If you’ve started noticing more hair than usual in your brush, in the shower, on your clothes or seemingly everywhere around the house, it can be incredibly confronting.
The first thing to understand is that shedding itself is a completely normal part of healthy hair growth. Every hair on your head is moving through its own growth cycle, and losing some hair every day is expected. Most people naturally shed somewhere around 50–100 hairs each day.
The important question is not necessarily “Am I shedding hair?” but:
“Is this amount of shedding normal for me?”
As a hairdresser, that is one of the first things I would ask you if you were sitting in my chair.
First, let’s understand your hair cycle
Every hair on your scalp grows from its own follicle and moves independently through a cycle of growth, transition, rest and eventual shedding.
I like to think of it a little like a big family function.
Imagine every person at the party represents one of your hair follicles. They’re all at the same event, but they’re not all doing the same thing at the same time. Some are eating, some are talking, someone is helping in the kitchen, the kids are running around and someone is probably already saying goodbye.
Your hair is much the same.
At any given time, most of your scalp hair is actively growing, while smaller amounts are transitioning, resting or being released. This staggered cycle is what allows us to continually shed old hairs while maintaining a head of hair. In a healthy scalp, around 85–90% of the hair follicles are generally in the active growth stage at any one time.
Anagen: The growing phase
Anagen is when your hair is actively growing.
For scalp hair, this phase lasts for years — commonly somewhere around two to seven years, although this varies between people. The length of your anagen phase is one of the things that determines how long your hair can naturally grow before that individual strand reaches the next stage of its cycle.
Catagen: The transition phase
Next comes catagen, a short transition period that generally lasts a few weeks.
Active growth stops and the follicle begins to change and shrink as the hair transitions away from its active growing phase. Only a very small percentage of your scalp hairs should be in this stage at any one time.
Telogen: The resting phase
Telogen is the normal resting stage of the hair cycle.
The hair is no longer actively growing, but it remains sitting within the follicle while the follicle rests. This stage generally lasts for a few months.
Eventually, the follicle begins a new anagen cycle and a new hair starts growing underneath the resting hair.
Exogen: The shedding phase
Exogen describes the release and shedding of that old resting hair.
This is the hair you eventually find in your brush, shower or on your clothes. The old hair is released as the follicle begins its next cycle and the new hair grows.
And then the process starts again.
So seeing hair come out does not automatically mean something is wrong. Shedding is built into the normal hair-growth cycle.
So what is telogen effluvium?
You may come across the term telogen effluvium when researching excessive hair shedding, and I think it’s important to understand that this is not another normal stage of the hair cycle.
Telogen is the normal resting stage. Telogen effluvium is the term used when a disruption to the normal hair cycle causes an unusually large number of hairs to move from their active growing stage towards telogen, resulting in excessive shedding a few months later.
Normally, most of your hair is actively growing and only a relatively small proportion is resting at any one time.
With telogen effluvium, something triggers more actively growing hairs than usual to prematurely leave anagen and progress through the cycle towards telogen.
And this is where the timing gets interesting.
Those hairs don't immediately fall out.
They spend time in the resting phase first and are shed later, which is why excessive shedding from telogen effluvium commonly becomes noticeable around two to four months after the triggering event.
That delay is really important when you're trying to work out what may be going on.
I’d ask you: what happened about 12 weeks ago?
When somebody tells me their hair has suddenly started shedding, this is where my hairdresser brain goes.
Think back approximately three months before you first noticed the change.
Did you:
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have an illness, particularly one involving a high fever?
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have surgery or experience significant physical trauma?
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have a baby?
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experience significant weight loss or dramatically change your diet?
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start, stop or change a medication?
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stop hormonal contraception or experience another hormonal change?
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experience an unusually stressful period?
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go through a major emotional event or grief?
These are some of the recognised triggers that can disrupt the normal hair cycle and contribute to telogen effluvium.
And sometimes, there is no obvious trigger.
When I ask about stress, I ask it with compassion.
Because if nature has to have one particularly horrible way of adding insult to injury, it is that something incredibly difficult can happen in your life — and then a few months later, when you might finally feel like you're getting back on your feet, your hair can start falling out.
Hair shedding itself can then become another source of stress.
Is this amount of shedding normal for you?
This is still the question I keep coming back to.
You know your hair better than anyone.
Perhaps you've always lost quite a lot of hair when you wash it and nothing has really changed. But if you're suddenly emptying your brush more often, seeing significantly more hair in the shower or noticing that your ponytail feels smaller, I think it's worth paying attention to that change.
There are many different causes of excessive shedding and hair loss, and not every change in hair density is telogen effluvium.
That is why the next step matters.
Have you spoken to your GP?
This would be one of my next questions if you were sitting in my chair.
