Is Seasonal Shedding Real ?

Summer is upon us. Its hot outside (hopefully!) and temperatures can go as high as 30 degrees centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Many people start to notice thinning hair and significant hair loss leading many to believe that hair loss could be seasonal. So, is seasonal shedding real? Or are we imagining our hair getting thinner because we are outside in the heat and between the bright sun light and the sweating, we never realised that our hair could be falling out at a more rapid rate. Is there any truth in thinning of the hair during the summertime or is it our imagination?

The Hair Life Cycle
Hair shredding is a normal part of the hair growth cycle and humans tend to shed between 50 and 100 hairs every day. A typical strand of hair has a life cycle of between 24 and 72 months (2 and 6 years) during which time it will grow normally. However around 10 per cent of a person’s hair may be in a “resting” phase (known as telogen), at which point the hair can fall out.

The Studies:
Seasonal shedding was studied in the following report during the summertime: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19407435

The study looked at 823 healthy women with or without clinical alopecia complaining of recurrent hair loss and reflecting the seasonality in the growth and shedding of hair. Over a 6-year period all underwent biochemical investigations and trichograms. A trichogram is a semi-intrusive method of hair analysis that involves plucking 50 to 100 hairs from different parts of the scalp, sticking them to a slide and examining them under a microscope!

Analysis of the trichograms demonstrated annual periodicity in the growth and shedding of hair, manifested by a maximal proportion of telogen (resting) hairs in summer. A second peak did seem to exist, though it was less pronounced in spring. The telogen rates were lowest in late winter. The results seem to confirm that there is some seasonality changes in human hair growth.

Another less scientific study examined patterns in Google Trends searches for the term “hair loss” across eight English-speaking countries over a 12-year period. Searches for the term were greater in Summer and Autumn than they were in Spring. Winter fell between the two.
The conclusion of the trend suggested that hair loss in the population is significantly correlated with seasonality, and that hair loss occurs most frequently in the Summer and Autumn. This study seems to be consistent with the above report that used the trichograms and other hair samples to find that telogen hair loss occurs maximally in the summer.

Understanding Hair Loss
Part of understanding hair loss is detecting it at an early stage. If we can treat it early, we stand a greater chance of slowing or preventing the entire process. One factor in determining hair loss is the amount of hair falling out daily. We all have some shedding but hair loss of over 150 a day is considered real hair loss and should be treated as soon as possible.

When To Start The Treatment?
The sooner the treatment starts, the better. This is because once the hair follicles have died, they can no longer grow hair in spite of stimulation.

How to Get Thicker-Looking Hair Now
A simple way to instantly reverse the appearance of hair loss is to use DermMatch. DermMatch can be very helpful as part of the recovery since DermMatch instantly disguises hair loss. DermMatch is loaded with botanical ingredients that coat every existing hair shaft, making thin hairs stand up and spread out for spectacular fullness.

DermMatch Scalp Concealer is £34.95 and is available here

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