How Much Hair Loss Is Normal?

There is a big difference between natural hair shedding, where we lose 50 or more hairs a day when brushing, styling or washing our hair, and hair loss, where follicles fall from the scalp in larger numbers, in clumps or patches, or become visibly thinner without new growth to replace the hairs that shed.

Provided you haven’t seen any noticeable changes to the density and thickness of your hair, hair loss is likely normal and nothing to worry about since each hair that sheds is quickly replaced in an ongoing hair regrowth cycle.

While counting individual hairs is impractical, the specialist hair restoration teams at KSL Clinic advise getting in touch if you are concerned, are seeing gradual and sustained changes to your hair growth or feel that the amount of hair you are losing is more than just natural shedding.

Why Some Hair Shedding is Normal and Not Related to Hair Loss

As we’ve mentioned, follicles progress through a series of stages, during which new hairs are formed, the root matures and detaches, the hair rests, and then sheds. Importantly, during the telogen, or resting phase, the root shrinks, which provides room in the follicle for new hair to grow.

Therefore, losing 50 to 100 hairs a day is expected and necessary to enable your follicles to keep producing new, healthy hair. Existing hairs tend to continue growing for between two and eight years after the formation of a new hair.

This is why some people find that their hair easily grows very long, and others discover that their hair remains fairly short regardless of the treatments, cosmetics or beauty products they use – because their anagen phase is shorter and new hairs fall away before they reach a greater length. [3]

Another relevant factor is that your hair and follicles don’t simultaneously move through the growth phases. 

Of the average 90,000 to 150,000 individual hairs on your head, a proportion will be in each phase at any one time, which means that shedding isn’t visibly noticeable, nor will it mean your hair looks thinner or sparser all at once. [4]

Signs That Hair Shedding Could Be Indicative of Hair Loss or Thinning

The easiest way to determine whether you have hair loss that will not self-correct rather than above-average levels of natural shedding is to schedule a consultation with your nearest KSL Clinic.

It can be tricky to identify whether you are indeed experiencing hair loss or whether there are any clear indications that your current levels of hair loss are likely to increase or continue, resulting in a visible change to the thickness of your hair.

Some of the potential signs of hair loss include:

• Seeing more hair than normal on your brush or pillow or after a bath or shower.
• Noticing a receding hairline or a widening at your parting.
• Feeling that your hair looks generally thinner or is thinner in patches or certain areas.
• Discovering bald spots – usually in specific localised areas and in circular patterns.
• Experiencing higher levels of hair breakage, such as snapping hairs when brushing.

These are just some of the many signs of possible hair loss, but an experienced hair restoration surgeon can perform a clinical evaluation of your scalp and hair to provide more tailored guidance, alongside discussing your medical history to get to the bottom of the contributing factors.

How to Manage Excessive Hair Shedding

KSL Clinic’s Director of Surgical Services, Dr Matee, says, ‘Step one is to find a convenient day to visit myself or my colleagues in any of our nationwide clinics. We often speak with clients who have panicked about hair loss but who, in fact, have fairly healthy follicles and might benefit from therapies and lifestyle changes to avoid premature pattern baldness.

In many cases, the concerns are prompted by genetic and familial hair loss and assumptions that even minor hair shedding is the first sign of a receding hairline, pattern baldness or complete hair loss.

However, if your hair shedding is above average, it is equally important to seek help since we can often recommend treatments and strategies to slow and control the speed of hair loss, reactivate dormant follicles and restore the health and vitality of your skin and hair for the long term.’

Hair transplants may be suitable if you have seen extended periods of hair shedding that have resulted in visible hair loss, but for other clients, treatments like platelet-rich plasma therapy or laser light therapy are more advisable, depending on the extent of hair loss and the nature of their concerns and symptoms.