hair loss

What Women Can Do To Stop Hair Loss – Dr. Judith Reichman

by Y on November 27, 2007

What Can Women Do To Stop Hair Loss - Dr. Judith ReichmanAn article came out today on MSNBC.com discussing women’s hair loss. I think the article provides a good overview of hair loss so I’m posting it here. The question asked to Today Show medical contributor, Dr. Judith Reichman was, “I’m in my early 40s and I’ve noticed sudden hair loss. I’m devastated. Why is this happening and what can I do?” (The original article can be found here) Here is her reply:

Women don’t expect to lose their hair (unlike men), so when it happens it’s extraordinarily traumatic. We normally have, on average, 100,000 hairs on our scalp. And as evinced by our changing hair lengths, roots and visits to our hairdressers, those hairs grow; in fact, 90 percent of our hair is actively growing at any given time. Hair is the second fastest growing tissue in our body after (I’d love for you to guess) … bone marrow. To keep its place on your head, your hair needs the right conditions. (Note I didn’t say conditioner.) You may find that you’re unexpectedly losing hair if you impose restrictions on hair growth or if your genes are such that continued hair growth is not in your destiny.

There’s a simple test you can do to help determine whether you are losing hair, it’s just thinning or you are damaging it by abusive hair products or pulling it too tight (which can occur with braiding). Pull on several strands of your hair — do they come out easily at the root? If so, it suggests that the hairs are indeed “shedding” and have gone into what we call an excess telogen phase.

To explain this telogen phenomenon, I must first go into hair physiology 101. As hair actively grows, it’s in the anagen phase. Each hair is connected to a hair shaft (or follicle), which remains in its secure position in the scalp for three to seven years before falling out and being replaced by a new follicle. Once the anagen phase naturally runs its course, there’s a two-week catagen phase, in which the hair follicle dies. The hair then goes into the telogen phase for the next three months, during which time it falls out. Normally we lose 100 telogen hairs a day, but in certain cases (and this sounds like your situation), many, if not most, of the hairs go into the telogen phase. This causes alopecia (balding). The condition of overwhelming telogen loss is termed telogen effluvium; the anagen to telogen ratio has gone from its normal 90:10 to 70:30 or less. If I do the math correctly, this means you lose at least 300 hairs a day, compared to 100 hairs. [click to continue…]

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Hair Loss At 16 – Larissa’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on November 25, 2007

Hair Loss At 16 - Larissa's Hair Loss StoryHi, I was happy to stumble across your site. I’ve been living with hair loss since I was 16 and have finally begun steps to healthfully and happily “deal” with it.

My mother, father and younger sister are all faced with baldness. It’s most definitely genetic for me. Through out high school I dealt with the rude remarks from other kids and never felt entirely pretty. I started on rogaine when I was 16 and saw very little response, finally stopping it at 18.

I then began wearing my hair pulled back in a pony tail, but as my hair continued to thin I had to cover my hair with an additional folded scarf or bandana to cover my hair on the top of my scalp where it was thinning the most. I was extremely self conscious and had trouble being in public with out my hair strategically covered. When I turned 25, just this last March, I decided that I needed a change and bought my first wig because I wanted to wear my hair down. I’m not trying to fool anyone, and there’s still a lot to get used, but it seems natural enough that I can pass as a woman with hair. It’s just hard considering I don’t know any other 25 year old women who wear wigs. I just needed to take control and I felt I deserved for once, as a young woman, to feel pretty and feminine.

No swimming, no wind in my hair, no warmth of the sun on my head and face.
Those are things I really miss and hope to one day gain the self confidence
to enjoy again. I’m contemplating shaving my head completely and hope to one
day feel confident enough to do that.

I look forward to reading your’s and others’ stories and hope to find strength in the knowledge that there are other young women out there dealing with the same issues.

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Dear Larissa,

Thank you so much for writing and sharing your story with everyone. You wrote that you hope to find strength in reading other women’s stories, I found strength in reading yours. I admire women who find the courage in themselves to move forward and take whatever steps necessary to make them feel good, like buying a wig, adding hair or shaving their head. I haven’t reached that point myself, but I feel like I’m getting closer…Baby steps.

Like you, I also didn’t have any success with Rogaine. Is your family supportive? Are you able to talk to them about your hair loss. It is hard for my family to truly understand my hair loss no matter how hard they may try because most of them have all their hair. It seems I was the only one left without a chair when the music stopped… or dare I say, left without my hair 🙂 But seriously, it’s hard and I hate feeling uncomfortable around my own family. My mother’s hair started to thin when she went through menopause, but she still has more hair than me, and while it bothers her she doesn’t understand what it is like to be to start losing your hair at 21 and devastation it causes.

