Over the weekend, I received an email from a woman who asked me “what exactly is TE or telogen effluvium like?” I wrote back and asked for a bit of clarification, but she meant what I thought and she assumed she meant it. Basically, I wanted to know what the hair of a person with ET will look like and if there are any patterns or appearances to the hair or scalp that indicate the shedding or hair loss is due to ET rather than something else. I will talk about these things in the next article.

What does hair loss due to telogen effluvium look like? Sometimes there are changes in the texture of the hair before shedding begins. This is because the affected hair goes into the resting stage and these strands are no longer deeply embedded in the scalp and are no longer properly nourished. Therefore, the result is loose or rebellious hair that does not end up being flat.

Once the shedding really starts, you may not notice any change in volume or any point of thinning at first. Most people start out with a lot more hair than they realize, so it takes a certain period of shedding before the changes are noticeable to others. You may find that worn or fallen hair hangs at the ends and your friends, co-workers, or complete strangers will pull your hair out of your clothes (which can be quite embarrassing). You may also see that your scalp is pink or red because many follicles are affected at once.

After a while, you may start to see some thinning in areas that aren’t as thick at first, like your bangs, temples, or crown. Now some people will panic and think they have AGA or androgenetic alopecia, but that’s not always the case. Often those areas have less hair at first, so they will thin more quickly than other areas. However, in general terms (although there are very common exceptions), people with ET will generally have general or diffuse molting and loss, while people with genetic loss will have a pattern loss that is mainly limited to the upper part, temples and the crown

Over time, it can become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between TE and AGA just by looking at the hair and scalp. Because prolonged shedding is going to thin your hair, even if you grow it back steadily. Now, with telogen effluvium, the quality and quantity of your new growth shouldn’t be negatively affected, unless you have some inflammation issues. Therefore, the regrowth you have should be relatively healthy and thick. However, because something is causing your hair to continue to cycle through the resting phase, your regrowth may not have the impact you might have hoped because the growth simply can’t keep up with the loss.

What’s the deal with the white bulb? Does the white bulb mean that I definitely have telogen effluvium?: I get asked the question very often. People really want the reassurance that this shedding might one day stop, so they are very hopeful that the white bulb at the end of the hair is indicative of a temporary shedding. However, the truth is that almost all forms of hair loss have a white bulb. The exception is if you actually pull the hair off your scalp.

But, hair that has reached the end of its life cycle will fall out and that bulb is right where it is no longer embedded or nourished. If you pull out one of the hairs right now, you’ll see a brown sheath around the tip. This is still healthy, growing hair and that’s the difference. That hair found no natural ending. But your hair doesn’t know why it’s being forced into the resting phase. It simply knows that it is in this phase and responds accordingly.

Now, if the bulb is a little yellow and it’s large, it could be a buildup of sebum which, depending on how often you wash your hair, can be an indication that androgens are negatively affecting and clogging your hair and scalp. . However, it’s fairly easy to tell the difference because the sebum buildup looks more like a plug and is much larger than the white end most of us see.