shedding

WRAPPED around the hoover, blocking the plughole and stuck on the shower wall – it feels like hair gets everywhere.

It’s normal to lose hair every day, but sometimes, the large clump in your hairbrush can feel worrying. But what is ‘normal’, and what could be causing your locks to fall out faster? We reveal the hidden health concerns, and how to fix them to stop the shed.

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Eva Proudman, founder of www.ukhairconsultants.com, consultant trichologist and Fellow of the Institute of Trichologists UK, tells Sun Health: “Everyone is going to see some hair coming out of the head daily; this is part of the normal growing and shedding cycle.

“Around 50-150 hairs can be shed daily.

“If you wash every day, you will see less than if you leave it for three or four days, as the shed hair is held within the hair by a natural static charge that is broken when the hair is washed.”

While some hair loss is a natural part of getting older – for example, women tend to see thinning due to menopause – and genetic predisposition can lead to gradual thinning over time, any sudden changes warrant concern.

Eva, who sees many distressed patients in her clinics, says: “If you are noticing more hair in the brush, shower, on your clothes, or being picked up by your hoover, seek advice from a professional to identify and understand the cause.”

Our hair is not only part of our identity, but is “often said to be a reflection of your general health,” adds Eva.

“In many cases, these symptoms are linked to an underlying medical issue.”

From hormonal issues to autoimmune diseases, here are the causes worth considering…

DIET NOT CUTTING IT

EXCESSIVE hair shedding and thinning from iron and vitamin B12 deficiency is called telogen effluvium – a form of temporary loss.

Telogen effluvium can be triggered by several factors, from stress to viruses and inflammation, which disrupt the hair growth cycle.

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Eva says: “Being deficient in iron and vitamin B12 can also cause fatigue, brain fog, aches and pains, and a general state of feeling unwell.

“This is especially true if you eat a limited diet, whether vegetarian, vegan or you are on GLP-1 ‘weight loss’ jabs, and exclude core food groups such as red meat and animal proteins.”

Trichologists use a blood test to ascertain stored levels before advising on dietary or supplementary changes.

“The results take time to show,” Eva notes. “It’s usually a minimum of four to six months.

“However, the relief as the hair shedding reduces also brings a reduction in stress and anxiety, which is supportive to both hair and general health.”

SLUGGISH GLAND

BOTH types of thyroid disease (overactive and underactive) affect the hair, says Eva.

She adds: “In my clinics, I see clients with excessive hair shedding, thinning and breakage that also present with other recognised signs and symptoms of thyroid disease.

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“It has an impact on female pattern hair loss (FPHL), whether it is hypothyroidism (underactive) or hyperthyroidism (overactive).”
FPHL tends to affect the crown of the head.

An underactive thyroid can also cause brittle and fragile hair, while overactive can cause excessive shedding.

For the former, look out for symptoms such as “severe tiredness, weight gain and feeling cold”, says Eva, and for the latter, “you may find there’s weight loss, a feeling of ‘running on overdrive’, and poor sleep”.

The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces two hormones (TSH and T4) vital for all the cells in the body to work efficiently.

Both types of thyroid disease, which can occur at any age, are treated with medication for life.

HORMONES GOING HAYWIRE

ONE in ten women have PCOS, a hormonal condition that causes the male hormones to be more dominant.

“PCOS is a very common condition in my clinics, particularly in younger ladies who see me due to hair thinning and loss, as well as a feeling of being able to see more scalp, with slow growth,” explains Eva.

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Other signs and symptoms can include heavy and/or irregular periods, facial hair, weight gain, oily skin and scalp, and acne.

Eva says: “Insulin resistance or pre-diabetes is often seen in my clinics.

“But this is also a common standalone condition in the UK, causing the body to have an ineffective response to insulin.

“The increase of insulin in the bloodstream can stimulate the ovaries to produce more androgens, providing an environment that promotes thinning and shedding and an exacerbation of the FPHL.”

Eva adds: “This health condition should ideally be managed jointly between the trichologist and GP.

“Lifestyle changes definitely help; we work on diet and the uptake and storage of nutrients to give the correct levels for optimum hair health.”

Hair growth treatments, like Minoxidil, or Tricoactiv+, may also be used.

BODY’S BETRAYAL

IN the case of autoimmune conditions, the body attacks its own tissues, such as the hair follicles.

Eva says: “A common – and very distressing – autoimmune condition is frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA).

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“This causes the hairline to recede with permanent loss, and so it’s important to get an early, accurate diagnosis as there are supportive treatments that can stabilise the condition to help to prevent further hair loss.”

FFA is a type of scarring autoimmune condition, meaning the hair will not grow back.

“It presents with a lack of follicular orifices, usually a smooth area of skin with a paler skin pigmentation,” says Eva.

Alopecia areata is a non-scarring autoimmune condition in which hair loss can come and go.

Eva says: “It causes patchy hair loss, usually in smooth circles.
“In some cases, it develops into total hair loss on the scalp (alopecia totalis) or total hair loss all over the body (alopecia universalis).

“When the condition is active, you see clinical signs such as yellow dots on the scalp, black dots and exclamation hairs. When there are no signs like this, there can then be regrowth and recovery.

“Treatments for this type of condition range from scalp massage, stimulating oils, topical Minoxidil, topical steroids, steroid injections and JAK (Janus kinase) inhibitors.”

SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM

VIRUSES can cause hair and scalp issues, often a diffuse thinning, which is a uniform, widespread loss of density across the scalp.

This is a form of telogen effluvium – temporary hair loss that affects the hair growth cycle.

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Covid-19, for example, can potentially cause hair loss, though it might not appear until months later.

