2 weeks of shedding...is this normal? (pics)

[AdelineHaveMercy]

Hey everyone!

First post, although I have lurked for a long time! In a nutshell, I started relaxing in 2007 and had a major setback in late 2009 where I relaxed and bleached and then re-dyed my hair black all within a few weeks. My hair fell out in clumps. I did a few protein treatments, thought my hair was back to normal (silly me!), and relaxed 2 more times the following year. It was when I realized I was developing something of a bald patch that I decided to permanently go back to natural. My last relaxer was on Nov. 15, 2010; I am now fully natural.

I have been silicone-free since March 2012. The last 1.5-2 months I have been using Megatek on my scalp, but with the consistent large amount of shedding, I decided to give it a break starting today. I don't think it's the Megatek because my hair was shedding just as much before.

My hair is getting long but I don't want to have WL hair of 4 strands in the future, you know? My regimen is really simple, I co-wash/detangle every 1-2 weeks with Tresemme Naturals, moisturize with giovanni direct and a black tea spray and braid and wig it. Shampoo w/low sulfates every 1.5 months or so. No buildup on my scalp. My hair was really dry and tangly today so I co-washed with some sesame oil. Generally, my hair does not like oil as it builds up.

I bought the protein conditioner DuoTex and I'm waiting for it to ship in hopes I can give my hair some strength. Today I did my regimen and here is a picture of the hair I lost. I want to know if it's normal or if it's too much. When I inspect the hair I do see bulbs but there is too many hair strands to inspect each one and the bulbs are really faint. If it's too much, please let me know some silicone-free ways I might repair it. I bought Alter Ego but had to return it when I saw the ingredients had silicone (I did not use it). I am thinking of buying garlic oil...please help LHCFers! Thanks so much

 

[whiteoleander91]

how long is your hair? sometimes it can seem like a lot of hair, but it's actually not that much, it's just your strands are long. plus, if you are only detangling once every 1-2 weeks, you will see more shed hair since hair sheds every day...so that's could just be an accumulation of what is normal shedding...does that make sense? lol I'm really tired so this might not be coherent.

the protein is a good idea, though. it could just be that your hair is over moisturized.

 

[phyl73]

I was having a similar problem. Not sure what caused it, but anyway I ended up joining the tea/coffee challenge and started using coffee rinse followed by a tea rinse made of amla powder, Brahmi powder, black tea. It slowed it down a lot. So now I've gotten into brewing different herbs and flowers. You should go over to that thread. It long but there's so much information.

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

whiteoleander91: Thank you so much for your reply! My hair is 3 different lengths, lol. The nape (last 1/3rd) is BSL, the middle 1/3rd is about APL, the very front is a little over chin length. Yeah I am hoping the protein will help, the only protein I used was megatek on my scalp. I was so concerned today I threw some of my brother's gel on during the co-wash, haha It seemed to help though.

phyl73: Thank you so much. I spray with black tea directly now, I will definitely try the Amla/Brahmi. I garden as well, we have mint, basil, cherry tomatoes, blackberries, and a lemon tree. If those herbs can grow indoors I would have no problem adding it to the collection!

Have any of you ladies tried garlic oil? I don't want to smell like garlic but I am so desperate. This shedding hasn't stopped since 2009. It seems to have only switched from breakage to shedding...I have lost of my thickness that I had pre-relaxer...which is okay since I had too much, but at this rate it's kind of alarming

 

[havilland]

i get twice that in two weeks....my hair is bsl.

i have been shedding at the same rate for 5 years, so i know it's just my normal rate.

i tracked it to be sure.

i shed alot more than that when i was post child birth, but what you show there looks like less than what i shed normally in 2 weeks for sure.

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

havilland: Thank you so much for your perspective! That makes me feel better, your hair is beautiful! Do we just shed more when we get older or what? It's either that or the relaxer has somehow penetrated into my permanent hair structure, even after being relaxer free for 2+ years!

