Hair shedding and hair loss may sound similar, but they’re not the same thing. Simply put, hair shedding occurs when hair naturally falls out and regrows, whereas hair loss means no regrowth, Allen says.
When a strand sheds, the hair follicle (a tube-like structure within your skin that your hair grows out of) remains intact and fully capable of producing new hair, she says. Shedding is part of the normal hair growth cycle — at any given time, 85 percent of hairs are actively growing, 5 percent are resting, and 10 percent are shedding, Dr. Alford says. The approximately 100 strands we lose each day fall into that last category and are nothing to worry about.
Losing more strands than that is considered excessive shedding, which can be triggered by a stressor like surgery or childbirth. Unlike hair loss, the follicle remains intact, so hair usually regrows on its own once the stressor is resolved.
Hair loss, on the other hand, can be cause for concern. “With hair loss, there’s something completely disrupting the regrowth cycle,” Allen says. This means that hair won’t return until that underlying cause is resolved. For example, hair loss is a common side effect of chemotherapy — hair tends to regrow once treatment stops.
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