With over half of us experiencing hair loss in our lifetime, and many more experiencing hair breakage, it is so common to be anxious about brushing your hair. Watching strands collect in the brush can be distressing, especially if you're already experiencing hair thinning or fragility. This can lead to you avoiding brushing altogether, worried that the act itself is causing hair loss.
But here's the truth: brushing doesn't cause hair loss, but the wrong brush can worsen hair breakage. And with the right technique and the best products for hair breakage and loss, brushing can actually support healthier hair.
Understanding hair breakage and hair loss
If you are noticing more hair fall and breakage during and after brushing, the Tangle Teezer Extra Gentle Detangling Brush is your next must-have — it’s been designed for this exact concern.
But, before we get to how this innovative brush can help your hair health, let’s cover the science behind hair loss and breakage.
What is the hair growth cycle?
To understand hair loss and breakage, we need to talk about the hair growth cycle. Each hair follicle goes through three main phases.
- Anagen (growth phase): this lasts 2–7 years, depending on genetics. Here your hair is actively growing, and accounts for around 85-90% of your hair at any given time.
- Catagen (transitional phase): this phase lasts a few weeks, when growth ends and the hair prepares for the last phase.
- Telogen (resting/shedding phase): this phase lasts 3–4 months, before the hair naturally sheds and a new strand begins to grow.
It's completely normal then, to shed between 50–100 hairs a day as part of this natural cycle.
Hair loss itself occurs when the balance of these phases is disrupted; this could be due to stress, illness, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies, genetics or certain medical conditions.
What you need to know is that, once the hair growth cycle has been disrupted, there is nothing we can do to stop those telogen hairs from coming out eventually. In fact, brushing helps those hairs to shed and lets the new hairs grow through with fewer tangles.
But, when you are experiencing more hair shedding, brushing your hair can be really scary. If this is you, then choosing the best products for hair breakage and loss is essential to minimise friction and tension on the hair.
Using a gentle brush over a comb could be one solution to help your hair, like in Tom’s Extra Gentle Story…
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Hair Loss - Comb vs. Extra Gentle Brush
The difference between hair breakage and hair loss
What lots of people mistake for hair loss is actually hair breakage. Rather than your hair shedding from the root, the hair shaft snaps — causing more shedding, and making your hair look thinner and frizzier. This is where the wrong brush can make things much worse.
When your hair is damaged, the hair cuticle is weakened. The cuticle is the outermost layer of the hair shaft: a protective coating made of flat, overlapping cells. When hair is healthy, these cells lie flat and smooth, protecting the inner layers from damage.
However, when your hair is exposed to heat styling, bleaching, chemical treatments, or rough brushing, the cuticle becomes lifted, cracked, or worn away. This makes the hair weaker, more porous, and prone to snapping, particularly when brushing or when your hair is wet.
Breakage typically happens mid-shaft, or near the ends, and is caused by external damage; whereas true hair loss begins from the follicle. Understanding this difference is vital — because while we can’t always stop natural shedding, we can prevent breakage with the right care and gentle brushing.
Get the key differences at a glance with our Hair Loss vs Hair Breakage table…
Why gentle brushing is essential for hair and scalp health
Avoiding brushing might feel like a protective move, but it can actually be worse for your hair overall. Brushing is essential for:
- Distributing natural oils (sebum) from roots to ends, keeping hair moisturised and resilient.
- Detangling the hair strands, to prevent knots that can cause mechanical breakage later.
- Stimulating circulation in the scalp, which supports healthy follicle function.
- Removing shed hairs that would otherwise collect and tangle.
Brushing damaged or vulnerable hair needs a gentle, careful approach — and that starts with the right tool…
Gentle brushing with the Tangle Teezer Gentle Detangling Brush
The Tangle Teezer Extra Gentle Detangling Brush has been designed specifically for hair that’s fragile and prone to breakage.
The wider-spaced teeth at the edges reduce tension and pulling to minimise hair fall and breakage; while the denser teeth in the centre allow for gentle but effective detangling, smoothing the cuticle rather than lifting or catching it. The flexible two-tiered design helps glide through tangles without snagging, minimising the mechanical stress that causes hair snapping.
But don’t just listen to us. Learn more about gentle brushing with Hattie’s Extra Gentle Story…
- Gentle brushing with less friction with Extra Gentle Detangler
Protecting your hair health with Tangle Teezer
If you’re experiencing hair shedding, hair breakage, or are managing damaged hair, brushing doesn’t have to be a source of stress. With a deeper understanding of hair science (and the Extra Gentle Detangling Brush), you can turn brushing into an act of care to support healthier hair over time.
Discover more with our Damage & Breakage collection, or explore our Hair Thinning collection to find the right support for your hair concern.
Want more haircare tips and tricks? We think you’ll love… A Complete Guide to Taking Care of Hair in the Summer | Thinning Hair Causes, Treatments, Hairstyles and More | Everything You Need to Know About Hair Oils
Working with experts
At Tangle Teezer, we always work with the experts to give you the best help and advice. Kate Holden MIT is a registered clinical trichologist and a trusted expert in hair and scalp health. Through her clinics, Kate supports clients of all ages, hair types, and backgrounds through issues such as hair loss, breakage, scalp concerns, and changes in hair texture. She regularly collaborates with top hair care brands on product development and education, and her expertise has been featured in publications including USA Today, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan.
