Why Is My Hair Falling Out in Clumps?

How Much Hair Loss Is Normal?

Before you get your hair in a knot, let’s zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture.

Every human loses a certain amount of hair every day. It’s part of a natural process called the hair growth cycle — new growth can’t happen without some shedding.

Most people lose about 50–100 hairs per day but this can change depending on the circumstances. If you have thicker hair, you may lose more strands each day. If it’s been a few days between showers or combing, you may notice more shedding the next time you lather up or whip out the brush.

But if your hair is coming out in clumps, leaving thin or bald patches, there may be an underlying cause and it may be time to consult a doctor.

What’s Causing Your Hair to Fall Out in Clumps?

So we’ve established that your shedding isn’t natural. Instead, your hair is falling out like crazy — in clumps, when you comb, when you shower, and perhaps sometimes when you seem to do nothing at all.

There are several reasons why your hair may be falling out in clumps, from severe stress to medication.

Stress hair loss — or telogen effluvium — is the most likely culprit, although an uncommon autoimmune condition called alopecia areata produces the most clump-like symptoms. We cover both of these below, along with other possible causes.

But if you’re worried, it’s always best to speak to a doctor who can diagnose the root of the problem and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

Severe Stress

A sudden, severe stress in your life can take it out of you — your hair, that is. If you’ve got large clumps of hair coming out with ease, there’s a strong possibility that it’s caused by physiological stress.

We’re not talking about the stress of the rush-hour commute or the teenage years of parenthood. We’re talking the big physical or emotional traumas:

• Surgery
• High fever
• COVID-19
• Severe infection
• Childbirth
• Rapid weight loss
• The sudden death of a loved one
• A divorce

This kind of stress-induced hair loss is called telogen effluvium and clumpy hair loss is one of its key symptoms.

Another sign of telogen effluvium is the timing.

Think about when your hair started falling out like crazy. Then travel back in time roughly three months (although the trigger can occur anywhere from one to six months beforehand).

Did something seriously stressful happen then? Refer to the list we’ve included above.

If you answered yes, there’s good news and bad news.

You probably have telogen effluvium.

But it’s usually a temporary condition. Give it some time once the stressful event has passed (and the stress hair loss has begun) and your hair will hopefully return to normal.

If it doesn’t, there’s a chance you may have developed chronic telogen effluvium. But there are treatments for that too (more on that below).

Alopecia Areata (Spot Baldness)

Clumpy hair loss and alopecia areata (also called spot baldness) go virtually hand in hand. That’s because this rare condition causes your hair to fall out in small, coin-sized patches.

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition, which means that your immune system attacks your own hair follicles, preventing healthy hair production. While there’s no cure, it can typically be treated with corticosteroids and anti-inflammatory medication.

Cicatricial (Scarring) Alopecia

The name for this rare condition is a little misleading because the scarring isn’t visible on the scalp. It’s within your skin. Within your hair follicles, to be precise.

Scarring alopecia happens when inflammation damages the hair follicles to such a degree that they’re no longer able to produce or maintain hair.

If your hair has already begun to fall out, it may be too late to do anything about it. Once a follicle is destroyed, it cannot be brought back to life.

On the other hand, early diagnosis can lead to treatment with anti-inflammatory medication that may prevent further destruction.

Anagen Effluvium

This is a type of hair loss that comes on suddenly, thanks to some kind of trigger — usually chemotherapy or radiation used to treat cancer.

At the onset of symptoms, your hair may fall out in clumps but you’re more likely to experience all-over hair shedding, sometimes to the point of baldness.

Fortunately, the condition doesn’t damage the hair follicles, which means it’s usually reversed once treatment is stopped.

If you’d like to know more, we have a guide to anagen effluvium that goes further into what causes it, the symptoms, and how it can be treated.

How to Stop Your Hair Falling Out in Clumps

If you have handfuls of hair coming out in one go, it’s usually a sign that something else is going on in your body.

Treatment depends on what that ‘something else’ is — which is why we always recommend you see a doctor first.

Book a phone consultation with one of our partner doctors. They’re trained under the guidance of world-renowned dermatologist Dr Rodney Sinclair.

Most of the time, losing hair in clumps isn’t serious. The best course of action in the case of stress hair loss or anagen effluvium may simply be patience.

Once the trigger goes away — whether it’s stress or medication — your hair should return to its natural state, though this is admittedly a slow process.

On the other hand, scarring alopecia and alopecia areata are more serious conditions that require a doctor’s diagnosis and a prescribed treatment plan, which may include corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory medication, or immunosuppressants.

But sometimes hair loss is more subtle, a gradually receding hairline or overall thinning over time. While it may just be a sign of ageing, there’s some good news:

We’ve got something for that.

The Hairy Pill^® has a personalised hair loss treatment for men, as well as a women’s hair loss treatment.

This treatment offers more than 650 different ingredient combinations, so our partner doctors and compounding pharmacists can ensure it’s tailored to you. 

The best bit? It’s just one pill, taken daily. Get started now.