Friday, July 27, 2007

What is Normal Hair Loss?

If you have hair falling out, you may be trying to decide what is normal hair loss and what is not. This can be tricky, and it may depend on how much attention you are paying to the problem. You may be surprised to know that you lose a lot of hair each day, and that this is completely normal, though some notice it more than others. What you notice will depend on the color, length, and texture of your hair. You can’t pay attention to what might be normal hair loss for others; you just have to keep an eye on what yours is doing to decide what is normal for you.

There is a running joke about my wife's hair, but it’s almost not even a joke. It’s the truth. Once you have been near her, it is a good chance you will find pieces of hair in your car, home, or on your clothes for some months to come. This is a result of her natural hair loss, but it seems more pronounced because of what her hair looks like. she has long, naturally curly, brunette hair. Once it gets on you or anything else, you notice it. I had a friend call me once to tell me she found one of my wife's hairs in her car. This was six months after their last meeting. It's that amazing!

For most people, normal hair loss means losing about a hundred hairs in one day. That may seem like a lot, but these hairs are replaced by new growth each day as well. This is why you find a lot of short hairs on your head if you have very long hair. For normal hair loss, the hair just falls out and you are on your way without even knowing it happened. Though someone may find your hair somewhere, for the most part it falls to the ground and no one even notices.

My wife has normal hair loss, but there are times when I wonder. The problem she has is that she has natural curls. When the hair falls out it tends to get caught in her hair. When she runs her fingers through her hair, they all come out at once and it looks like nothing even close to normal hair loss. Because they all stayed put due to her curls she must brush or use her fingers to get rid of it. It looks like a lot at one shot, but it's simply her normal hair loss. She worried about it quite a bit until she realized that she was far from bald, no matter how much hair came out at once. In fact, she has quite a thick head of hair.