An increase in hairs falling out, often noticed in the shower, brush, pillow or hands.
Hair shedding is different from gradual hair thinning. Shedding describes more hairs entering the falling phase at once, while thinning often reflects miniaturisation of follicles over time. Shedding can be normal after seasonal change or temporary stress, but marked shedding may suggest telogen effluvium, medication effects, illness, hormonal change, nutritional deficiency, alopecia areata, or inflammatory scalp disease. A careful timeline matters: telogen effluvium often appears around two to three months after a trigger. If shedding is sudden, severe, patchy, scaly, painful or associated with scalp redness, it needs assessment.
DermNet: Trichoscopy of generalised noncicatricial hair loss — https://dermnetnz.org/topics/trichoscopy-of-generalised-noncicatricial-hair-loss; Parikh AK et al. Advances in Topical Therapies for Alopecia, Life, 2024 — https://doi.org/10.3390/life14121577; Anastassakis K. Androgenetic Alopecia From A to Z, Vol. 1, Springer, 2022 — https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76111-0
