Totally frustrated with shedding... PLEASE HELP.

[MsOmri]

Ladies this sucks.....
My hair doesn't shed all week. I wear it down everyday, wrap it at night and only add NTM a couple days a week. It stays light, airy and most of all NO SHEDDING. I can even comb root to tip b/c it doesn't shed.

BUT when I wash it, it's like all the hair that didn't shed during the week comes out. I want to cry, because I dont understand. Tons of long hairs with the white bulbs.

I usually wash w/ Aphogee or ION clarifying. I deep condition w/ Kenra MC. I used to condition w/ Aphogee 2min only but I gave that a break b/c I noticed a little breakage and decided to up the moisture. Moisture is much better and the breakage has improved.
I went from needing moisture daily to needing NTM only a couple days a week.

I'm at a loss, I don't know what's wrong.

I comb my hair when the conditioner is in and very few hairs come out. When I roller set, I don't loose much either. Its after I've sat under the Pibbs and take out the rollers. When I flat iron the roots and comb it out, this is when the hairs start falling.

Once I'm done the shedding stops, I wrap and and its fine. I combed it out this morning, no hairs. I feel like I'm loosing all my progress on wash days.

I've been struggling with shedding for months. It used to be all the time, wash day & daily combing, or just sitting there and hairs would be falling out. I've had to cut several inches due to the shedding and thinning. Thankfully the daily shedding has been resolved but the shedding on wash day is still very ALARMING.
I know our hair has normal shedding but this isn't normal and I'm so tired of dealing with this. I'm tired of having to trim more often than I'd prefer.

I'm so ready to give up! What am I doing wrong????

PLEASE HELP

ETA: Maybe I need to use both the Apoghee 2 min & Kenra MC on wash day. I've only tried using one or the other. My hair would shed less on wash day when using Apoghee but it was shedding and breaking more during the week. I'd have to wash every 5 days b/c it would only get worse after that. I thought my problem was due to protein overload, so I started DC with Kenra only.

Now my shedding is non existant (less than 30 when combing for the entire day) during the week with Kenra and I can easily make it 7 days b/t washes with no problems. Yet on wahs days I stop counting the hairs b/c the shedding is horrific.

Maybe I need both. I'm so sick of the trial and error. Sometimes I want to go back to weaves b/c they are so much easier. Yet I honestly enjoy wearing my natural hair, which is shocking b/c I wore weaves for several years.

 

[msa]

Ladies this sucks.....
Moisture is much better and the breakage has improved.
I went from needing moisture daily to needing NTM only a couple days a week.
.

That's great...your hair has improved so don't forget that in itself is progress.

I've been struggling with shedding for months. It used to be all the time, wash day & daily combing, or just sitting there and hairs would be falling out. I've had to cut several inches due to the shedding and thinning. Thankfully the daily shedding has been resolved but the shedding on wash day is still very ALARMING.
I know our hair has normal shedding but this isn't normal and I'm so tired of dealing with this. I'm tired of having to trim more often than I'd prefer.

I'm so ready to give up! What am I doing wrong????

PLEASE HELP

1. You said it yourself, shedding is normal. It's a normal part of the hair's life cycle. Humans shed an average of 50-100 hairs a day. It's not possible to keep every hair on your head, so you just have to accept it.

2. You said you wear your hair down everyday. I think you may not be noticing the shed hair that's coming out then because it's probably ending up other places (the floor, your chair, your shirt, your car seat, other people's food, etc...)

3. What's normal for you is going to be different than what's normal for others. Maybe you shed minimally during the week, and then a lot more once your scalp is stimulated from washing and being manipulated. Either way, your hair is going to shed if it's ready to.

4. Have you started a new medication or diet in the last several months? any health problems? extra stress? That could all be exacerbating your shedding (if it's more than the average). Thinning is annoying but unless you're seeing bald patches, you're probably ok. I have a feeling you're not seeing more than normal shedding.

5. I don't see why shedding would be forcing you to trim.

Remember, shedding is natural part of the hair's life cycle. It grows, rests, and then sheds. After that a new hair takes its place. I don't believe any product or technique causes one to shed more, aside from internal things like diet and medication. Garlic shampoo and tea rinsing are used a lot on the board to combat shedding in the short term, but eventually the hair is going to shed even though it may not be for a couple of weeks or a month.

If you're shedding the same amount (on average) every week when you do your hair, then it's probably normal for you.

 

[MsOmri]

Thanks MSA

I know shedding is normal and my hair has come along way. There was definitely a period in which I was loosing more hair than normal. If I just ran my fingers through it, there would be several hairs in my hand.

You made a good point, I was really sick a couple of weeks ago w/ a bad cold & bronchitis, so the dr. had me on cold & cough meds. I also started a low dose blood pressure med. This is most likely part of the problem. I guess I'm just suprised its only on wash day, so I feel there must also be product/user error causing it as well.

 

[tiffers]

ORS Paks work GREAT for shedding! Try dc'ing with that and see if it helps

 

[Coffee]

Late last year I was shedding so badly I wanted to cry. Well the shedding has stopped, I'm not sure if it's due to the garlic capsules or the weather change here (Arizona). Whatever it is, my shedding has stopped.

 

[dynamic1]

Is your scalp tingly, itchy or irritated in the few days leading up to wash day? Could you be stretching the scalp cleaning too long?

Perhaps you have an undiagnosed scalp condition like seborrheic dermatitis.

What product are you using to set your hair?

Watery setting lotions would give my scalp the business when I used to set my hair. It was hard for me to apply them to the hair only and avoid the scalp. Inflammed follicles = increased shedding. Also, seborrheic dermatitis does not allow one to extend washes. I could not go beyond 5 days or the scalp was fire.

ETA: blood pressure meds may indeed be the culprit.

 

[Luscious Locks]

msomri, i had the same problem. only recently did i just figure out the problem. you are actually doing everything right as far as i can see EXCEPT: the flatiron. It's gotta go. Sorry. Perhaps you can use it on just the roots, but you should start relying on your rollersets to get a straight look. Aphogee two minute and Kenra are great products and with regular use and no flatironing you should see results in a month. That what i figured out. The heat is just too intense for me, and this may very well be the case for you.

Good luck. I hope I helped in some way.

 

[msa]

msomri, i had the same problem. only recently did i just figure out the problem. you are actually doing everything right as far as i can see EXCEPT: the flatiron. It's gotta go. Sorry. Perhaps you can use it on just the roots, but you should start relying on your rollersets to get a straight look. Aphogee two minute and Kenra are great products and with regular use and no flatironing you should see results in a month. That what i figured out. The heat is just too intense for me, and this may very well be the case for you.

Good luck. I hope I helped in some way.

What does flat ironing have to do with hair shedding? Not using a flat iron is not going to stop hair from shedding. That's what it does naturally.