How do you know you're just shedding...

[Topper]

and not just BALDING?

I keep reading about shed cycles on this site, but how do you know you're not just seeing an acceleration of the balding process? Is there a difference?

Last question: how long are shedding cycles? I asked this question awhile ago but couldn't get a straight response.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

 

[bombscience]

and not just BALDING?

I keep reading about shed cycles on this site, but how do you know you're not just seeing an acceleration of the balding process? Is there a difference?

Last question: how long are shedding cycles? I asked this question awhile ago but couldn't get a straight response.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

I am "shedding" when I notice the hair I lose in the show go from 10-12 hairs to 30+

 

[Topper]

Thanks, Bombscience, but I had some other questions.

Like, how do you know you're just shedding and not simply BALDING?

Or, how long is the shedding cycle (one day, one week, one month, one season, etc.)???

These are questions for which I have never been supplied an answer. They're topics that have only been touched on vaguely with much ambiguity. I'm starting to wonder whether ANYBODY really knows, or if they're just the easy "answers" that no one understands.

So any help would be welcome.

Best regards,
Brian

 

[ShedMaster]

Thanks, Bombscience, but I had some other questions.

Like, how do you know you're just shedding and not simply BALDING?

Or, how long is the shedding cycle (one day, one week, one month, one season, etc.)???

These are questions for which I have never been supplied an answer. They're topics that have only been touched on vaguely with much ambiguity. I'm starting to wonder whether ANYBODY really knows, or if they're just the easy "answers" that no one understands.

So any help would be welcome.

Best regards,
Brian

My answer would be that you will know if you are losing your hair. Shedding is a part of balding, you just don't wake up bald one day with 100,000 hairs on your pillow unless your frat brothers are playing a prank on you. The reason I know that I am shedding/balding is that I would never have 10-15 or more hairs fall out if I comb my hair, or when I wash my hair and have a hand full of 10 hairs or so. Soon enough you start to see thinning areas in the 'typcial' male pattern baldness areas..

If you are 18-19 and you have started to see a slight recession in your frontal hair line because you aren't 16 anymore, then don't worry about it. If you experience the symptoms I listed above, then you are losing your hair. How bad and what degree is different for everyone because everyone is different. When I was losing before I started treatment, I would lose different amounts of hair from month to month. It wasn't a steady amount everyday.

So yes people lose different amounts of hair depending on many different variables, hair cycles, etc... but if you think you are losing your hair and were concious enough to do reasearch on a hair loss website, then more then likely you are losing your hair.

 

[Topper]

Lord, I know I'm losing my hair. That's obviously why I'm here! Geez... It's so hard to get an answer to this question! I've been trying for months and haven't gotten a response. Maybe I'm not making myself clear here... this is not about whether Topper is balding or not... not about that at all.

This is about shedding. For instance, I'm seeing that people expect shedding after they begin some treatment (minoxidil or even nizoral or countless others). They say, "don't worry about it, you're probably just shedding. It'll grow back. The scalp is just making room for new hair."

My question is how do you know? How do you know whether you're JUST shedding or actually STILL balding at the same rate??? Personally, I've never been one to count hairs because I don't imagine anyone could ever do so accurately. How many hairs are already on the comb or down the drain, you know? How many hairs fall to the ground or get sucked down the drain? You could never make an accurate estimate, and if you're trying to decide whether you're losing 20 hairs or 25, being accurate is the only way you can do it.

Counting hairs is an imperfect science. So I don't really bother.

Also, the length of the shedding cycle is all-important to me. I guess you can tell whether you're just shedding if it comes and goes at a regular interval- instead of just balding which is pretty much consistent. Since birth, I've been "blessed" with a LOT of hair so although I know I'm thinning, it's harder to tell for others. I just had a ton to begin with. This is why I'm asking. I want to be proactive and determine whether a treatment is good or bad for me based on factors like shedding- and it's hard to tell when every resource you look through is incredibly ambiguous about the subject.

How long is the shedding cycle for YOU people? I know it varies from person to person, but can someone give me their account? I honestly don't know if humans shed by the hour or by the year! It's hard for me to tell on my own hair so I have to resort to people like you who may be in a better position to say (i.e. have a different kind of hair)!

That's all I'm asking: How do you know it's a shed when you start a new treatment and not simply a permanent loss?

Second, in the event that it IS a shed, how long is it supposed to last? By the same token, how long is the regrowth period? I guess the second question could indirectly lead to answer the first.

Still looking for some help...

Thanks,
Brian

 

[ShedMaster]

My advice is to use the treatments for 8 months or so, then if you are still shedding, go from there. Personally, I had a shed about a month into the minoxidil/propecia treatments which lasted for about 3 weeks. The shedding has slowed dratmically after that though. Still a few straglers but nothing too much. That is my experience. I am on my 3rd month now. Anyways, don't be one of these people who try propecia/minoxidil for 3 months and quits because they dont see the results. Wait it out before starting new stuff. you are already being proactive by starting with the regimen. You don't want to use up all the big guns in the beginning if you don't have to becuase you will have to use them all for life.


You have a lot of hair and you are starting early. Stick with the big 3 and don't look back. The reason I say wait 8 months until determining success is that some shed, some don't, some experience intense shedding, followed by regrowth several times over a year. It is sooo different that of course you are going to get ambigous answers. Anyways, I told you what I have experienced until now.

 

[Thinning Sucks]

I knew I was thinning at 19 by looking at my white pillow case in my college dorm room. Every week before changing was a tremendous amount of hairs which is no comparison at all to my pillow case now 20 years later. The pillow case test is the best test...look at yours after a week.

 

[fredrik78er]

ok topper let me say what I consider a shed:

Normally I get like 3 airs when i drag my hand through my hair (and I mean normally for my right now cause im losing my hair). Then when I started minoxidil there för a while came out like six hairs, a higher amount of hair than I´m usually losing...

Although Im not sure this was in any way connected to the minoxidil, in fact, I think people like to say "Im going through a shedding phase", because then its like the drug is making their hair come of and that makes them feel better.... because its normal and just signs that its working.

 

[Topper]

Thanks for the help guys, it was very informative.

Much appreciated,
Brian