The record beside the chart
A retest is read against the first report and against a written list
Each mineral reading averages 2 to 3 months of growth, and a retest follows at 3 to 5 months. A dated record of symptoms fills in the time the averages cannot separate.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL) defines each hair mineral reading as an average rate of accumulation over a 2 to 3 month period. Eileen's retest cadence is every 3 to 5 months, so each report averages most of the interval since the last one. A dated written record places each symptom change inside that 2 to 3 month window.
ARL's retest material records three cases where the test and the person move differently. Case A, feeling better while the test looks worse: decompensation, where toxic metals that propped up the oxidation rate start leaving, and higher toxic metals usually mean active elimination. Case B, no change in the test while feeling better: the mineral chemistry has not yet caught up with a diet change, a subtle ratio shift was overlooked, or the sample missed the most recent growth. Case C, the test looking better while symptoms feel worse: a retracing reaction, forgotten original symptoms, or activity-level inflation. ARL states that test results can lag symptom changes, and at times can anticipate them. Reading a retest in any of those three cases depends on information the chart does not carry.
ARL's stated practice is to keep a written record of all symptoms and conditions at the beginning. When a person later reports no improvement, the list is read back item by item, and ARL records that often half are gone and forgotten. The list is ARL's stated check for case C above, where the report improves and symptoms seem worse.
Useful entries are specific enough to compare 3 to 5 months later: sleep hours and waking times, energy by time of day, digestion, skin, joint pain by location, cravings, and body temperature. Each entry carries a date, because a symptom that resolved in week 3 and one that resolved in week 14 fall in different hair-growth windows.
ARL lists activity-level inflation under case C, the test better while the person feels worse: a fatigued person who gains energy spends it immediately on more activity, so the gain is not felt. Its recommended check asks about naps, activity and stamina, which measure energy, rather than whether the person feels better.
So the record carries counts: naps per week, hours worked, walking minutes, exercise sessions, and the time of the afternoon energy drop.
ARL describes temporary reactions during a mineral program as retracing or elimination reactions. A copper elimination generally lasts a day or two, and in some cases a month or more. One of its three screening questions is whether the person felt better just before the reaction, because a reaction of this kind requires energy. The record answers that question with a date for each symptom.
ARL links particular reactions to particular metals, which lets the next report be read against them. Copper: migraine-type headaches, skin eruptions, fatigue, free-floating anxiety. Cadmium: pain in the kidney area, joint pain, metallic taste. Mercury: metallic taste, kidney-area pain, fatigue. Lead: bone and joint pain, fatigue. Nickel: kidney-area pain and lung-related symptoms. Aluminum: few symptoms.
ARL also records that reactions often occur on vacation, when rest and diet improve, and that in women copper rises premenstrually with estrogen. Both belong in the record next to the reaction date, with the day of the menstrual cycle noted for copper.
Trace Elements, Inc. asks for about 250 mg of scalp hair, cut at the scalp, using no more than 1.5 inches (4 cm). Its demonstration is a 22-inch strand cut into 14 segments: calcium read 27 mg% at the scalp and over 200 mg% at the far end. ARL adds that a sample cut too far from the scalp will not show recent changes, which is one reason a retest can show no change.
Trace Elements asks that shampoos, conditioners and dyes be noted on the request form. A shampoo formulated with selenium sulfide is the one product in its reviewed studies found to seriously contaminate hair, so a change of shampoo between tests belongs in the record. So does any change in diet, supplements, water source, sauna use and heavy sweating. The sample collection page gives the full steps.
ARL records that hidden copper is often revealed on the second or third hair test, and that retesting for at least a year or two is needed to uncover deeper, hidden toxic metals. Lead is recorded as stored in at least five tissue reservoirs that can release a year apart. A record kept across 4 or more retests is what lets a lead or copper rise be matched to the reactions and changes around it.
For a mineral that barely moved between tests, the record is where ARL's recorded explanations are checked: hair sampled beyond the 1.5-inch scalp length, or a diet or lifestyle change not yet reflected in the mineral chemistry.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It does not diagnose, it does not establish a cause, and it does not measure what is circulating in blood today. Each mineral reading reflects roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it. Anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider.
I ask for the baseline list before the first sample is cut, and I read it back at every retest, item by item. The list and the report are read together.
For energy I ask for numbers: naps per week, hours on the feet, the time of the afternoon drop. Reactions come with a date and a duration, so I can set them beside the metals that moved on the next report.
Eileen's cadence is every 3 to 5 months. Each mineral reading averages about 2 to 3 months of hair growth, so a sooner retest largely re-measures the same window.
A dated list of every symptom and condition. ARL records that when this list is read back at a retest, often half the items are gone and forgotten.
ARL lists three reasons: a retracing reaction, forgotten original complaints, and activity-level inflation, where new energy is spent on more activity. A written baseline list and counts of naps, activity and stamina show the change.
Trace Elements asks for shampoos, conditioners and dyes on the request form, and a selenium sulfide shampoo is the one product in its reviewed studies found to seriously contaminate hair.
A hair tissue mineral analysis retested every 3 to 5 months, read beside a dated written record, shows which mineral changes line up with which changes in the person.
Published 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-08-30
By Eileen Durfee — Practitioner, NBS (Nutritional Balancing Science), NASM-CPT; wellness educator, inventor and author.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test and is not diagnostic; anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
