Count Hairs to Learn Potential for Baldness
Want to know how much hair you are losing? Start
counting - the hairs on your comb, not on your head.
Researchers say in the Archives
of Dermatology that a so-called "60-second hair count" is a simple
and reliable away to get a grip on whether you are balding and, if so, how
fast.
The procedure, which can be carried out in the
convenience of your own home, may reassure the adult male - or not.
"Hair loss is fraught with emotions," says Dr. Jeffrey
Miller, senior author of the study. "Here is a hair count that allows the
person to get a handle as to what's going on with their hair.
"With something like the 60-second hair count, you can
participate and monitor in an objective fashion what's going on with your
hair, says Dr. Miller, who is at Penn State College of Medicine.
Dr. Doris Day, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City,
adds, "The reality is that hair loss is incredibly common among men and
women. Fifty percent of both genders will have hair loss by the age of 50.
That's a big number.
"It affects how you're perceived, your ability to date,
and climb that corporate ladder," she adds.
Both the media and dermatology experts are fond of
proclaiming that shedding 100 hairs a day is normal.
That is probably too high, Dr. Miller says. But there
is little scientific evidence for that number, which is based on the
assumption that the average scalp holds 100,000 hairs, 10 percent of which
are at any one time in the telogen, or resting, phase.
Not only do experts not know how much hair loss is
normal, they also do not have any standardized way of assessing the amount
of hair lost on an average day.
"We keep saying the same things over and over, that
it's normal to lose 100 hairs a day," says Dr. Day. "The question is, how
normal is it and what is normal in terms of hair loss."
The "wash test" involves washing one's hair over a sink
five days after the last shampoo, a waiting period some might find
objectionable.
A more up-to-date method is the 60-second hair count,
used in this study.
Sixty healthy men ages 20 to 60 without evidence of
baldness participated. All were Caucasian and all but one had straight hair.
The authors excluded, for the most part, men with curly
hair and long hair "because of the difficulty of running a comb through the
hair, which would lead to increased numbers of broken" hairs, which were not
counted.
The men washed their hair three mornings in a row with
Neutrogena T/Sal® shampoo. On the fourth day, they were issued identical
combs and instructed to comb their hair forward over a towel or pillowcase
of contrasting color.
They were then asked to count the hairs that had
dropped out. This comb-and-count procedure was repeated on the next two days
and the number of hairs was validated under a microscope.
After six months, the participants repeated the full
procedure.
Based on these results, the authors concluded that
losing 10 hairs is "normal."
In younger men (aged 20 to 40), the shedding range was
zero to 78 hairs with an average of 10.2 hairs. In the older men, the range
was zero to 43 hairs with an average of 10.3 hairs.
To perform the count, comb your hair for 60 seconds
over a pillow or sheet of contrasting color before shampooing.
Pull the comb from the back top of the scalp forward to
the front of the scalp for 60 seconds. "That 60 seconds allows you to
dislodge any of the resting hairs that are supposed to be shed," explains
Dr. Miller.
Repeat the procedure before three consecutive
shampooing sessions, always using the same comb. Count and record the number
of hairs in the comb and on the pillow or sheet.
Repeat the procedure every month and discuss results
with your dermatologist.
The authors say they will be releasing comparable data
for women in the near future.
When to start panicking over hair loss? Dr. Miller
counsels men who lose more than 50 hairs a day (as counted in the 60-second
period) to check with their physician.
"The hair acts like a window to the inside of the
body," he says. "If there's something going on inside the body that is not
right, for example, low thyroid output or low iron, your hair can react by
shedding more.
"So if you notice that you're shedding a lot of hair on
the 60-second hair count, it would be worthwhile to be evaluated by
physician to rule out underlying medical causes," notes Dr. Miller.
Sudden changes in the amount of hair you lose should
also be evaluated, he says.
The study was funded by Merck & Co. and Dr. Miller has
received consulting fees from the drug company Pfizer Inc.
Always consult your physician for more information.
(Our Organization is not responsible for the content of
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American
Academy of Dermatology
Archives of Dermatology – Standardizing the 60-Second Hair Count
CDC
- Men's Health
Men's Health Network
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Women's Health Information Center - Men's Health