Questions from a 20 year old worrywart

Hello, I'm new on this board, and I had a question.

So I hear frequently hear on those hair growth infomericals from someone talking about finding hair in the drain or on their pillows and such, which made me wonder, how much hair should one find in either instance to start worrying?

Also, my family has no history of balding on either side, except for my brother. But he used to bleach his hair frequently and dye it back a week later and never took care of his hair. Could this have affected his hair?

I have a mature hairline, but not really more than that (yet) but I don't know, I'm probably just freaking out. Anyway, thanks for any advice!

jlestrange,

I am not a doctor, but, from what I have read, it is normal to shed 50 to 100 hairs per day. I'm not sure how someone might keep track of this if they wanted to assess if their hair loss is normal (within this range) or beyond it. If hair loss is excessive, it should be easy to tell that one's daily shed is in excess of 100 hairs per day.

In my opinion, if you have any concerns about losing your hair and cannot tell if you are shedding more than the normal daily amount, I'd recommend a visit to a hair loss treatment doctor. A doctor can diagnose if you have male patterned baldness, and, if you do, then the doctor can suggest medication for you, such as Rogaine or Propecia. It sounds as though you may be very early in your hair loss (assuming you have male patterned baldness), and Propecia in many men works well with early intervention.

I'm not sure about bleaching one's hair and/or dye-ing it, but, from what I understand, hair itself is lifeless. What counts are the hair follicles under the surface of the scalp that actually grow the hair. So, unless your brother's bleaching and dye-ing was so traumatic that it damaged these hair follicles, I would guess that it did not have affect on his hair loss.

TeeJay

Maybe you should try the HairDx test product that was posted on the site in March. What it does is test for a genetic varient found in most men.

Here is the article...

http://www.thebaldtruth.com/articles...apan/#more-977

And here is the HairDX test website.... click on the "Genetic Test for Hairloss"*

http://www.hairdx.com/

Read up on this. Hopefully it helps. Definitely consult your doctor about your concerns. When I was 20 (which was like only 3 years ago..lol) I was in the same position. I started to notice the hairs on my pillow, hair down the drain, and etc... But all I did was just worry about my hair falling out and did nothing about it because I thought there was nothing I could do... Just in these past 3 years I have lost half of my hair! If the thought even crosses your mind that you might be loosing hair take action immediately to prevent it from happening. And if you are loosing your hair take two products to combat it. Propecia and Rogaine.... The earlier you catch it the happier you are bud..

Btw....

Also, if your brother was loosing hair in patches on the sides near his ears and back of the scalp then I would say it would probably be from the bleech. But if he is loosing his hair in the typical balding areas (like the crown or frontal temples) then I would say its most likely from pure male pattern baldness.

Alright thanks for all the help. I feel a bit better now...upon further research I haven't noticed any more loss than what would be considered normal, and if I had to guess I'm a NW2 with strong forelock, I'm just one of those guys who freaks out over every little hair that I find not on my head--but who could blame me! lol but I will definitely get to a Doc and get some more information. Thanks again guys

Just relax and keep a close on eye on things. If it gets worse in a few months then you've found the right place to look for help. You'll be fine.