What is considered "normal" hair shedding?

Normal daily shedding

Normal daily shedding is often quoted as "anything less than 100 hairs per day" but that has never been carefully studied and documented. The reality is that there is quite a range of "normal" and somewhere closer to 50-60 is probably closer to what most people experience (or at least can collect).

Of course, there is a wide variation on what is considered normal shedding.

It is incredibly challenging (and incredibly emotional) to have to count daily shedding each day. There are many methods (brushing, shampooing, collecting) to try to measure daily loss. They are helpful and I often use a variety of such methods, but they each have their limitations.

Even those with a clear "telogen effluvium" (increased shedding) sometimes return with 45 hairs collected in a particular day (rather than the magic number 100). Are they shedding excessively? Absolutely. Are they able to measure it properly and capture what is happening? No.

A key principle of shedding is if one is certain they used to lose 30 and now lose 65 hairs per day - this is likely abnormal and warrants further consideration.