For myself, suffering with hair loss has taken so much from me and left me feeling alone. Being able to communicate with other women and read their stories has helped me tremendously. I want more than anything to be able to put a period on this part of my life and move on and I want to help other women to be able to do the same. Part of that healing is reading the hair loss stories of other women, knowing we are not alone in this. So thank you again Larissa for sharing your story with us.

~Y

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Thanksgiving Hair Day Rant

by Y on November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving Hair Day RantYesterday was thanksgiving and as most people do, I got together with my family (brothers, sister in laws, and parents) for the day. Anytime occasions like this arise I always get a little tense and uncomfortable because my family knows what kind of hair I used to have and its impossible not to notice that 3/4 of it is gone. No one says anything but I can’t help but feel it is what they are thinking every time they see me. I no longer share my hair loss troubles with them or anyone else for that matter. Back when my hair loss first started years ago I did talk about it, but it seemed that they could never really understand or sympathize with me. I always ended up feeling worse after having any discussion about it so I just stopped talking about it altogether.

Anyways, I blow dried my hair in the morning and used some defrizzing gel and mousse for volume (ha yea right) to try and feel better about the whole thing. I finished by smoothing out all the fly away hairs with a flat iron. Honestly it didn’t look too bad, but it felt like feathers, actually less than feathers. I hate that more than anything… that I can’t feel my hair. I once told that to another person, and they looked at me like I was nuts, further fostering my notion that speaking to anyone about my hair loss was utterly pointless. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it through the day with my hair down, it was too distracting for me because I was constantly focused on it. I made it to my mother’s front door and then out came the clip, I clipped it up and there it stayed for the rest of Thanksgiving. As a matter of practicality I would have had to have clipped it up anyways because my hair sheds so easily, it would have definitely been an unwelcome ingredient in the stuffing. When I was very young I always hated how my hair looked pulled back, and I thought to myself thank goodness I have a lot of it to frame my face… now I am forced to wear it up all the time, really… how cruel can life be?

Even with all my hair worries I did enjoy Thanksgiving and spending time with my family. I was thankful for being alive, still having hair on my head, having a great family and having the ability to communicate with all of you about my hair loss life. I very much appreciate all the support you have given me and the support you have given to other women on this blog. It’s hard talking to just anyone about our hair loss, so it’s nice to write to women who truly understand. I hope you all had a really wonderful Thanksgiving!

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What Is Wrong With Me? – Jessica’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on November 21, 2007

What Is Wrong With Me? Jessica's Hair Loss StoryI am 24 and of fairly good health. Then on Febuary 14th 2007 I noticed a small bald spot on the top of my head about the size of a dime. I freaked out. I was in a new relationship and thought who could love me if I go bald? I spent months trying to figure out what was wrong with me….my spot growing every day. Within a few months the spot had grown to 2 inches across and was very noticible. I began using a topical steroid cream that caused my scalp to itch and burn but I still hoped it would work. After 6 weeks or so I stopped using it because i was seeing no results. Today is October 31st 2007 and my hair is growing back great on its own terms. It is nearly an inch long and covers the whole spot. I thought it was over. I have been so relieved about my hair growth. My doctor told me it probably wouldn’t happen again. Then I went to my mom’s shop to get a hair cut. She found another spot…. on the back of my head now. I have been tested for everything under the sun. I am at the end of my rope. Why can’t they find whats wrong with me? I got my final test results also today. I can’t believe I was actually hoping it was Lupus so I had an answer. My tests are normal. So here I sit a young woman 24, with yet another bald spot, no answers, no health insurance to get more tests, sick all the time and trying to cope with the everyday struggles of being a single mom. I just wish someone could tell me what is wrong with my body and treat the source instead of the symtoms. At least I have my son and my boyfriend who loves me even if I go totaly bald!

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Dear Jessica,

I am not a doctor, but it definitely sounds like alopecia areata. Did they diagnose you with that? You didn’t mention it in your email, and I’m really surprised that your doctor would be unfamiliar with that disorder. You did mention that you used a steriod cream and that is a pretty common treatment prescribed for this type of hair loss. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease in which the body mistakenly treats its hair follicles as foreign tissue and suppresses or stops hair growth. No one really knows how or why this develops. For some reason the immune system is inappropriately activated and attacks hair follicles. Alopecia areata often appears as well defined circular bald patches on the scalp. Many people will get just one or two patches, but for some the hair loss can be extensive. If only one spot appears on the scalp it is called alopecia areata monolocularis. If more than one area if affected it is called alopecia areata multilocularis. People that develop these patches often experiences spontaneous recovery within two years even without treatment. For some the condition is more persistent and they can have repeated cycles of hair loss regrowth. [click to continue…]

