Hair loss vs. Hair shedding 

Finding hairs everywhere—in the bathroom, kitchen and sometimes in food—is surely a fearful moment. The thought of getting bald terrifies us. Is it?  Men face this problem at any given point—at a younger age or during later stages. The real complication is not facing the hair fall but identifying whether it is a hair loss or hair shedding—knowing which one troubles you. Thousands have misguided the difference between hair loss and hair shedding and ended up using the wrong treatments. Identifying the root cause and getting the right treatment can make a world of difference for you.

You need not worry about things until now. Just reading this 5-minute article will help you discover your hair fall problem and know the solutions.

What is the difference between hair loss and hair shedding?

After an extreme hair fall, some people end up growing hair and some do not. The reason is they both suffer from two distinct problems—Hair loss and hair shedding. Now, you may ask how? Knowing the difference between hair loss and hair shedding will simply resolve your question.

Hair shedding is when you see an excess amount of hair fall yet, new hairs are still growing, just like how autumn leaves shed and regrow every year.

Hair loss is facing extreme hair falls and still not in the condition of growing new hairs back in their place—where some areas become bald spots—commonly known as Alopecia.

In simple terms, hair shedding is a normal condition, but certain health conditions may trigger it, which is almost reversible with proper hair care. Whereas, hair loss is a little challenging condition, where it needs consistent and mindful care to regrow hairs in the soon-to-be empty spots.

How to Recognize Hair Loss

How do you know whether you undergo hair loss? Well, it can be identified by the following signs. Check whether you face these circumstances.

Thinning Hair

If you notice your hair becoming noticeably thinner or see more scalp than usual, you could be experiencing hair loss.

Bald Patches

Unlike shedding, hair loss may present as bald spots, particularly in areas like the crown or hairline.

Hair Not Growing Back

With hair loss, new hair does not replace the lost hair, leading to permanent thinning or bald areas.

Major Causes of Hair Loss

Now you know the difference and determine it. What is the next step? To identify its root causes! Hair loss is caused by certain factors, which are listed below. Check whether you have these conditions.

Genetic Hair loss

If your father, grandfather and your ancestor's line had hair loss in each generation, then chances are high for you to have hair loss because of genetic transfer. Hereditary hair loss or “Androgenetic Alopecia” is quite a challenging condition to overcome, but it surely has treatments. 

For men, it is called Male pattern baldness and for women, Female pattern baldness. Consult a doctor when you are sure of this cause and follow the treatment.

Alopecia Areata

This is the condition where your body attacks its own hair. While suffering from it, you might see hair loss everywhere in the body. It just regrows back, but the time taken for regrowth will be slow and sometimes never grow at all.

You could try treatments like Minoxidil or any other hair growth serum available on the market. Always take the guidance of anyone who experienced it in the past or consult the doctor for better treatment.

Medical Conditions

Certain Medical Conditions like hair-pulling disorders (trichotillomania) and scalp infections (ringworm) might give you severe hair loss. Do not hold yourself back and check treatments at home—better assist a doctor and ask for solutions.

Medications

Know whether you are under any medications. Having heart problems, high blood pressure and various other health conditions will demand taking pills that can cause hair loss. We suggest that you not stop once this gets confirmed. Rather, ask for alternative medications if available.

Lack of Protein

As hair strands consist of proteins—which is an essential nutrient for overall health regulation. Poor intake of proteins may give you problems like weight loss, hair loss and fatigue. 

Monitor whether you take the right amount of protein your body requires. You can simply calculate how much protein you need for a day using a fitness app like Healthify Me.

Excess of Vitamin A

Vitamin A can help your hair grow, but too much can actually make it fall out. Vitamin A is found mainly in liver or fish oils, but it's also found in beef, dairy products, carrots, broccoli, or fortified cereal. A vitamin A-rich diet alone probably won't cause an overdose - you're more likely to get too much vitamin A from supplements.

Poor Hairstyling 

A hairstyle can break or make your hair, literally. Frequently using a flat iron, curling iron, blow dryer, gels, dyes, or bleach can make your hair brittle, increasing the risk of it breaking and falling out. Hair clips, pins, or rubber bands that hold your hair tightly can have the same effect.