 

[southerncitygirl]

AdelineHaveMercy

the average person sheds 50-100 hairs per day and on wash day it could be even more. if you have long, dense or thick hair it can look like tons of hair lost when in fact its really not. that's normal, i wash once a week and get that much shedding. i'm natural and my bsl 3c-4a hair shrinks to above my shoulders.

do you wash and detangle in sections? i prefer to detangle on wet or damp hair with a shower comb and leave-in condish.

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

Yep . That is perfectly normal for two weeks. My shedding is generally that much in a two week period. I'm suppose to wash tomorrow so I'll post a pic so that you can see (I haven't washed in 2 weeks, laziness hit me hard last week ). As for length, I was Below BSB, but as of right now I THINK I'm BSL (I sure hope so).

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

southerncitygirl: Thank you for your reassurance!! I saw someone else who was freaking out over like 4 strands, literally, so I thought I was going bald haha...I try to do sections and I only detangle when it's wet, in fact even when I do prep w/oil I wet my hair first, then detangle with the tresemme and with my fingers. I did use a comb today though at the very end because the hair was abnormally tangly (probably due to detangling too fast 2 weeks ago...we had guests so I couldn't do a proper job.) Thank you again

EnExitStageLeft: Thank you so much, I feel a lot more relieved! I only know too well how it feels going 2 weeks, lol...it can be good sometimes though! When you take it down it's kind of exciting cause you're like "ooh I wonder how much it grew". I am not sure exactly where BSL is though, I probably just have a weird back, but below shoulder blade for me is not very far from MBL (maybe 2 inches) so is BSL in between that? hmm. At any rate your hair looks pretty long and not that far from MBL! Keep growing girl!

 

[NappyNelle]

Welcome Adeline!

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

Wassup NappyNelle! It's nice to be able to comment for once! So many times I'm like I wish I could see that picture or I wish I could comment and tell someone how appreciated their post is! So I went for the 2 yr sub, I thought I might need to be around for a while lol And these smilies are really cute

 

[empressri]

for 2 weeks, I would say that is darn good!!

Put it this way, if you went for one week, the pile of hair should be half of that. Now if you're getting the same amount, something isnt' right.

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

empressri: Thank you so much! It might just be this is what it is now. I bought some garlic shampoo as well so I will pamper my hair the next few weeks and cut out the megatek and see if it lessens. I don't have any hormonal issues so if it doesn't I guess that is my new normal.

 

[AdelineHaveMercy]

phyl73, I also bought some amla and brahmi! And a morrocan rhassoul clay mask for the hair...and I wanted to get sooo many other powders but made myself stop and said I will try those first and see how it goes haha...I am such a PJ and went through major rehab last April, donating a lot of stuff I don't use and keeping it strictly to Tressemme and Giovanni till now. I hope I don't hop on that train again

 

[phyl73]

phyl73, I also bought some amla and brahmi! And a morrocan rhassoul clay mask for the hair...and I wanted to get sooo many other powders but made myself stop and said I will try those first and see how it goes haha...I am such a PJ and went through major rehab last April, donating a lot of stuff I don't use and keeping it strictly to Tressemme and Giovanni till now. I hope I don't hop on that train again

Well you're talking to a fellow PJ. I don't know how to talk myself down let alone anyone else! Girl I love the powders, but am now incorporating them with teas. I love the tressemme conditioners too. I just started using the naturals brand as my daily leave in.

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

So I washed today. I didn't wash last week, so I went 2 full weeks w/o shampoo and it probably won't happen again anytime soon ....too heavy handed w/ product to not regularly cleanse my scalp .

Anywho....Here is how much I shedded.

 

[BlackHairDiva]

I'm suspecting you are relaxed. If that is the case. I noticed that when I'm relaxed I cannot strecth between relaxers.If I do , I start shedding like crazy. the maximum I can do is 4 months and then get a teouch up. I can't go 6 months like some ladies in here and get a touch up. It just ain't happening.

How long have been between touch up? Have you tried Alter ego garlic treatment, many have sworn by it in here.

