Hair Loss

“My hair is not right, so my day will not be right.”

“I have a hair appointment I’m so excited!”

“What color highlights should I get?”

“I know I just got a perm but, can you add color?”

The above statements are the hair gossip buzz you hear on the street, grocery store, work, or just simple conversation amongst your family and friends. Our hair has always been very important part of our wardrobe and our self-esteem. I even remember when I was a kid, my mom would get us up early on Sunday mornings to get our hair pressed and curled to go with our Sunday-best outfit. I remember relaxers and curly perms starting at an early age. It was for convenience, easy access to get out the door - faster for those of big families, and some just because. 

Different styles have been trendy throughout the decades and the present is no exception, people are still finding new trends to hop on. Straight to curly, curly to straight without waiting the proper times to keep the hair healthy, wearing caps and wigs time after time, to years after years. Then suddenly, one day you look in the mirror and notice that your hair is doing something funny. Some say their hair may seems thinner, some people go in shock and just call it what it is: hair loss. 

Hair loss can be a scary term, often kept as if it were a big secret, but talking more openly about hair loss reveals the true culprit: all the stress we put our hair through jumping from trend to trend. See, the truth is we have been harming our hair for years, but we failed to acknowledge it. We failed to believe what the mirror was telling us. I get it, you only live once, right? You want to look your best for the prom, your first date, your wedding day. But tell me, do you enjoy the hairstyle for a season and endure hair loss for the rest of your life? We have been vain about our hair.  We all have gone through that season once or twice. 

By the time hair loss is acknowledged, statistics shows we have lost over 50% of our hair. Some might think “I’ll just cover it up with a highlight or balayage special” and some may think to themselves, “It’s not just a males who can get male pattern hair loss.” Even though the light bulb turns on, you become overthrown by fear of what others might think. Fear to speak, fear to move on the right path to wholeness and healing. Embarrassment becomes our face makeup as we grab that wig, cap, or scarf and walk the road of shame on a secret mission to fix it. But there is hope. Did you know that you have 2-7 years to get aggressive with a hair plan to get you on the right hair journey? It may seem unfair because you have had an eternity to be vain with your hair. “Vain.” Let’s stop right here and explore the dictionary definition below:

Vain  /vān/ 

Adjective

1. Having or showing an excessively high opinion of one’s appearance, abilities, or worth.  Their flattery made them vain.

   1. [attributive] producing no result, useless a vain attempt to tidy up the room.

   2. Having no making or likelihood or fulfillment. A vain boast. 

Do you see why I call it a hair epiphany? Where we once showed our hair so much attention to get a high appearance and noticed from others, but really it was a vain, effortless boast when you noticed something had changed.

You see our hair is not there as just a toy to play with or abuse, our hair serves a purpose. It talks to you daily, but, are you listening? Hair loss is not just a “man thing” it is universal. Everybody encounters it whether it be temporary, seasonally, or genetically and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. 

Hair is an appendage of the skin.

Hair - any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals.

Hmmmmm. Question -- what other information does your hair hold?

Look Up, Get up, Speak up

Look up, get up, speak up.

Peri Menopause, Menopause, and Post Menopause, can we cancel this season of life? Oh, how I wish I could tell you we could, but it comes like a thief in the night, stealing our youth, depleting our nutriments, altering our mood, and slowing down the cell turnover that maintains our youthful bodies. Must I say more? 

That once plentiful flow of youth has paused and is now slowly striving for a dormant rest.  But we must get up, look up, and SPEAK UP. It’s not just our steps and joints, memory, skin, but our hair that can be affected. Why? WHY? Yes, ma’am, I screamed, “My hair.” I thought I had it all under control. I achieved some life goals, children off to college and now, it’s time to live, right? I’m so laughing, but menopause comes knocking on my door. Do I answer? No way! But it keeps chipping away at you like a handsome prince until you pay attention. 

To be honest, menopause had actually set in a while ago. Did you know menopause comes in stages? They are perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. So guess what, I want to be on the other side of the platform standing up for my and health and my hair.

Only little snippets. From when I had my first child -- shift of hormones right -- hair grew, birth of a child, hair density change. Two years later, my hair was back, thick and beautiful. As time passes by our body changes and we are in a new season of life. So, what is menopause and what does it mean to our hair? Menopause is

Seek a trichologist in your area for more information.

Stress. How it affects our hair

Serious Trauma  Reproducing Erupting  Systematic Suddens
---- ERI

That’s my  Definition and theory for stress.  So many complications and hiccups all caused by stress.

Stress has no respective person, age , or gender.  It can, and it will cause havoc wherever it can, and it choses.  However, how much, and how long  it may be the trauma is devastating. Life brings about upsets, and changes that may affect our  stress levels.  Sometimes  we gain stress from things we enjoy which in return can be a trigger for some stress you thought you had under control.

Should we say Mr. Stress, Mrs. Stress, or Get away Stress…….yea we have to acknowledge it and take authority. STRESS TRUMPS ALL.  So know if you already have some underlying issues, stress will speed up your hair loss.

Extra Extra. Hair all about it!

Vitamin D a trendy topic, but it is a topic that is not discussed enough on how it affects our health and our hair. If you are experiencing any of the below symptoms please have your Vitamin D levels  checked. Your lab results will help your Trichologist  prepare a healthy hair regimen.

• Density change in hair

• Dry, brittle resilient hair

• Dry scalp

• Texture change in hair

• Hair Breakage

• Insomnia

• Mood Swings

• Telegen effluvium