How much hair do you lose by co-washing regularly

[YankeeCandle]

Simply put, whenever my hair is manipulated, I lose a lot of hair. "Losing" means heavy shedding.

My mother's theory for many years was that waiting a week to a week and a half between washes (conditioner washes with detangling session) was why I lose so much hair. She said it gave the hair too much time to tangle.

Having tried out more frequent co-washes (2-3 a week), I can report that she is incorrect: I lose just as much hair when the washes are closer together as when they are far apart.

I have co-washed on a Sunday and lost a tennis ball's worth of hair and then on a Tuesday and lost almost the same amount.

And my curls begin tangling into themselves even before I have stepped out of the shower, much less dried or waited a few days.

So, frequent co-washes are not the answer for someone like me.

P.S. I collect all the hair I lose using a haircatcher over my drain. Then I let it dry and examine it closely with a magnifying glass (looking for the bulb to determine if it came out of my scalp or if it just tore or broke off).

 

[Traycee]

I don't lose any hair

 

[757diva]

I co wash about 3 times a week and the hair is very minimal

 

[carolinetwin]

Carolinetwin - I did notice that same as you. Little/no breakage in the shower, but small hairs when I stuck my head under the facet in the tub. I think my breakage is due to the fact that I have never done a protien treatment, I am going to do one this weekend and see what difference will be, if any.

To be honest from your pic, it looks like you may need to consider going to a dermatologist. Just a gentle suggestion. When my hair was breaking off severely, I discovered that I had a scalp condition (seborrheic dermatitis). I was really stressed at work and that did not help either. If the weather is really try and cold my scalp really itches. I went to the doctor in time for it not to get to be too bad. I got some medicated treatment and shampoo to treat the scalp and that cleared up the breakage issues. I only wish I knew about this LHCF back then because the treatment/shampoo really dried my hair and I knew nothing about DC'ing. Oh well, you live and you learn. Again, just a suggestion.

Hey girl.I take no offence at all. I'm here to learn so I'm soaking everything up. My avatar is my hair pre lhcf. After several months I'm getting my hair back. Stress from school didn't help as well as a bad relaxer and I find myself where I am. I also have a lot of itchiness around the crown and nape area where my hair broke. I've attached an update. I don't plan to see a derm yet and I'm monitoring my hair for 6 months and any set backs then I will make an appointment.

 

[princessdi]

I have seen lots of threads on here regarding hair loss (shedding and breakage) during co-washes and regular weekly washes. From what I can see, there are two groups of people (1) those that lose a lot of hair (or what seems to be a lot of hair) and (2) those people that don't lose any hair. Unfortunately for me, I fit into group 1. I try to wash once a week, but since I exercise daily, I have to co-wash almost daily; however, because of the amount of shedding I have had, I have moved my co-washes to every other day but I still lose about a tennis ball size amount of hair every time I co-wash or wash; however, I have noticed that I don't lose this amount if I only finger comb during the co-washes or my regular wash and/or wash in plaits (I don’t know how to braid). This works for me, but when it's time to really comb my hair (if it’s not in plaits) I’ve noticed that it has tangled and wrapped itself around other hairs to create havoc and it takes me forever to try to rid myself of the knots and tangles. The end result is that I still end up losing about a tennis ball amount of hair on my regular wash days. Is this better than losing the hair daily….YES, so with that I think I will only finger comb during the week and/or wash in plaits and then really detangle on the weekend (my regular wash day).

With that said, I do have a few questions for those of you who are in group 2 because I’d soooo like to be there. How is it that you don’t lose any hair? I really want to know because I would also like NOT to lose any hair during co-washes or regular wash days. When you say you don’t lose any hair (meaning zippo—not even one strand), is that even possible? I thought we all lost hair on a daily basis. If you don’t lose hair during co-washes, do you lose hair on your regular wash days, and if so, how much hair are you losing? Are you just finger combing during co-washes? Is your hair 80%, 90% or 100% dry when you comb? Is it possible, like some of the other ladies (myself included) that you wash in the shower so you don’t see any hair being lost?

PLEASE SPILL THE BEANS. I believe my hair is thinning because of the amount of hair that I’m losing (especially on the right side) and I would really like to stop this from happening. It’s not breakage, it’s just shedding like crazy. I know low manipulation is key, so maybe I’ll just go back to finger combing and not worry about the knots and tangling until wash day or just continue to wash in plaits. I think I’m even going to start incorporating black tea rinses to see if it helps to stop some of the shedding, but in the meantime, if anyone can offer any suggestions, your answers and wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ladies!

 

[JudithO]

Bumping for more responses.....

 

[g.lo]

i WAS COWASHING daily from november to january and my hair thrived, did loose hair at all (only a tiny amount of shed hair), got lazy after and I have noticed that i get more broken bits, so from next week i will be cowashing on a daily basis again!

 

[yaya24]

I've been cowashing Mon-Thursday daily. Shampooing, DC and detangling on Fridays and leaving it the heck aloneon the weekends since February 16, 2012.

Its only been a little over a month, and I must say that I am pleased.

I plan on making a upart wig soon and will keep my hair in box braids underneath, I plan on sticking w/ this cowash/ shampoo&DC regimen till the fall.