When counting hairs, should I be including vellus/baby hairs?

General
1

Hi all,

Lately, I’ve started categorizing the hair that has fallen out while showering. I collect the hairs from my silicone drain hair catcher thingy, and count them on a tray. The following is data from the past 4 days. (Non-vellus is just the sum of Long and Intermediate counts)

Date Long Intermediate Vellus Non-Vellus
1/19/2026 65 34 35 99
1/20/2026 61 21 18 82
1/21/2026 35 14 9 49
1/22/2026 74 22 31 96

Jan 21’s data is likely low because I rode my bicycle to the gym, and all that activity with my helmet and wiping sweat probably took out some loose hairs, which deducted from the final count.

I’m aware that 50-100 is the standard for hair fall. Is vellus hair fall included in that standard? In other words, should I relax, or should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance for the advice, everyone!

2

You’re within normal physiologic limits, but that’s an interesting question. I think biopsy and trichoscopic studies quantify terminal vs. vellus follicles per unit area, but not sure regarding shedding. I wonder if there’s any literature defining “normal” daily vellus vs. terminal shedding counts from wash tests. I think proportions and longitudinal caliber shifts correlate with disease more than short-term shed numbers. All hair should undergo phases, meaning shedding is inherently variable day to day. Within that, vellus hairs have shorter anagen phases and faster cycling, so their shedding can be a normal part of turnover.