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Does
washing my hair increase my rate hair loss
No. It may seem that daily shampooing increases hair loss as we
see so much hair come out during the washing process. However, the
shedding has nothing to do with shampooing. The hairs you see fall
out are hairs that would have fallen out anyway sooner or later.
Hair follicles run through a cycle of growth and rest. The growth
phase for scalp hair follicles may last anywhere between two and
ten years. During the growth phase the hair follicle makes a single
hair fiber continuosly. When the hair follicle enters a resting
state it stops making fiber and adds a lump of keratin to the base
of the fiber. The fiber is now called a "club" hair. It
is no longer growing but you cannot tell just by looking at it.
This club hair fiber does not fall out immediately. The lump of
keratin acts as an anchor to hold the club hair in the hair canal.
The club hair does not remain in place for ever, eventually it
works its way out of the hair canal. Frequently it gets pushed out
of the hair canal by a new hair fiber growing beneath it. Other
times it gets pulled out during our daily hair care routine. Combing
or shampooing involves physical manipulation of the hair and loose
club hairs are most inclined to fall out of the hair canal at this
time. You might think that not washing your hair might help keep
the hair in place but if the hair is dead it must be shed!
We can lose 50 to 100 hair fibers a day and still have a full head
of hair. Some people have an increased rate of hair shedding and
they may notice diffuse thinning. This increased rate may occur
in androgenetic alopecia. People with a full head of hair have around
5 to 20% of their hair follicles in a telogen resting state. However,
the number of hair follicles in telogen can increase above 25% in
people with developing androgenetic alopecia. Increased numbers
of telogen hair follicles may also occur in other hair loss diseases
such as telogen effluvium.
Does
washing my hair increase my rate hair loss
- Kligman AM. Pathologic dynamics of human
hair loss. Arch Dermatol 1961; 83: 175-80.
- Barman JM, Astore I, Pecoraro V. The normal
trichogram of the adult. J Invest Dermatol 1965; 44: 233-8.
- Saitoh M, Uzuka M, Sakamoto M. Human hair
cycle. J Invest Dermatol. 1970 Jan;54(1):65-81.
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