Hair Straightening and hair fall

[mickeysimp]

Hi Doctor,

I am a female. I have soft hair and also I would not say that my hair is curly. 20 days ago I got hair straightening done at a beauty parlor. This hair straightening stays for 6 months. They applied some creams and straightened my hair. The whole procedure took about 5-6 hours.

Now, I am seeing a lot of hair loss. When I wake up in the morning, I see a lot of hair on my pillow. Also, when I run my fingers through my hair, I get some hair into my hand. During shampooing and combing  too.  Atleast 30 - 35 hairs everyday loss. There has been a lot of increase in my hair fall since the hair straightening. Please help. This is freaking me out. Prior to hair straightening, I would say, I had no / very minimal hair fall. Only during combing, may 5-6 hairs.

I anxiously await your reply.

thanks....

[mickeysimp]

Thanks for your quick response. Apparently, there is "no shock to the system". Only in the past 20 days, hair fall has gone up. Does hair straightening dry out the hair causing lack of moisture and thus hair fall??

I truly hope that this is temporary as you mentioned!!

THANKS

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I can't think of any connection between the straightening and the hair loss.  In any case, when people lose their hair rapidly it's usually because of something that upsets the normal body rhythm of hair loss.  Normally we lose up to about 100 hair per day.  After childbirth, surgery, or some other "shock to the system," this number may increase for a while, starting about 3 months later.  Maybe something like that happened to you 3 months ago.  But this kind of hair loss is partial and, most important, temporary.  Therefore, rather than panic, wait it out.  Check how much hair falls out over not one day but a 3-day period, then do it again in 2 months.  A visit to a dermatologist for diagnosis and reassurance would also be advisable.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff