How Many Hairs Do You Lose a Day?

Hair shaped in the word help
Help hair brush – Adobe

Losing hair may sound like a scary topic, but it’s actually natural for hair shedding to occur on a daily basis. In fact, on average, humans lose 50-100 hairs per day!

According to NCBI, human’s have on average 80,000 to 120,000 hairs on their heads at any given time. Each hair follicle goes through cycles. The first cycle is the growth stage (anagen). The second is the rest stage (telogen) stage. It is during the rest stage where hairs shed and fall out, only to be replaced during the growth stage should the hair follicle remains active. Once the follicle stops being active and the hair ceases to grow there, then it is called hair loss.

Hair loss is also a natural occurrence as you grow older, however, excessive hair loss can be an indication of high stress levels as well as early indicators of other medical conditions described here.

What Causes More Hair Shedding?

Woman with hair shedding
Hair shredding – Adobe

Seeing a clump of hair in your hair brush after brushing is often a scary thing to see, however it is completely normal. All you are doing is releasing the hairs that are in the ‘resting’ phase instead of waiting for them to fall out on their own. This is completely normal and healthy.

Other events may cause you to shed more hairs than normal such as pregnancy, short term stress such as starting a new job and recovering from an operation. However you hair should return back to normal hair shedding cycles once the event is over and your body adjusts.

Other factors causing more hair shedding than normal includes chemical dyeing and grooming, such as using hair straighteners or curlers.

Hair shredding in brush – Adobe

Always keep a close eye to see if you start shredding more hair than usual. If you do, consult your doctor for more advice. You can read up on more excessive hair shredding causes here.

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