If the shedding is new, significant, prolonged or simply doesn't feel normal for you, I think it is really worth having a conversation with your GP and specifically telling them that you've noticed increased hair shedding.
There are many possible causes of excessive shedding and hair loss, and this is where I think it is important to recognise the limits of what we can determine from the salon chair — or from the internet.
Depending on your symptoms, medical history and circumstances, your healthcare professional may decide that blood tests or further investigation are appropriate.
Iron deficiency and thyroid disorders are among the recognised medical issues associated with diffuse hair shedding. Nutritional status, including nutrients such as vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D, may also be considered depending on the individual and their circumstances.
What about iron and ferritin?
You'll often see very specific claims online about the “perfect” ferritin or iron level for hair growth.
I would be cautious with those.
Research does show an association between low iron stores and some forms of hair shedding, and iron deficiency is an established potential contributor to telogen effluvium. However, there isn't one universally agreed hair-specific ferritin number that every person should aim for.
Your blood results also need to be interpreted in the context of you — your health, symptoms, medical history and the rest of your results.
So rather than chasing an “optimal hair number” you've seen online, I would have your individual results interpreted by your GP or another appropriately qualified health professional.
The goal is to identify whether there is actually something underlying the shedding that needs to be addressed.
Supplements aren't always the answer
When our hair starts falling out, it's incredibly tempting to buy every hair supplement we can find.
But more isn't necessarily better.
If you have an actual nutritional deficiency, identifying it and appropriately treating that deficiency is much more meaningful than simply adding a general “hair vitamin” and hoping for the best.
And if you don't have a deficiency, taking more of a particular nutrient doesn't necessarily mean you'll grow more hair.
Where possible, I always come back to the foundations: a varied, nutrient-rich diet with adequate protein, and appropriate medical treatment or supplementation where an individual deficiency has actually been identified.
And sometimes, you need to be gentle with yourself
Hair forms such a big part of our identity and self-image.
When it starts changing — particularly when the change feels outside of your control — it is completely understandable for that to bring up grief, sadness, frustration or even anger.
You don't need to dismiss those feelings because “it's only hair.”
If your shedding has followed illness, pregnancy, grief, stress or another difficult period, looking after yourself is part of the picture too.
What that looks like will be different for everyone. It might be nourishing food and adequate rest. It might be meditation, yoga or gentle movement. It might be spending time outside or doing something that makes you feel like yourself. Sometimes it might simply mean giving yourself permission not to have everything together.
What can I do for my hair now?
While you're investigating why your hair is shedding, there are still practical things you can do to look after the hair and scalp you have.
Look after your scalp
Your scalp is the environment your hair follicles live in, so keeping it clean, comfortable and well cared for makes sense as part of an overall hair-care routine.
At Stella, we recommend the Genyve Scalp Care range as our scalp-support routine. The range is designed to cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate and support a healthy scalp environment, and includes Genyve's BioCore-9™ blend.
It's important to make the distinction, though:
Scalp care is supportive care. It doesn't replace identifying or treating an underlying medical cause of excessive shedding.
Nourish your body
Focus on a varied, balanced diet with adequate protein and nutrients rather than immediately reaching for multiple supplements.
If testing identifies a deficiency, work with your healthcare professional on the appropriate way to correct it.
Be gentle with your hair
When you're already anxious about losing hair, aggressive brushing, excessive heat or unnecessary tension can make the experience even more stressful.
Treat the hair you have with a little extra care. Gentle brushing, sensible heat styling and avoiding unnecessarily tight hairstyles are simple places to start.
Look after yourself, too
If stress has been part of your story, finding small, realistic ways to reduce that load is worthwhile for far more than your hair.
You don't need a perfect wellness routine. Do whatever genuinely helps you feel calmer, rested and supported.
And if you just want to feel like yourself again …
This is the other side of hair loss that I think sometimes gets forgotten.
You can investigate the cause. You can look after your scalp. You can improve your nutrition. You can speak to your doctor.
And you are also allowed to want your hair to look fuller today.
You don't have to wait until you've solved every piece of the puzzle before doing something that helps you feel more confident when you look in the mirror.
That is exactly why Stella exists.
From tiny pieces that add coverage through a part, to hair toppers that restore fullness across a larger area, there are solutions that can work alongside your natural hair while you work through whatever is happening underneath.
Your hair solution doesn't have to be the treatment for your hair loss. Sometimes it's simply something that helps you feel more like you while you find your way through it.
Not sure where to start?
Head to our What’s Right for Me page.
Or, if your shedding is active and you would prefer some personal guidance, you can Book a Stella Consultation.
This article provides general educational information only and isn't intended to diagnose or treat a medical condition. New, sudden, significant, patchy or persistent hair loss should be discussed with your GP, dermatologist or another appropriately qualified health professional.
