this normal hair amount to build up. Therefore, when you do wash it, it looks like more is falling out, making you needlessly worried about losing hair.