What are the ways you can distinguish temporary hair loss (telogen) from a more permanent hair loss, such as due to genetics? I am in the process of losing lots of hair and there is a bulb at the end of all hairs I lose. I’ve had a baby a year ago and since gone on birth control and back off of it, all in hopes of the shedding ending. Are there ways of knowing the shedding may hopefully end someday?

I would do a pull test, which includes gently pulling the hair and counting the hairs that comes out with a white bulb on the bottom. If you estimate a percentage, anything over 10% of the hairs being pulled could be suggestive of telogen effluvium, which is often temporary in women postpartum. See:

• Family Practice Notebook - Hair Pull Test
• Bernstein Medical - The Diagnosis of Hair Loss in Women

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