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Seasonique Birth Control Pill Commericals

by Y on November 19, 2007

Seasonique Birth Control Pill CommercialsLately I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials for the Seasonique birth control pill. The commercial advertises to young women that with this new pill you can have fewer periods, only 4 a year I believe. I just don’t know how that can be considered a good idea, that isn’t how we were made. Women were made to have periods. I am not necessarily trying to just single out Seasonique, but really all birth control pills commercials in general. Young girls watching these commercials are going to be lured by all the positive things they claim to provide… clearer skin, less bloat, less cramps, fewer periods, less moodiness. Who wouldn’t want to get on the pill? A lot of young and older women who get on the pill are going to experience hair loss, it is even listed as a side effect right in the pamphlet provided with the pill pack. Obviously everyone isn’t going to be affected, but I’ve heard countless stories, including my own, from women whose hair loss began by taking the pill, or getting off it. In my opinion it has ruined many women’s lives. The hair loss and the devastating effects it causes to us emotionally, last far longer than that commercial will air on TV. Thats the truth, but they don’t tell you that when you see the young girls smiling, jumping up and down on TV shouting to the world how wonderful being on the pill is. There really should be better education about the reality of birth control pills and hair loss. Since I doubt the pharmaceutical companies are going to add hair loss to their brief warning disclaimer at the the end of the commercials, the responsibility falls on the physicians who prescribe it. I’m not telling women not to take the pill, everyone is free to make their own decisions. For me, it was the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life. I wish I had a do over for that one.

Incidentally I typed in “seasonique and hair loss” into Google, and wouldn’t you know it, there are women complaining it caused their hair to fall out. Women who choose to take the pill need to make sure that it is at least a androgen index pill.

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Stacey’s Hair Loss Story – Searching For Answers

by Y on November 17, 2007

Stacey's Hair Loss Story - Searching For AnswersStacey had posted this story as comment on this post, but I felt it should be a post of it’s own so I’m reposting her story here:

Hi, I found this web site today. I came in tears when I read this. I have finally found people who are going through the same similar problems as I am in my life right now. I am a beginner on this Hair Loss Adventure. Let me tell you my Story and maybe since you all been through more doctor experience then I have. You might be able to give me some Advise and Tips. At least, I hope you will be willing to help. Ok, Here it goes. 🙂

I was diagnosed with PCOS in Nov.of 2005, As well with border line Diabetes. ( Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) I was 23 years old. I am now 25. Doctors don’t know much about PCOS. They are still doing research on it. I did some looking up on it. ( Let me tell you what it is for those who don’t know: It’s where you have tumors that grow in your ovaries and can block and prevent your eggs from going through your tubes to make you become pregnant. As well as your body produces too much androgen and Hormones and your body could produce too little Thyroid Hormone as well. Which can cause you to have many Symptoms such as ad normal periods, No periods, No pregnancy, Diabetes, Heart disease, Heart attacks, High blood pressure, Excess hair, Acne, Skin tags, Early Menopause, Cramps from your ovaries, unexplainable weight gain, trouble losing weight, and so on and so on. There’s so far No Cure, Some Doctors say losing 20 to 30 pounds to get rid of the belly fat that maybe causing PCOS Or taking birth controls to help control the symptoms. (Which means slow down the process.) People can’t catch this by people who have PCOS. Everybody with PCOS are different. So, You may not get all the above symptoms. Doctors told me that the only way is to control the symptoms is through birth control pills and if I wanted to try to become pregnant is to take Metformin, If I have trouble getting pregnant. At that time, My hair was starting to receive in the front and lightly shedding.

Now, I have very little bangs And my hair is thinning from my bangs all the way back on top. [click to continue…]

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Hair Biopsy Results – Diagnosed with Both Telogen Effluvium and Androgenetic Alopecia

by Y on November 15, 2007

Hair Biopsy Results _ Diagnosed With Telogen Effluvium and Androgenetic AlopeciaWell, in my situation, my family doctor first ordered blood work to look for an underying hair loss cause and found nothing. So she referred me to a dermatologist and on my own I sought out an endocrinologist because I have other symptoms. An endocrinologist is now looking into a possible underactive adrenal gland now because my cortisol level was borderline low. At the same time, my dermatologist did a biopsy of my scalp and found telogen effluvium AND androgenetic alopecia. SHOCK! No women in my family have this problem. So, I am wondering if you’ve heard of any possibility that this could be a false -positive for the androgenetic alopecia. Can anything else mimic alopecia? There’s no way to tell how much of my hair loss is due to TE or how much is due to AA, but as a result I have been advised to start using Rogaine for Women. I was told Men’s Rogaine is too strong while not helping any more than the women’s Rogaine. I also am going to use Nizoral 1%(doctor suggested) for dandruff that I already have and that may get worse with Rogaine. I just pray the Rogaine works. I don’t want to waste time and hair.

