Common reasons why your hair falls out
Hair can fall out for several reasons. The hair follicle organ, which is found within the skin, synthesises our hair. Follicles produce hair in repeated cycles, called the follicle cycle. The follicle cycle consists of four main stages – anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen. Hair naturally falls out during the exogen phase of the hair cycle and grows back during the anagen phase.
A link to the original scientific paper detailing the exogen phase of the follicle cycle can be found here if you would like to read further.
How many fibres do we typically lose per day?
Typically, humans shed around 50 to 150 hair fibres from our heads each day. 50 to 150 hair fibres may look like a lot when you find them on your pillow or during the shower. We have around 110,000 fibres on our heads at any time, so these hair losses are usually very minimal.
Why do some people seem to lose more hair than others?
It can depend on differences in the approximate hair drop rate. However, other essential factors that are not always apparent include:
The number of times you brush their hair - the more times you brush, the less you will collect in the shower or will find on your pillow in the morning.
If you tie your hair back in a ponytail, for example, When you come to shower or brush your hair, it can appear that a lot of hair has fallen out in one go, which is not typically the case. Over the course of the day, your hair will naturally drop but will not be unable to “blow away in the wind”.
These are just a couple of examples, but this can be why you suddenly notice an increase in the amount of hair you are finding on your pillow or when showering etc. Your hair is not necessarily falling out more, but it is just not being “lost”, so to speak.
Why does our hair fall out?
Why hair falls out at all is not currently known but is probably related to why mammals evolved hair in the first place, i.e. to keep us warm and to signal health as with many mammals. Shedding also occurs with your skin for similar reasons. Hair degrades over time, so there are likely many advantages in having your hair continuously replaced throughout your lifetime. i.e. regularly renewed hair is likely to look better than 50-year-old hair fibres etc.
Sudden hair loss and where to get help.
Hair can suddenly and unexpectantly fall out, and this is called alopecia. Sudden hair loss can occur in patches and spread over your entire body or remain local, i.e. on your scalp, legs, chest, etc. Either way, alopecia can be physically and socially debilitating. Alopecia can be caused by several factors: excessive stress, anxiety, and some cancer treatments.
Specialist local and national organisations exist to help you cope and advise you if you are suffering from alopecia. For example, Alopecia UK has a helpful local UK directory to get help and advice.
Get Expert Hair Analysis and Help
If you are worried about the health of your hair, or you want advice on what would be the best hair care solutions for your hair, please get in touch with HairKnowHow and give a HairKnowHow Hair Analysis a try!
Contact the HairKnowHow Team if you have any questions.
