What’s the Difference between Shedding and Breakage?

Hair shedding is natural, as long as it’s not excessive. Image Source: My Long Hair Journey

Interested in following a healthy hair regimen? Well, one important part of that routine is knowing the difference between hair shedding and breakage. Often, you’ll hear people use both terms interchangeably to describe any type of hair falling from the head. But, using misleading language like this can definitely lead to hair disaster. Although both refer to types of hair loss, they are very different in nature. Knowing the difference between shedding and breakage will help you conquer both issues effectively.

Featured Image: Fixing Shedding and Breakage. Image Source: African Naturalistas

What is Shedding?

Hair that sheds has technically ended its growing cycle. At this point, it will fall from your scalp naturally. When shedding occurs, the white, tiny hair root remains attached, and sheds as well. Mind you, this isn’t the hair root that deeply secured to your scalp. It’s the hair strand base, or bulb root, which is located on the originating end of the scalp.

The reason why this bulb root is white is because the hair itself has already stopped producing color, known as melanin. This happens during the growth cycle phase, just before the hair falls. In this sense, the difference between shedding and breakage is that shed hair is generally long. Broken hair, on the other hand, are generally shorter pieces. Shedding is a natural process in the hair growing cycle.

Hair breakage is most commonly caused by neglect or abuse. Image Source: Simply Into My Hair

What is Breakage?

One main difference between shedding and breakage is that broken hair doesn’t happen naturally. It actually means that somewhere within your hair strand, there’s a detrimental imbalance. Breakage is generally a sign of abused or mishandled hair.

Before it actually breaks, and falls out, there will be cuticle loss and discoloration. In time, the fibers will start to tear, and eventually break altogether. These tears are commonly referred to as split ends.

What Causes Hair Breakage?

These are just some of the factors that cause damage that leads to hair breakage:

• Sun exposure
• Rough handling
• Aged (older) hairs
• Lack of moisture
• Excess protein treatments

The Difference Between Shedding and Breakage

How to Stop Hair Shedding

Remember that the main difference between shedding and breakage is that hair shedding is a natural occurrence. So, it tends to stop on its own. It’s normal for your head to shed anywhere from 50 to 100 hairs each day. If you shed much more than that daily, this is called excessive hair shedding, or in medical terminology, telogen effluvium.

Hair growth after excessive shedding. Image Source: Bernetta Style

These are some of the ways to stop excessive hair shedding:

• Try to stay stress-free
• Keep fevers down when sick
• Don’t lose a lot of weight very quickly
• Follow healthy, high-protein diet
• Stay in control of chronic disorders like thyroid conditions and anemia
• Care for hair properly as to not place stress on follicles of the hair

How to Control Shedding with Virgin Hair Extensions

Fray Check will seal your wefts to help you stay in control of shedding virgin hair extensions. Even the best virgin hair will shed naturally due to everyday wear and tear from washing, combing and styling. To prevent excessive hair shedding, apply Fray Check sealant to the top of your weave wefts before you install the virgin hair extensions.

Want to minimize the amount of hair shed from your weave, order Fray Check from Kybele Virgin Hair, your Online Virgin Hair Store today.