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Hi, welcome to the site! I’m not a doctor and I don’t have a lot of first hand experience with scalp biopsies so I’m hoping that perhaps Andrea or another women who has actually had this test performed, can help in providing greater insight. I’m also sending your question over to The American Hair Loss Association so that it can be answered by an actual physician because I want to make sure you get the right information. I wish I could answer your question about whether or not scalp biopsies can return results that are false positives for androgenetic alopecia. Logically I think that it is always possible in any test. I am curious to know if any other women have received the same results as you, being diagnosed with both telogen effluvium and androgenetic alopecia. If I was concerned about the resulting diagnosis I probably would consider having the test be redone by a different physician. Doctors are people too and they do make mistakes.

When I was first diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia back when I as 21/22 years of age I was told to take the Mens Rogaine and that it was perfectly safe and would be more effective. I know that a lot of doctors do tell their female patients to go ahead with the stronger dose as well, but you have to do what you feel comfortable with. You can always go for the higher strength Men’s Rogaine at a later time should you choose to do so. Also, a few women on this blog have been saying that the Rogaine Foam is easier to use and eliminates some of the problems that the regular Rogaine can sometimes cause, such as greasiness and itchiness, since it doesn’t have the propylene glycol. Although currently the Rogaine Foam is only available in the 5% minoxidil Men’s version. You can read the comment Gretchen wrote about it here.

I used to use Nizoral myself because I read somewhere that the active ingredient Ketoconazole actually had some mild anti-androgen properties that would help in hair loss. [click to continue…]

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Stress Related Hair Loss – Anna’s Hair Loss Success Story

by Y on November 12, 2007

Stress Related Hair Loss - Anna's Hair Loss Success StoryHi Everybody –

I just want to share my story with all of the women who experienced stress related hair loss. I started noticing that I was loosing my hair when I moved to a different state to pursue a completely new career. I was so stressed with my job, my new home, my family life that I ignored that problem. Until I went home (I’m originally from Poland) and my friend asked me what’s up with my hair and how come I don’t have as much hair as I used to have. I realized that I did have much less hair to play with and every time I combed/ washed or styled my do I was loosing tons of it.

I noticed hair everywhere. My car seat, my coat, everywhere. I panicked when I noticed bald spots on the side of my head. I started taking vitamins for hair, using the best available shampoos and conditioners but that didn’t help a bit. I was loosing more and more hair. I couldn’t wear my hair down, I had to wear ponytail styled carefully so the bald spots wouldn’t show. I went to a doctor (dermatologist) four times and she couldn’t help me. I mean she completely ignored my problem and told me to use Rogaine!! I was furious with her, because I already did my research I knew that my hair problem was stress related. It wasn’t genetic so Rogaine was a completely wrong solution. I tried couple other doctors, but they were as ignorant as the first one. All they could think of was Rogaine and maybe a hair transplant.

My hair problem lasted 3 years. Sometimes I would be loosing less sometimes more, but the fact was that I had less and less hair on my head. I went back home (Poland) and I went to a dermatologist there. She ran lots of tests on me (yes, we have universal health care, It didn’t cost me anything) and suggested that I should try aminexil treatment. I did. I’m on my fourth week of the treament and it works!!! My hair stopped falling out. I loose maybe 5 (!!) hair when I wash it. Before I would loose tons, sometimes a chunk the size of the golf ball (200-300 hair probably). [click to continue…]

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The Hair Loss Around Us – Reflection

