I often hear from people who are sure that their worst fear is going to come true.
And when it comes to telogen effluvium, this is understandable.
Because your reality has become large wads of hair in the shower drain and in your brush.
Seeing all this hair loss day after day can become quite alarming.
You can start to wonder if, at this rate, you're going to go bald.
And then you start to wonder if you should go wig shopping, just in case.
I heard from someone who said: "I have had severe telogen effluvium for the past two and a half months.
I am losing tons and tons of hair.
I counted the hairs once and there were over 500.
At this rate, I feel like I will have see through hair soon.
I've started looking at wig and topper web sites but my husband says that I am being ridiculous.
He admits that my hair looks thinner than it did, but he says that I am no where near needing a wig.
I understand what he is saying but my hair can't shed like this day after day without my nearly going bald.
Is it silly for me to think that I will need a wig with my aggressive telogen effluvium?" It most certainly isn't silly.
Unless you have gone through this yourself (and I wouldn't wish it on anyone,) you have no idea how upsetting it can be.
Yes, it may appear to people in our lives that we are taking a pessimistic attitude and assuming the worst case scenario, but it's hard not to when you are shedding so much hair every single day.
Often, we hope for the best.
We try positive thinking in the hopes that we will wake up the next morning and find that it is over.
But despite this, nothing seems to change.
Below, I'll try to put this in perspective from my own experience and I will try to offer you some reassurance.
Understand That Classic Telogen Effluvium Should Only Take Around Three Months: I know that it probably seems like you are losing an unnatural amount of hair.
But you likely have more than you think to begin with.
In three months time, there is no doubt that your hair will take a hit and look more thin and lack volume.
But most people won't need a wig after three months.
Yes, you may have to learn some styling techniques to make the most of what you have.
And you probably won't be completely happy with your hair until it begins to grow back steadily.
But my hair shed at an alarming rate (and it went on for much longer than three months) and although I did buy a topper just in case, I never ended up wearing it.
Know That Hair Starts To Regrow As Soon As It Is Shed Out: People often have the misconception that in order for their hair to start growing back and recover, all of their shedding has to stop.
This isn't the case.
As soon as one hair sheds out, the follicle replaces it.
It takes a couple of months for it to be long enough to be easily seen, but this process is going on the whole time that you are shedding.
For you to go bald, you would have to not be growing hair back and this doesn't happen with telogen effluvium.
Now, if you have some androgen component to your hair loss, then you will need to watch for miniaturization to make sure that your regrowth isn't compromised and that it provides as much coverage as it should.
But know that your hair can and does regrow and shed at the same time.
So to answer the question posed, it's my opinion and experience that if you have true telogen effluvium (or even the chronic type that resolves relatively quickly,) you probably won't need a wig although it can feel that way.
Of course, some hair loss conditions are thought to be this type of hair loss at first and then they turn out to be something else.
But if you have a known trigger and are pretty sure that telogen effluvium is what you are dealing with, then it makes sense to wait and to try to make the most of what you have while supporting healthy regrowth and knowing that the shedding should eventually stop before a wig is necessary.