Hi
My 14 year old daughter is having a problem with her hair because it seems to be moulting a lot lately.  It is quite long and highlighted blonde, we wash it every day cos its greasy, but just recently it seems to be moulting all over the place, much more than usual.  You don't notice a difference just looking at her as yet, but we can see how much hair is coming out.  There are no actual bald patches, but you can imagine how worried she is (and me) - anyone else had any experience of this please, or any hairdressers out there who might know a bit about it?

What shampoo are you using? It could be that washing every day is stripping the hair of vital oils it needs to be healthy. I have long hair and it does get greasy quickly but i found washing it every 3 or so days with herbal organics helped no end. I also condition it every time which helps alot. I would just tie it back after the second day then wash on the third. Remember its natural to loose some of the hair every day but if your worried then go and see a doctor to rule out anything medical.
Also i find that cheap shampoos dont work for me the ones that do are the one ive already mentioned and also timotei and also on offer at sainsbuys at the moment ;) V05 doesnt work either or organics but for your daughter it could. I went through a process of trying different shampoos (mainly brought shampoo and seperate conditioner when on offer to save on costs) I will stress to keep them seperate as it does make a hugh difference for me and see which one helps to wash less often as too much washing imo cant be helping the situation.

Washing everyday will most likely dry out the ends and make the hair break off more easily,still leaving the roots oily.If she positively,absolutely has to wash it everyday then just wash the root area and leave the rest.

I've got long,thick blonde highlighted hair,that comes out by the handful,because it is very dry at the ends.Like Sonny i only wash it every 3 days,but wet and condition it everyday.The quality of shampoo and conditioner you use makes a massive difference.The supermarket stuff turns my hair into straw :(
My hairdresser advises to only shampoo once a week,dont think i could handle that tho I told her about how much hair i lose(heaps) and she said it's perfectly normal.The chances of your daughter getting bald patches is nil,unless she has some sort of disease,which is not the case by the sounds of things.

I bet your daughter has long dead hairs over the back of her clothes,particularly noticeable when she wears black,and leaves it all over the couch if she's been sitting there,LOL? This is what happens to me!

The bleach used to highlight her hair is most likely the culprit :( I know when i go ages without getting my hair coloured it doesnt seem to fall out as badly.

What brand of shampoo and conditioner is she useing?

I should have asked,is her hair oily all over or just around the root area?

Hi thanks for your replies, I really appreciate it because I am SOOO worried about her!  Her hair is greasy on top but ends are dry and rather split.  We use lots of conditioner when we wash and don't use the same one every day because otherwise her hair seems to go limp with 'product build up' so we alternate between a few brands, eg John Frieda blonde range, Toni and Guy, JustBlonde, Pantene.  I usually spray on a leave-in conditioner when it is wet to make it easier to brush.  Yes, Rose, she gets lots of long loose hairs on her clothes, but it is worrying lately because the moulting seems to have increased in the last couple of weeks.  You do hear about women losing all their hair and my imagination is working overtime (I am a dreadful worrier about everything, I'm afraid).  It didn't seem to moult so much this morning as it did yesterday, thank God, but I think I am going to find it hard to persuade her not to wash it every day because it looks so beautiful every morning when it is just washed and she can't stand it greasy.  She was naturally very blonde as a child and then about age 11/12 the roots started to go darker, but she had very long waist length hair then and so the rest of the hair was still very blonde, especially as the sun had lightened it even more in Spain.  So she was upset about these dark roots and so we got some of that spray on liquid stuff just to lighten the roots.  We only use it now about every six weeks with just a little on the roots and this lightens the hair up.  We are in a bit of a vicious circle with this now.  Any ideas about better shampoo and conditioners?
Thanks

Hello

I have had a similar problem with my hair its long and blonde and has got darker as I've got older.

I've been told never to use the spray in stuff as it really damages the hair and its better to have professional hightlights in a salon where they can also give the hair a treatment at the same time.

And also less is more, you only need to use a tiny bit of conditioner the more you use the greasier your hair will become which obviously means you will wash it more oftern and the cycle begines again!! Try just using a little conditioner and you may find it makes a big difference. :)

I have nearly waist length hair but do not colour it at present as it just kills the ends. Dont forget that they are probebely 2+ years old.

I find that shampooing only the scalp helps and conditioning the whole but not too much on the scalp helps. The more you wash your hair the greasier it gets. Did once work with a guy who didnt wash his hair and after about 3 months it just goes back to looking normal, just never could bring myself to do the 3 months! I settle for every other day. Baseball caps are wonderful things :)

It is very natrual to moult and there are certain times of year when hair loss will be more pronounced, just like dogs. It is more noticable the longer your hair and Hubby says that having me around is worse than having a dog moulting as the long hairs dont get picked up by the vacuum cleaner. 

The best shampoos I found are aveda ones which have no petrochemicals in them and are as natural as shampoos can be.  There are blonde shampoos and conditioners - one is cammomile, sorry cant remember the other one but its purple and takes the brassiness out of coloured hair and tones down grey hair and the conditioners impart colour on the hair so they don't need coloured as often - unless you have very dark roots.  I got into the habit of only washing my hair once a week after getting vibrant reds put in my hair as red fades very quickly and it meant I had a very strong hair colour for longer.
The best advice I can give you is to consult a good hairdresser - most of the quality salons would not charge for a consultation - but remember hairdressers are often on commission for selling products!

I would recommend that you take her to a good hairdresser for advice....they will be able to tell if the hair loss is excessive,and if it could be product related. There are one or two medical conditions that lead to hair loss so I would get it checked out.

Thanks for all your advice! I am taking her to the doctor tomorrow because I know it is possible that there could be a medical problem such as anaemia that can cause excessive hair shedding (and I suffer a lot from anaemia), especially as she has heavy periods.  Also one of the people who is buying one of my puppies is a hairdresser and she is visiting the pup on Saturday and I rang her (taking advantage rather!) for advice and she says she will go through everything with my daughter when she comes for her visit.  What a worry being a parent is, if it is not one thing, it's another!  Also so are the little pups worrying, every squeak and snuffle, goodness!  For a natural worrier like me it is horrendous!  Thanks all for your help, it is so nice to have someone to talk to.