How much shedding is considered normal?

Should my shedding be more or less similar everyday?

I’m often asked if hair shedding should be fairly similar everyday. The question often goes something like this “If I wash my hair the same way every day and brush and blow dry the same way, should the shedding not be the same ?”

The answer is that hair shedding is normally fairly similar - but there is still quite some variation. If a patient shampoos daily they might notice a wide variation in daily hair counts. Monday it might be 33, Tuesday 41, Wednesday 22, Thursday 35, Friday 40.

Shedding might change for some at different times of the menstural cycle. For some women, shedding is often highest just before the menstrual cycle begins. Shedding might also change according to seasons with higher shedding in the late summer and fall.

But variations in daily shedding are very common.

This type of fluctuation is seen even in people without any sort of hair loss issue. So there can be quite a variation in normal shedding each day. It’s possible to have normal shedding and still have a hair loss disorder, so normal shedding does not necessary exclude an problem. But it makes it far less likely.

lncreases in shedding beyond one’s normal is concerning. If the number went to 89 for the patient above, that would be unexpected. A patient might care for his or her hair the same way every day but each day is not the same. I often say to my patients that they do not conduct each of the 86, 400 seconds in each day the same way.

I might say to them….

Look at the number of hours or seconds you sleep. They are not the same. Look at the number of calories you eat every day. They are not the same. Look at the number of ounces of fluid you drink per day. They are not the same. Look at the number of minutes you stand or sit each day. They are never the same. Look at the number of minutes you spend reading or watching or listening to news or conversing with other humans. They are not the same. Our hair is the sum total of everything that happens in each of our daily life. Some variation must be expected and would be concerning if it were not. If you sleep 6 hours tonight and 7 hours tomorrow, we don’t think much about it. If you sleep 6 hours tonight and 17 hours tomorrow, something is likely wrong.

If one sheds 33 hairs today and 43 tomorrow, we think nothing of it. If one sheds 33 hair today and 134 tomorrow, something is likely wrong.