I Shed Thick Hair

Dear Dr. Mohebi,

How is everything Dr.? I actually came across something, which might seem a little silly to you. (haha) As the follicle deteriorates, the hair becomes thinner, correct? and this leads to the dying of the hair follicle and hair can’t be grown, right? I have noticed lately that when I shed, the hair is not really thin. Actually the quality of my hair according to my father has improved. Thick hair means that the follicle is still healthy and contains the vital nutrients. Now to sum everything up, even though I still experience hair loss with decent hair quality, does this still mean that my hair follicle is deteriorating or could an internal factor such as stress cause you to lose some hair regardless of its (hair) condition?

The reason I am asking this vaguely put question (sorry) is because earlier when I shed, my hair did get thinner which gave me the signal that it was in poor condition. DHT damages the follicle and causes the hair to become thinner. Sorry to bother you with these questions, it’s just that sometimes I pay attention to little things and I need to find out the answer. Thank you very much.

Answer:
The hair that shed is not necessarily miniaturized hair which is in process of balding. Normal hair goes through phases including telogen in which you see normal non-balding hair falls out. If a person is balding he or she may lose a normal looking hair in its telogen phase and grow a finer hair in its place and this process may repeat until your hair miniaturize completely or become non-existent. Loss of miniaturized hair (balding process) is not necessarily sensible, it means that due to the small diameter of hair shafts, you may not even notice your hair falling.