If you've noticed more hair on your pillow, in the shower drain, or wrapped around your hairbrush, you're not imagining it. And you're not alone. Increased hair shedding is one of the most common concerns among women in the UAE and GCC — and in most cases, it has a clear, treatable cause.
The key word is more than usual. Losing 50 to 100 hairs a day is completely normal. Your hair goes through a natural growth cycle — growing, resting, and shedding — and some daily loss is simply part of that process. The problem begins when the shedding accelerates noticeably, when you see thinning at the scalp, or when the volume of your hair changes in a way that worries you.
So why does this happen? And what can you do about it?
The Most Common Reasons Hair Falls Out More Than Usual
1. Telogen Effluvium — The Stress Shed
This is the most frequent cause of sudden increased shedding, and it has a name that most women have never heard: telogen effluvium. It happens when a significant physical or emotional stress pushes a large number of hair follicles into the resting (telogen) phase simultaneously — and then, 2 to 3 months later, that hair sheds all at once.
Common triggers include illness, surgery, rapid weight loss, childbirth, and prolonged emotional stress. The frustrating part is the delay — by the time you notice the shedding, the stressor that caused it may be long behind you.
The good news: telogen effluvium is almost always temporary. Once the trigger is removed and the body stabilises, the hair growth cycle resets on its own.
2. Hormonal Changes
Hormones are one of the most powerful regulators of hair growth. Fluctuations in oestrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormones, and androgens can all disrupt the hair cycle. This is why many women experience increased shedding during and after pregnancy, around menopause, when starting or stopping hormonal contraceptives, or when dealing with conditions like PCOS or thyroid dysfunction.
A particularly important hormone to understand is DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Even in women, elevated DHT activity can cause follicle miniaturisation — where individual hair strands gradually become finer and shorter over time, leading to visible thinning.
3. Nutritional Deficiencies
Hair follicles are among the most metabolically active cells in the body. They need a constant supply of nutrients to function — and when those nutrients are lacking, hair is often one of the first things to suffer.
The most common deficiencies linked to hair loss include iron (particularly common among women with heavy periods), ferritin (stored iron), vitamin D, zinc, and B vitamins including biotin. A simple blood panel can identify whether deficiency is a contributing factor.
4. Scalp Health Issues
A compromised scalp environment directly affects the health of your follicles. Excess sebum, product build-up, dandruff, or chronic scalp inflammation can all block or weaken follicles — reducing their ability to hold onto hair and produce new growth.
This is particularly relevant in the UAE, where hard water, heat, and humidity create a uniquely challenging environment for scalp health. Hard water deposits minerals on the scalp, disrupting the natural pH balance and contributing to inflammation over time.
5. Damage from Chemical Treatments
Repeated chemical treatments — relaxers, colorants, perms, keratin treatments — weaken the structural integrity of the hair shaft and can damage the follicle itself. When the follicle is repeatedly stressed by chemicals, it produces progressively weaker strands, which break more easily and appear to "fall out" at an increased rate.
This is compounded by harsh shampoos. Formulas containing SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) strip the scalp's protective lipid barrier with every wash, increasing inflammation and accelerating the breakdown of the hair growth cycle.
6. Friction and Mechanical Stress
Tight hairstyles — braids, high ponytails, extensions — apply sustained tension to the follicle root. Over time, this can cause traction alopecia: a gradual, progressive hair loss along the hairline and temples. Rough towel-drying, aggressive brushing on wet hair, and sleeping on cotton pillowcases all contribute to breakage that's often mistaken for shedding.
What You Can Do About It
The right response depends on the cause — which is why a proper assessment matters before reaching for any product. If you suspect a medical cause (thyroid, PCOS, severe deficiency), a visit to your doctor and a blood test is the right first step.
For the majority of cases, however, the approach is the same: reduce scalp inflammation, support the follicle environment, and give your hair the active botanical ingredients it needs to recover.
Cleanse gently and consistently. Switch to an SLS-free, paraben-free shampoo that cleanses without stripping. The Luminneal5® Soak Shampoo is formulated with rosemary, green tea, caffeine, and panthenol — a combination that supports scalp health at the follicle level with every wash, rather than simply coating the strand.
Treat the scalp directly. A leave-on scalp treatment is more effective than a rinse-off product for delivering active ingredients where they're needed most. The Luminneal5® Hair Tonic Lotion combines the full five-hero-botanical complex — rosemary, green tea, caffeine, saw palmetto, and pumpkin seeds — to address DHT sensitivity, oxidative stress, and follicle weakness simultaneously. Applied daily to the scalp, it works at the biological level to create conditions for healthier, stronger regrowth.
Nourish before you wash. Pre-wash oil treatments protect the hair shaft from the mechanical and chemical stress of washing. The Luminneal5® Essential 9 Hair Oil — a blend of nine natural oils including argan, castor, jojoba, and pumpkin seed — seals the cuticle, reduces breakage, and conditions the scalp before cleansing begins.
The Bottom Line
Increased hair shedding is rarely a permanent sentence. In most cases, it's your body's signal that something — stress, nutrition, scalp environment, or the products you're using — needs to change.
The most effective response is a consistent, gentle, botanically-powered routine that works with your hair's natural biology rather than against it. Not a quick fix. Not a harsh chemical treatment. A daily ritual that supports your follicles, protects your scalp, and gives your hair the environment it needs to grow back stronger.
0 comments