The one sign that separates them
Pick up a few of the hairs you have lost and look closely at one end.
- A shed hair comes out whole, root and all. At one end there is a small, rounded bulb, often white or pale. Dermatologists call it a club hair, because of the shape of its root.
- A broken hair has snapped somewhere along its length. There is no bulb, both ends look blunt or frayed, and it is usually shorter than the rest of your hair.
That small check tells you whether you are looking at the normal growth cycle or at damage, and the fixes for the two are completely different.
What shedding is
Every hair grows for a while, rests, and then falls out so a new hair can grow from the same follicle. That release is shedding. Because each hair is on its own schedule, some come out every day while the rest keep growing.
The American Academy of Dermatology says it is normal to shed between 50 and 100 hairs a day. Shedding becomes excessive when you lose significantly more than that every day, which dermatologists call telogen effluvium. It often shows up a few months after a stressful event such as a high fever, an operation, giving birth or a big weight loss, and it usually settles as the body readjusts.
What breakage is
Breakage is the hair shaft itself snapping. It is not about the growth cycle at all: the follicle is fine, but the strand is too weak to hold together. Damaged hair is fragile, so it breaks.
The American Academy of Dermatology lists everyday habits that damage hair, including heat styling, bleaching, colouring, perms and relaxers, rubbing hair with a towel, brushing it hard while wet, and tight hairstyles that pull.
How to tell which one you have
| Shedding | Breakage | |
|---|---|---|
| End of the hair | Small rounded bulb at the root end | No bulb, blunt or frayed ends |
| Length | Full length | Short pieces |
| Where you find it | Shower drain, brush, pillow | Brush, clothes, sink, short pieces everywhere |
| What you notice | Overall volume, a wider part | Frizz, uneven ends, hair that never gets longer |
| Common causes | The growth cycle, or stress a few months ago | Heat, chemicals, rough handling, tight styles |
A simple test: collect a small handful of the hairs you lose in a day and sort them into two piles, those with a bulb and those without. Whichever pile is bigger tells you what is doing more.
Can you have both?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Someone can be shedding a little more after an illness while also breaking their ends with daily heat. Sorting your hairs shows the mix, and you can tackle each one separately.
What helps with shedding
If your count is within the normal range, nothing needs to change. If it is higher:
- Count for two to three weeks, on your usual routine, to get a fair average. Our free hair shedding calculator works out the daily figure for you.
- Think back two to four months for a trigger such as an illness, a fever, a hard few weeks or a crash diet.
- See a doctor if heavy shedding lasts for months, or comes with patches, itching, redness, pain, or thinning eyebrows or eyelashes.
What helps with breakage
Breakage is the one you can usually fix yourself, by being gentler:
- Use heat less often, on the lowest setting that works, with a heat protectant.
- Use conditioner after every wash.
- Pat hair dry instead of rubbing it.
- Detangle gently with a wide-tooth comb. If your hair is straight, let it dry a little first; textured and tightly curled hair is best combed while damp.
- Space out bleach, colour and relaxers.
- Choose looser styles, and avoid pulling hair tight in the same place every day.
Our guide on how to prevent hair breakage covers each of these in more detail.
When it is neither
Sometimes hair loss is not about shedding or breakage at all: hair stops growing back where it was, so it gets gradually thinner, as with pattern hair loss. A shedding count or a broken-hair check cannot show that. Comparing photos of your part, crown and hairline over months can.