"I was losing so much hair in the shower that I started to panic"

Interview with Jess (37), Sydney About unexpected hair loss, a lot of worry and the simple change that turned it around

How did it start? I noticed it gradually at first. More hair than usual on my brush, a bit more in the drain after showering. I told myself it was seasonal shedding or stress and tried not to think about it. But over a few months it became hard to ignore. I could see my ponytail getting thinner and my part looking wider. I was finding hair on my pillow, on my clothes and all over the bathroom floor. It was genuinely starting to scare me.

Did you see a doctor? Yes, fairly quickly because I was worried it was something serious. I had blood tests done to check my thyroid, my iron levels and my hormones. Everything came back normal. My GP told me it was likely stress related and suggested I try not to worry about it, which felt like an impossible thing to say when I was watching my hair thin in real time. I felt dismissed and didn't really know where to go from there.

How did water come into the picture? I was in a Facebook group for women dealing with hair loss and someone posted about hard water being a contributing factor. I had never heard of this before. Apparently the mineral buildup from hard water can coat the hair shaft, weaken it over time and clog the follicles in a way that affects growth. Sydney has moderately hard water and I had been showering in it every day without ever thinking about it. Something about that clicked for me.

Were you hopeful or skeptical? Honestly somewhere in between. I had been hoping for a clear answer for months and kept hitting dead ends, so I was protective of my expectations. But I also felt like I had nothing to lose by trying something simple and low risk. If it did nothing I would just move on and keep looking for answers.

Why did you choose Drople? I wanted something that was easy to use and didn't require me to overhaul my whole bathroom. Drople fit straight onto my existing shower and the filter replacement every 90 days meant I didn't have to think about maintenance very often. It also arrived quickly which mattered to me because I was anxious to try something.

What did you notice first? The shedding slowed down before anything else changed. About three weeks in I realised I was no longer dreading washing my hair because the amount coming out had reduced noticeably. That alone was a huge relief. My hair also started feeling less brittle and easier to detangle, which had been a problem for a while without me really connecting it to anything specific.

How long before you saw a real difference? About two months in my ponytail started feeling thicker again. Not dramatically, but enough that I noticed and my partner noticed without me pointing it out. My hair felt softer overall and had more movement to it. I had got so used to it feeling dry and straw-like that I had forgotten what it used to feel like.

Did anything else change during that time? I was careful about that. I didn't want to change my shampoo or start taking supplements at the same time because I wanted to know what was actually making the difference. The only thing I changed was the showerhead. I kept everything else exactly the same so that if I saw improvement I could actually trust it.

How are things now? So much better. The excessive shedding has stopped and my hair has regained a lot of its thickness and softness. I still have some fine hair around my temples that is growing back slowly but the overall change has been significant. More than anything the anxiety around it has gone, and that has been the biggest relief of all.

What would you say to other women going through the same thing? Get your levels checked first because it is always worth ruling out a medical cause. But if everything comes back normal and you are still losing more hair than feels right, look at your water. It is one of those things that nobody ever mentions and it is not on any standard checklist at the doctor. I wish someone had told me earlier because it would have saved me months of worry.