29 yrs! Alopecia From Profes. Coloring

Hi Shelly -

I had to write you because your story sounds SO much like what I went through years ago.  I went to salons for years, and they pulled my hair HARD, and I would leave with handfuls of hair falling out weeks afterward.  This all started at about age 25.  I was getting my hair highlighted, so no color actually touched my scalp, so I didn't think the bleach they used could have been the culprit of hairloss.  I went to hairloss.com, and I corresponded with a VERY nice lady from the U.K. who suffered from hairloss for years, and she did a lot of research on the subject.  She was actually able to grow her hair back.

I filled out a questionnaire she had (she wasn't a doctor, dermatologist, endicrinologist, etc. but she knew more about hairloss than any of the above I went to), and she said I most likely had stress and dietary induced hairloss.  My hairloss was diffuse, I had an all-over thinning, with brittle hair that broke off above my shoulders.  I couldn't do ANYTHING with it because it was so thin.  If I tried to put it up in a ponytail, it would be like 10 strands of hair in a ponytail.   I hairsprayed it to death just so it had a little bit of volume.  In the morning, I would wash it, and it would be air-dried within 45 minutes, then I would curl it and go to work.  I was afraid of being caught in the wind because I would be afraid my scalp would show.

I did so much research on this subject for years, so I wanted to share just a little bit of what I learned about my own hairloss.  I can only tell you what I learned and what helped me, as there are SO many causes of hairloss, and I truly believe that doctors have not a clue about many of them.  Firstly, a biopsy needs to be done to determine the reason behind long-term hairloss, and I would say an Endicrinologist or a dermatologist specializing in hairloss should do it.  When I went to several doctors, derm.'s, and an Endicrinologist, they all had conflicting diagnoses.  One said I had Androgenetic Alopecia, another said I had Telogen Effluvium, another said it was stress related, and all did labwork (blood tests) and everything came back normal that would be hairloss related.  Thyroid problems, hormonal imblances, Alopecia's (androgenetic, etc.) and nutritional deficiencies were all ruled out.  It started when I was 25, and this had been going on for 4 years.  When I turned 30, it was getting worse and I knew that I had to do SOMETHING or I would be bald eventually (only because the hairs kept falling and my actual hairs were becoming thinner and shorter).

There is another curious problem that accompanies many people's hairloss - scalp burning.  Every time I would have a severe bout of hairloss, I would suffer from terrible scalp burning.  The doctors only gave me topical steroid lotions ($100 a bottle) and told me to buy over the counter shampoos and conditioners.  I went to a website called hairbiology.com and skinbio.com and purchased several products -- one was Folligen Spray, I started using Minoxidil, I bought hair vitamins and used Hair Energizer products with Jojoba Oil.  I also de-stressed my life as much as possible.  I started eating fresh fish and tuna, dark green leafy veggies, increased my protein intake with lean protein shakes, whey, skim milk, yogurt, etc. (this is already such a long post I didn't want to add too much more, but I had a particular diet I followed that consisted of 5-6 meals a day with protein in each one). 

DHT (dihydrotestosterone) seems to be one of the reasons for hairloss, experts say, so I bought a shampoo that supposedly rids the scalp of this (Hair Energizer - I now use Revivogen and haven't had any hairloss in 8+ years). 

I have to say that all of this is my own experience and I can't tell you what will or what won't work for you, but I can offer you support if you need it.  I DO understand what you're going through, and no one who hasn't experienced it can understand what it feels like to be there.  I was able to find a way to grow my hair back and then some, although I do use a different shampoo than I used to use and I take hair vitamins and aminos. 

If you have ruled out thyroid disorders and everything stated above, I would be careful about your hair until it becomes stronger.  Being pregnant, I would imagine you would have to be careful what you put on your scalp so it doesn't absorb as well.  I truly think that eating very cleanly, finding a very specialized endicrinologist if you need to and relaxing (that is good for the baby, too :) ), will be the most important factors right now.  You can create an environment for your scalp that is free of sebum that inhibits hair growth in some individuals because of the excess DHT from what I've heard, use a botanical (no chemical) products and if your hair is strong enough, you could use a vegetable based colorant if this is okay with your doctor.  I really hate to give any advice if it's not the right advice, so I can only relay my own experience, and since you are pregnant, this presents a whole new set of circumstances.

I will say this -- keep optimistic!  I never thought I would grow my hair back, and now it's down my back and the top of my scalp (all over my head) has so much hair, when I part my hair, the part is barely visible.  Personally, I just don't think that hairloss is a normal process, and can be reversed if you persevere.  I don't want to give false information like I said, but I want to make sure that you don't feel like there is no hope, because I KNOW there is! 

I know I wrote a novel (sorry about that!), and I left out so much of what I did, but if you ever have any questions or just need someone to talk to, just let me know, k?  Take care!

Kris

I thought I would share my experiences on things that helped me regrow my hair. I'm male and 24, I'm a big time pretty boy when I started losing my hair it was very upsetting.  It started after I used a shampoo from a solon (sounds like there bad news).  Well I lost 50 % of my hair and my hair was very thin.  Like you it sped up hereditary hair loss, I first thought finding a good shampoo would fix the problem, but that didn't work. This all started when I was 19 by the way. Then I decided to look online to see how to properly wash my hair to see if this was causing the problem. From what I found, I was washing my hair all wrong. I found I had to wet my hair then use a pea size ammount of shampoo (because I have short hair) then massage the shampoo gently on my scalp because thats what your washing, is your scalp.  Then rinse with cold water or something quite cold.  Very gently pat your hair with a towel and let air dry.  I condition once a week and wash my hair every day because fine hair gets greasy so easy.  I started to see a difference so I continued that.  It didn't help to much in the crown area where it stayed thin.

I noticed my hairline on my left side was really bad (to where I would brushed my hair down and no hair even covered my forehead in that one spot) compared to my right.  I thought a bit, and when I was sleeping at night I noticed I slept on my left side.  I came up with a method so I didn't sleep on my hairline which helped alot on hair growth!  Surprising that's a big factor why guys lose alot of hair on there hairline. 

Then I decided to go on a good diet that would help my hair grow healthier.  The lady above covered nicely what you need for a good hair diet.  I also tried to make everything in my life less stressful. At this time my hairline was getting better and the thinning in my crown area thinkened some.

The two things I think helped alot was massaging my scalp 8 minutes a day while my hair was dry. Finding a shampoo that suited me (which is fructis).  Massaging my scalp  helped increase the blood flow in my scalp and you massage just like you would if you were washing your hair.  This really thickened my hair, my crown area now is almost completely better and my hairline is great. Poeple said I'd never beable to reverse hair loss and I just thought I would show it is very much possible. 

I hope you get results soon

I can tell you that diet plays a major role in female hairloss...

My mother crash diets all the time for a few weeks here and a few weeks there...and it always made her hair thin...which really became evident after menopause...

Something I have observed in myself and many other bald(ing) guys is that smoking really contributes towards hair loss...my hair always feels more brittle or frayed or whatever the word is i'm looking for, after a good hard weekend of self-abuse (drinking, smoking, etc)

Just my 2 cents :)