Hey everyone!

First post, although I have lurked for a long time! In a nutshell, I started relaxing in 2007 and had a major setback in late 2009 where I relaxed and bleached and then re-dyed my hair black all within a few weeks. My hair fell out in clumps. I did a few protein treatments, thought my hair was back to normal (silly me!), and relaxed 2 more times the following year. It was when I realized I was developing something of a bald patch that I decided to permanently go back to natural. My last relaxer was on Nov. 15, 2010; I am now fully natural.

I have been silicone-free since March 2012. The last 1.5-2 months I have been using Megatek on my scalp, but with the consistent large amount of shedding, I decided to give it a break starting today. I don't think it's the Megatek because my hair was shedding just as much before.

My hair is getting long but I don't want to have WL hair of 4 strands in the future, you know? My regimen is really simple, I co-wash/detangle every 1-2 weeks with Tresemme Naturals, moisturize with giovanni direct and a black tea spray and braid and wig it. Shampoo w/low sulfates every 1.5 months or so. No buildup on my scalp. My hair was really dry and tangly today so I co-washed with some sesame oil. Generally, my hair does not like oil as it builds up.

I bought the protein conditioner DuoTex and I'm waiting for it to ship in hopes I can give my hair some strength. Today I did my regimen and here is a picture of the hair I lost. I want to know if it's normal or if it's too much. When I inspect the hair I do see bulbs but there is too many hair strands to inspect each one and the bulbs are really faint. If it's too much, please let me know some silicone-free ways I might repair it. I bought Alter Ego but had to return it when I saw the ingredients had silicone (I did not use it). I am thinking of buying garlic oil...please help LHCFers! Thanks so much

 

[Nonie]

That is abnormal shedding. So abnormal in that it is not enough.

I bet you if you counted those hairs, they would not be a total of 1,400 strands. That's is what would be normal for 2 weeks. That or less. So the only time you'd need to worry is if the number was so much greater than that, and you were seeing bald spots or thinning.

I think y'all worry too much about nothing. Maybe you should try to manipulate your hair daily so you get a sense of what normal shedding is. That way when you wait a whole 2 weeks to manipulate your hair, you won't panic over such a small ball of hair.

 

[Leesh]

Looks normal to me...I get that after two days. You should be ok.

 

[kupenda]

Mehh...seems fine to me dear. However if silicones are worrying you and you are struggling with the garlic oil, make your own garlic conditioner. Get a regular old deep conditioner, add some chopped up garlic, stir, let it sit for a week or so, and then massage it into your scalp as a prepoo. Leave it on for at least fifteen minutes under a baggy. Then run speedily back to your computer to give us an update and after that, make some yummy italian dishes to get more use out of that garlic. yummmm

 

[havilland]

havilland: Thank you so much for your perspective! That makes me feel better, your hair is beautiful! Do we just shed more when we get older or what? It's either that or the relaxer has somehow penetrated into my permanent hair structure, even after being relaxer free for 2+ years!

i wanted to post this for you......i flat ironed over thanksgiving and enjoyed having straight hair so much that i did not shampoo for 2 weeks. (i usually co wash almost daily)

here is my shed hair for the two week, 1 day period (minus the additional hair that came out in the shower after i deep conditioned)

this shows my normal shedding pattern. it has been that same forever. my shedding slows every 6-8 weeks and then picks right back up to it's normal pattern.

hth

 

[deedoswell]

havilland, love your hair it is so nice and long and thick!!! I shed like that also. It's crazy because when it happens my initial reaction is panic than I settle down and realize this happens to me in cycles!

 

[havilland]

@havilland, love your hair it is so nice and long and thick!!! I shed like that also. It's crazy because when it happens my initial reaction is panic than I settle down and realize this happens to me in cycles!

thanku for the compliment. shedders unite!

it took me a very long time to be ok with my shedding.....i kept the shed hair every week for MONTHS and tracked the loss. once i saw that it was normal and i wasn't bald, i calmed down.