Fall – aka autumn – is a fantastic time of year. Pumpkin-spiced lattés, colourful leaves flittering to the floor, and planning for the upcoming festivities are enough to make us feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside! But there’s one thing that may make fall a bit of a B – seasonal hair loss.

We’re super protective of our hair. After all, it’s our crowning glory. So, when ‘stranger things’ start happening up there, it’s normal to become a little worried.

Have you recently noticed that you’ve been losing a lot more hair than normal? Is your brush filled with hair each time you run it through your mane? Is there much more hair than usual on the shower floor after you’ve shampooed?

Girl, we understand how stressful it can be to have your hair fall out! And while your hair loss may be caused by an underlying condition or a nutritional deficiency, if you’re losing a particularly large amount of hair at this time of year, what you’re experiencing may be totally normal. This is called seasonal hair loss, and it happens to most women around this time of year. 

How does hair loss work?

Before we tell you more about losing your hair due to seasonal changes, it’s a good idea to understand the hair growth cycle first.

At any point in time, a random number of your hairs will be in one of three stages of growth and shedding called anagen, catagen, and telogen.

During anagen, a new hair is formed and pushes up through our hair follicle. During this period, our hair grows about one centimetre (around half an inch) every 28 days.

The catagen phase lasts about two to three weeks and happens when growth stops, and the outer root sheath of our hair shrinks.

In the telogen phase, also known as the resting phase, our hair follicles are completely at rest, and the hair in each follicle will start to fall out. We shed around 100 telogen hairs each day…if you think about it, that’s actually quite a lot.

What is seasonal hair loss? 

Although no exact cause has been identified for hair loss during certain seasons, many scientists have argued that, in summer, our hair tends to hang around more to keep our scalps protected from the sun. Then, as we enter the cooler months, this hair goes into the telogen phase and starts to fall out. This can result in a temporary increase in shedding compared to the usual 100 hairs we lose each day.

A 2017 study found that, at any given time, most of the hairs on our heads are in the telogen phase in July. Because telogen hairs fall out after about 100 days, it’s no surprise that we experience extra hair shedding as winter approaches.

However, these hairs aren’t lost forever. Provided that nothing else is going wrong, your hair will grow back happy and healthy.

Some scientists believe that when we lose hair in the fall months, our bodies are responding in a hormonal way to the changes in the amount of daylight we experience. The longer hours of daylight in summer trigger our hair to enter the telogen phase, which then results in shedding a few months on.

What can I do about seasonal hair loss?

There’s not much that can be done about any extra hair that you may be shedding as we wind down for winter.

Something you can do to ensure your hair stays in tip-top shape when there isn’t much sunlight is to take a vitamin D supplement. We naturally get this vital vitamin from sunshine, so when there isn’t much, there’s no harm in helping our bodies out with a little extra dose. Of course, it’s best to check with your healthcare provider before you take any new supplements.

Also, by adding a hair growth oil to your hair care regime, you can give your hair an extra boost – especially the hairs that are just starting to grow in the anagen phase. A good hair oil developed for hair growth will nourish your scalp and hair follicles to produce thick and shiny hair.

Wrapping up on seasonal hair loss 

We know losing any amount of hair, regardless of the time of year, can be scary. Remember that seasonal hair loss is completely normal and it’s completely temporary. You will get the hair back that you lose!

If you’re interested in adding a hair oil to your self-care routine, check out our Super Roots Hair Growth Elixir, formulated from all-natural, scientifically proven ingredients. In a couple of months, when you’re getting all kinds of compliments on your gorgeous hair, you’ll thank us 😉 Visit our website to shop for our hair oil.