How to Recognize Hair Shedding

Hair shedding is easy to identify if you pay attention to a few signs:

The Amount of Hair

If you find more hair than usual in the shower or on your brush but notice your overall hair volume isn’t decreasing, it's probably just shedding.

No Bald Spots

 You won’t typically notice any bald patches or significant thinning with shedding.

Temporary Phase 

The shedding may seem alarming, but usually lasts only a few months before returning to normal.

Note: Try to take pictures of before and after effects. This may help you identify the difference.

Major Causes of Hair shedding

Stress

Stress is an omnipotence in everyone’s life. Though a limited of stress is fine, an excess amount of it is a hazard to your body—including hair. Study says that stress is directly linked to hair loss. To know more about it, read our previous article on How Stress Affects Your Hair and What You Should Do.

Irregular Sleep Cycle 

Knowing a man could survive without food for a week but cannot surpass even 11 days without sleep—one must not understate the importance of sleep. 

Sleep facilitates our brain cells to communicate with each other. A recent study has discovered that sleep could actually remove all the toxins in your brain that build up while awake. 

You do not get affected directly—but through the stress induced by having improper sleep. The stress can push a large amount of hair into the telogen phase (hair falling) delaying the hair growth process.

You can reverse this situation just by having a proper sleep routine. Do not have caffeine at least 4 hours before bed. Try to sleep and wake up early—10 pm to 6 am—ensuring 8 hours of sleep every day. Keep your phones away at night as its blue light radiation might keep you awake.

Weight loss

Sudden weight loss, because of irregular diet, improper food intake or any disease, may reflect in hair loss. 

This happens because all the nutrients, proteins and strength that your body once had are now gone—The muscles would have shrunken in deficiency. You need to regain those muscles by following a healthy diet.

Check whether you have any disease or disorder and sort out its cause. Eat adequate calories your body demands—do not eat under the limit. For a better meal plate, intake a large portion of proteins and veggies and medium amount of fibres and carbohydrates—see to that you cover everything on the plate.

Body Heat and Hair shedding

Ayurveda says that a heat body cannot grow fuller hair unless it cools down. A good condition for a scalp is when it is well moisturised. However, a constant production of body heat may evaporate all the moisture on the head, making a dry scalp. And dry scalp is a favourable condition for any fungal growth—especially seborrheic dermatitis or Malassezia, which ‌contributes to hair loss.

Try to keep your body cool by drinking more water and following proper sleep. This promotes hair loss and balances scalp health as well.

Dehydration

Our body consists of 80% water, which means any part of the body you take requires water for proficient health benefits.

Like how body heat contributes to hair loss, dehydration makes it an easier and more favourable condition for a normal body into a heated one. This further leads to hair loss. One effect of hair loss is this. The other one is that the hair strands become dry because of poor water intake. The cuticles of the hairs open, making all the sunlight enter into them and advance in hair damage and hair loss.

To combat this condition, drink at least 3 litres of water every day.

Take Away Hair Care Tips

1. Do not overuse shampoos as it could make your hair frizz and end up in hair fall.
2. Always try heat protectant before using straighteners
3. Buy the right products that suit your hair
4. Change your pillow cover every week to maintain scalp hygiene
5. Use Silk pillow covers that save your hair from pulling away
6. Use hair packs and home remedies instead of expensive short-term products
7. Oil for 3 times per week and while doing remember not to overflow it or keep in bare amount.
    

FAQs

1. Which type of hair loss is permanent?

Cicatricial alopecia, also known as scarring alopecia, is a rare type of hair loss in which inflammation destroys hair follicles and causes scar tissue to form in its place. After scar tissue forms, hair doesn't regrow.

2. Is it possible to regrow hair on a bald spot?

Yes, it is absolutely possible to regrow hair on a bald spot unless you have any autoimmune disorders. You can either opt for a good hair growth serum or go for alternative hair treatments.

3. How do you know if you are shedding too much hair?

It's normal to shed between 50 and 100 hairs a day. When the body sheds significantly more hair every day, a person has excessive hair shedding.

4. How long does the shedding phase last?

The shedding phase(exogen) is the last phase of the hair growth cycle. This phase lasts between two to five months.

5. Is it ok to have hair shedding?

Yes, it is absolutely normal to face hair shedding unless you see more than 100 hair strands per day.