Keys to Understanding Afro Hair Loss and How to Manage it

Daily hair loss is normal. Shedding is a natural internal process, and it’s a sign of a normal healthy functioning scalp. On average, humans lose about 50-100 hair strands from their head everyday.

There’s hundreds of thousands of hair on your head so this loss may not be as significant as you think. You may want to note that each one of your hair strands is at a different stage of its 2-7 year lifespan. Yes, each strand of your hair has a lifespan after which it falls out and is replaced by new hair.

Afro hair loss

If you’ve got afro textured hair, no doubt you’ve noticed some sort of hair loss each time you comb it. Afro textured hair is naturally fragile due to its tight, coily shape, which causes it to easily break and shed. 

Is your hair shedding or breaking?

Hair that has been shed is different from hair that has broken. A simple way to know the difference is to note the appearance and length of hair that has fallen off. A hair strand that has been shed falls out with its white root bulb attached.

If a hair strand falls off without its white root bulb, then it’s not a naturally shed hair. What’s more to know, hair doesn’t shed from the root. If it ever did, you’d never have hair growing in the areas where hair has been shredded.

Shed hair is longer in length compared to hair that has only just broken off. Broken hairs also tend to have varying lengths. Hair shedding is a normal part of your hair growth cycle.

Hair breakage after a protective style

Taking out a protective style that’s been in for a while may come with excessive hair loss for many naturals. This usually comes about from hair losing its moisture during the time you’ve had in your protective style.

Dry hair lacks elasticity, so it breaks off easier if anything. Additionally, installing a protective style that’s too tight on your scalp could backfire in this way too. It’s important not to have your hair too tight, especially when styling it into up hairdos like ponytails that strain your hairline.

How to prevent hair breakage after taking out a protective style

The key to prevent breakage is to seal in moisture when you have your protective style in. You can feed your hair moisture using our Tsavorite Spritz Moisturizer Spray regularly. Couple this with the Emerald Hair Food to seal in the moisture.

Doing this during the duration that you have in your protective style will go a long way in reducing breakage which could result after taking out the style.

If perhaps you’ve not been doing this and the dreaded time has come to take down your protective style, we highly recommend that you apply our Tsavorite Booster Conditioner in sections of your hair to rid it of knots and tangles as you remove the style.

With the booster conditioner, all you need to do is wet your hair and apply the conditioner, working it from your lengths to your tips. Go on to detangle your hair while the conditioner is still in, using a wide toothed comb. Make sure to wash it out after completing this process.

Other common reasons for afro hair loss

Women lose more hair than men and this is mostly because of the way we style and take care of our hair. Common causes include:

• Frequent heat styling
• Hair coloring
• Chemical treatments like hair relaxers and bleach
• Washing hair too often 

Final thoughts

For afro textured hair, breakage is common and inevitable at some point. You can always take steps to reduce this by getting rid of bad hair habits like excessive heat styling, and keeping your hair moisturized to prevent it from drying and breaking off.

However, if your hair is shedding too much and even leaving patches behind, you may want to speak to your dermatologist to find out if there’s any underlying health issue causing this condition.