Ava Alderman

I heard from someone who said: "I've been noticing that lately, most of the hairs that I am shedding are very short. Much have blunt ends. Why could this be happening? Does this mean the hair that I am regrowing can't be maintained?" I will try to answer these questions in the following article.

I heard from someone who said: "my hair started shedding horribly when I changed birth control pills. I researched this and felt pretty sure that I had telogen effluvium. I also read that it generally lasts three months or less. Well, it has been over 4 months and I am still shedding as badly as when this whole thing started. Why? And when is it going to end?"

I heard from a woman who said: "last month, my hair started shedding horribly. I haven't been ill, had a baby, or had any surgeries or medical procedures. I haven't changed my medications and I don't have any health issues that I am aware of. So, I'm not sure what might be causing this. I'm wondering if this could be caused by stress, sadness, or unhappiness. Because two weeks before the shedding started, my fiancé and I broke up. I was and still am devastated.

I heard from someone who said: "at first I thought I had seasonal shedding. Then I thought I had TE. But now I'm starting to think I might have chronic telogen effluvium or even androgentic alopecia because it's been four months now and my shedding shows no sign of slowing down. My pony tail is only a fraction of what it used to be. I'm starting to wonder how thin my hair is really going to get. Are you going to be able to see my scalp? Will I have bald spots? Will I need to wear a wig?"

I heard from someone on my hair loss blog who said: "I know that this is going to sound weird, but I examine many of my shed hairs. And I can't help but notice that most of them are tapered on the end. Why is that the side away from the bulb comes to a tapered point? What does this mean? Does it mean anything in terms of why my hair is shedding or does it mean that I'm not recovering?"

I often hear from people who believe that they have androgenetic alopecia (often referred to as AGA) and they are looking for easy, inexpensive and noninvasive ways to make their hair look more healthy and well, normal. Often, androgenetic alopecia hair is a bit brittle, dry, and flyaway. And, although it is tempting to use a lot of products to make your hair presentable, you have to be careful that you don't use heavy products that are going to clog your pores or worsen the sebum process.

She said in part: "my hair was doing just fine until I tried a new hair dye. As soon as I put it on my scalp, it burned. That same day, my hair started falling out. And it has continued to shed for the past 3 months. From the research that I have done, it appears to my that I might have shedding due to telogen effluvium. But everything that I read indicates that this condition is caused by internal changes in the body. The hair dye would be an external change."

I often hear from people who are having trouble determining the cause of their hair loss. They often can't see where anything is wrong on the outside. I hear comments like: "my hair is shiny and healthy. My scalp seems fine. I don't have any genetic or family history of thinning or baldness. And yet I am shedding hair more and more all of the time. Could there be some wrong internally that is causing my shedding?"

Every time I wash, brush, or comb it, I see a disturbing number of hair falling out. Why could this be happening. I'm very young and, as far as I know, I'm healthy. I've had some seasonal shedding before, but it's never been anything like this. Why might this be happening?"

I heard from someone who asked: "does miniaturized hairs always mean that you have androgenic alopecia? When my hair loss started, my dermatologist said that telogen effluvium was the most likely diagnosis because I had gone off of my birth control pills. However, it has now been eight months of shedding with no signs of improvement and now I am seeing miniaturization. My dermatologist says this is indicative of an androgen issue.