by Y on November 11, 2007

The Hair Loss Around Us - ReflectionI was at the mall yesterday with my fiance and he pointed out a young girl that was working at a mall kiosk. She was very young, definitely still in high school, and she had severe female pattern hair loss. It appeared she had put some extensions in as well which were quite apparent due to the extreme thinning. She was interacting normally and didn’t really seem shy. I was thinking how hard it must be for her, to go to high school and work in a mall with a lot of young people and have to be going through something like hair loss. It was very hard on me to begin to lose my hair at a 21,but I can’t even imagine how hard it is to have to go through it while still in high school. Everyday I see so many women losing their hair, some are young girls and some are older. I’ll never forget a librarian I met back when I was 21 and in the infancy of my hair loss. I was of course at the library researching hair loss to try and help myself. She was sitting at a desk and I went up to ask her a question. Her part was so very thin and wide and I thought to myself “Oh my god, thank god my hair loss isn’t so bad,” but I was also worried I would be in her shoes very soon. From that point on I began to compare my hair loss to everyone around me. Her’s isn’t as bad as mine… mine isn’t as bad as hers etc etc. Sadly my answers are more toward the first statement nowadays. This was just recent though, mainly the last couple years. Before that, even though I was losing so much hair and suffering inside I was still able to fake it to the world. But I didn’t enjoy what I had along the way for that day, how could I when it continually fell out?

I look back and I wish I hadn’t missed out on so much because of my hair loss. The few people I had told about it along the way were always surprised to hear I even had hair loss. They didn’t know me before and know the thick thick hair I once had. My hair is so much thinner now, but I try and not let it get in my way anymore. After all, I’ve missed out on so much already. I’ll be 30 next year and realize I missed out on my entire 20’s. So why am I writing this? I want the women who are just losing their hair to know a couple things.

Hair loss is a journey. For some it is short and they luckily recover quickly, for others such as myself, we have to realize we have a long road ahead of us. The right side of the road is paved with sadness the left with happiness and in the middle there is acceptance. I spent 8 years walking on the right, always depressed, and never realizing I could move to the other side. I would try and get toward the middle but there always a strong force pulling me back. I am happy to report that more and more I stay to the middle of the road walking on acceptance and sometimes even making it along the border of happiness. Oddly enough this epiphany happened when I was at the thinnest stage of my hair loss. I don’t want other women to miss out on their lives. I know from the depths of my heart how hard and devastating hair loss is. I live it everyday. But at some point we have to appreciate what we have for that day and just do the best be can with what we have.

I still get sad about my hair loss and have my low days, I still run past mirrors to avoid looking at myself. [click to continue…]

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Disorders of Hair: Androgenetic Alopecia

by Y on November 8, 2007

Disorders of Hair: Androgenetic AlopeciaI came across this article today while doing some hair loss research on the internet, and I thought it covered a lot of questions that women have about hair loss. The article is about both male and female pattern hair loss and provides a good overview. It was published on medscape from ACP Medicine Online. Here it is:

David A. Whiting, M.D.

Androgenetic alopecia is the common type of nonscarring hair loss affecting the crown. It results from a genetically determined end-organ sensitivity to androgens. It is often referred to as common baldness, male-pattern alopecia, and female-pattern alopecia.

Epidemiology and Pathogenesis

Androgenetic alopecia affects at least 50% of men by 50 years of age and 50% of women by 60 years of age.6,7 Males have more androgen than females and therefore are usually affected earlier and more severely. Male-pattern alopecia often starts between 15 and 25 years of age. Male-pattern alopecia has two characteristic components, bitemporal recession and vertex balding [see Figure 1 — omitted], which in pronounced cases can progress to complete balding of the crown.6,7 Female-pattern alopecia is more likely to start between 25 and 30 years of age (or sometimes later, after menopause). It is characterized by an intact frontal hairline and an oval area of diffuse thinning over the crown [see Figure 2 — omitted]. Bitemporal recession in women is much less obvious than it typically is in men, or it can be nonexistent. In general, androgenetic alopecia in women progresses to mild, moderate, or severe thinning but not to complete baldness. The best predictor of outcome is the degree of progression in affected relatives.

Androgenetic alopecia is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable penetrance. Susceptible hairs on the crown are predisposed to miniaturize under the influence of androgens, notably dihydrotestosterone. In both sexes, miniaturization results from a shortening of the anagen cycle, from years to months or weeks. Miniaturized hairs are characterized by reduced length and diameter; this accounts for the appearance of hair loss.8 Androgenetic alopecia largely spares the back and sides of the scalp.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia is usually obvious from the clinical pattern of hair loss from the top of the head.9 In some men, a female pattern of alopecia (see above) causes diagnostic confusion but has no other significance. In women, a male pattern of alopecia (i.e., bitemporal recession and vertex balding) occurring with menstrual irregularities, acne, hirsutism, and a deep voice is significant. The virilism indicates significant hyperandrogenism, the cause of which must be identified and treated [see 3:IV The Adrenal — omitted].

Scalp biopsies are rarely necessary to diagnose androgenetic alopecia. Biopsies cut horizontally are sometimes useful, however, in differentiating female-pattern alopecia from chronic telogen effluvium (see below). [click to continue…]

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