I’m a dermatologist — here’s when you should be concerned about hair loss
Don’t wig out.
Board-certified dermatologist Lindsey Zubritsky is revealing when you should be concerned about hair loss — basically, if you’re shedding 400 or more hairs a day.
“It’s actually normal to be losing anywhere between 100 to 200 hairs every single day,” Zubritsky explained in a trending February TikTok that showed what the loss of 10, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 750 hairs looks like.
“If your hair starts looking like this, around 400 hairs, or it looks like this — this is around 750 hairs, you have a problem,” she added in the 27-second clip, which has snagged 2.2 million views.
The scalp boasts about 100,000 hairs, according to Penn Medicine.
The American Academy of Dermatology Association, meanwhile, says it’s “normal” to lose 50 to 100 hairs a day. If you shed “significantly more hairs,” you may have a scalp disorder called telogen effluvium.
The organization blames this type of hair thinning on stressors such as dropping at least 20 pounds, giving birth, losing a job, having an operation, and stopping the use of birth control pills. Hair usually grows back in three to six months.
The association notes that telogen effluvium is different from anagen effluvium — they occur in different phases of the hair growth cycle.
Anagen effluvium, a typical side effect of chemotherapy, also causes more rapid and dramatic hair loss.
Disease and stressors aside, Penn Medicine reports that men and women often lose hair thickness as they age thanks to genetics and hormone changes. Male pattern baldness affects around 80% of men by 70 years old.
Enter Zubritsky, who graded various hair loss products in a follow-up TikTok.
She gave Sugarbear Hair Vitamins a 0.5 out of 10, and biotin supplements scored a 1 out of 10.
On the other end, Zubritsky rated Camille Rose Rosemary Oil Strengthening Hair & Scalp Drops 7 out of 10 (“actually legit”), while Up & Up Hair Regrowth Treatment with Minoxidil 5% & Topical Aerosol for Women was deemed “9/10, the GOAT, nothing else compares.”
Minoxidil is the generic form of Rogaine.
Landing in the middle is Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, which Zubritsky says “works better than any of the other hair loss shampoos.”
Still, Zubritsky only bestowed it 6.8 out of 10.