Eva says: “With a virus, it can feel like hair loss but may actually be a disruption to the growing and shedding cycle of the hair, called telogen effluvium.

“This condition can have multiple underlying causes and though alarming at first, it is generally short-lived in most circumstances.”

This type of hair loss tends to resolve on its own, but in more severe or prolonged cases, a doctor may recommend medications to support regrowth.

Eva says: “As with all hair-related problems, the sooner you seek professional advice and have an accurate diagnosis, the sooner you can start to treat and get the hair back to normal.

“Many of the products advertised online or across social media may not be relevant.

“Just because something says it works, doesn’t mean it does or will!

“The cost and stress of trying many different treatments can be avoided just by seeking the right advice.”

It has been eight years since the Houston Astros cheated their way through a year that included a World Series victory over the Dodgers. It has been five years since commissioner Rob Manfred publicly detailed the scandal and sanctioned the Astros and their leaders, if not their players.

Does A.J. Hinch, the manager of those Astros, still hear about it?

“Every day,” he said.

Hinch now manages the Detroit Tigers.

“As a manager, my name gets announced in every stadium, every night,” he said Friday at Angel Stadium. “So it gives everybody an opportunity to remind me that no one has forgotten.

“And no one should forget.”

We’ll get back to those Astros. But, first, we ought to tip our cap to these Tigers, the team with the best record in the American League.

The Tigers have surrendered the fewest runs in the AL and scored the third most through Friday’s games.

Their starting rotation includes defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (2.21 ERA), former Dodger Jack Flaherty (3.34) and former first-round pick Casey Mize (2.70).

Mize preceded sluggers Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson as first-round picks in Detroit; Greene and Torkelson have combined for one more home run (17) than the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández (16).

Hinch is something of an accidental manager. In 2009, he was the minor league director of the Arizona Diamondbacks when general manager Josh Byrnes asked him to manage the team.

“I thought he was crazy,” Hinch said.

What Byrnes saw and many others in baseball did not: The traditional wall between the front office and the coaching staff was crumbling. The analyst or executive coming into the clubhouse might be there to help the manager and coaches, not to usurp their authority.

“I think the Diamondbacks, for the first time, were ahead of the curve,” said Angels pitching coach Barry Enright, then a Diamondbacks pitcher. “It was rare back then to see a front-office member come into the coaches’ room. Now it’s all one big unit.”

Innovation is great when you win. The Diamondbacks did not, and Hinch did not manage even one full season before he and Byrnes were fired.

Look at Hinch now: The Tigers earned their first playoff berth in 10 years last season, with a fraying rotation held together by Skubal and duct tape. In the first round, they beat the — dramatic pause — Astros. Two ex-Dodgers on the current Detroit roster compare Hinch favorably to Dave Roberts.

“Two incredible managers,” Flaherty said. “I’ve been lucky enough to play for both of them.”

“The Dodgers, they can just go out there and roll out their guys: We’re here, we’re going to beat you,” said utilityman Zach McKinstry, who ranks eighth in the AL with a .311 batting average.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch congratulates Zach McKinstry after he scored a run. McKinstry is a fan of Hinch’s managing style.

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

“The way we play the game, the way we know the game, the way we know our opponents beforehand, it’s just unmatched. It’s something I’ve never been a part of. We have to strategize and bring our best game every night.”

McKinstry is sensitive to the unfortunately common perception: How good a manager does Roberts have to be if he can write Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman atop his lineup card every night?

“Managing superstars like that definitely comes with different challenges,” McKinstry said. “The way he uses his bullpen; he’s really good at that. Super good manager.

“He can control the media. He controls his players. He controls that locker room. All good things.”

When McKinstry was traded to Detroit in 2023, he was apprehensive about Hinch. McKinstry made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 2020, the year the Astros’ scandal exploded into view and Dodgers fans gathered to jeer the Astros’ team bus, even as pandemic restrictions prevented them from entering Dodger Stadium.

“You come over here and you’re like, ‘What am I going to think?’” McKinstry said. “I just kind of erased all that and came over here with open eyes and an open heart.”

Perhaps we all should, at least with respect to Hinch.

Manfred suspended Hinch and Jeff Luhnow, then the Astros’ general manager, for one year. Jim Crane, the Astros’ owner, then fired Hinch and Luhnow.

In his report, Manfred said Hinch did not devise, participate in or approve of the scheme to intercept the pitch calls of opposing teams on live video and communicate the upcoming pitch by banging on a trash can. However, Manfred said, Hinch did not put a stop to it.

“As the person with responsibility for managing his players and coaches,” Manfred said, “there simply is no justification for Hinch’s failure to act.”

In a year the American League is down, the Tigers are up. Does Hinch believe a World Series championship in Detroit would confer legitimacy upon him that the title in Houston might not, at least not to some fans?

“I don’t want to win for me, or for my story, or because of what we did previously in my career,” he said. “I want to win because of all the work that we put into it, and I want everybody to experience the feeling of being on top of the sport.”

His remorse sounds sincere, not coming in a scripted statement but as we talked in the visiting dugout Friday afternoon. Hinch could have declined to talk about the scandal, or he could have offered some version of “I’ve put that behind me,” but he did neither.

“It was wrong, and I should have handled it better,” Hinch said. “I understand my role in my time in Houston, but my goal is to always own it, and do everything I can to show people that I can impact a team.”

If adversity reveals character, as those of us in the sports world like to chirp, consider the reaction of the three most prominent men Manfred cited in his report.

Crane said: “I don’t think I should be held accountable.”

Luhnow said he had been held out as “the scapegoat for the organization” and sued the Astros.

Hinch said he was wrong.