Hair loss conditions do not discriminate. Despite how often we hear about male pattern baldness, women account for 40 percent of cases. Overall, 3 million Americans suffer from androgenetic alopecia, or hereditary hair loss, annually. According to the American Hair Loss Association, approximately 95 percent of men’s hair loss is due to male pattern baldness, […]
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welp, it’s with an immense amount of pleasure that i post an updated photo of my hair. last night, for the first time in over 15 months, i went out without a wig / hat / scarf / other random object covering my head. it felt pretty amazing (and a little scary) but mostly pretty amazing. it’s not a perfect head of hair, but it’s 100% mine and i’m not taking that for granted.
i wish i had a better idea of why my hair has decided to come back, but my hair refuses to tell me. i’ve been really good about taking the herbs my tcm doctor gave me (and using that damn sugar plum fairy hammer – name changed to protect its identity). i definitely think that could be part of it. i’ve also been using shampoo that a lovely woman in l.a. (who also has alopecia areata) kindly sent me, which might be helping too. but ultimately i think these results are simply due to the fact that auto-immune system disorders are fucking wack, have a mind of their own and are on their own path of destruction (and regeneration). there haven’t been any major changes to my diet, exercise or sleep habits. i think it’s just pure luck, and nature running its course. whatever it is, as long as my hair is growing, i’ll take it!
i do have some small-ish new spots, but nothing compared to the craziness of the photo from june of last year.
shout out to my amazing friends, family and strangers from the internet for making this whole sack of shit experience much easier and a lot less lonely. you’ve helped me regain my confidence, learn how to put on a wig like a pro, chill the fuck out and get over myself. this blog has been super helpful for me to track my progress, but it’s also been great as it’s allowed me to interact with people in situations similar to mine. strength in hairloss numbers!
the alopecia project.
alright people, it’s the moment most of you haven’t been waiting for. see attached photo for how much ass my hair is kicking. i do not care what colour it is. i do not care what texture it is. all i care is that it is my hair growing out of my scalp and it’s almost passable as a head of hair.
what have i done to earn / achieve this glorious hair? i’m not sure. this might sound horribly cynical, but i don’t think i can attribute it to anything i’ve done. i think this is just time passing and an icky disorder running its course.
i’m torn as to whether or not i should attach the less celebratory photos of how much hair i’ve lost on the right side of my head. i think for today, i’ll leave it at this positive post of recovery.
3 cheers for hair!
the alopecia project.
alopecia. a haiku:
you are so fucking
annoying, you little bitch
give me my hair back
welp, over a year ago when my bald spots started filling in with the whitest white hair i’ve ever seen in my life, 2% of me was disappointed, the rest of me was just happy to have hair that wanted to exist on my head (yay hair!). as the months went on and more of my hair started growing, i realized i had less white hair… was it that i had more dark hair growing in and it made the white hair less noticeable, or was it that the white hair started growing in brown? nobody knew. not that i asked many people. UNTIL ONE DAY i found this single hair, holding on for dear life to the tile in my shower.
(note: it’s hard to take a photo of a single strand of hair. just ask my cousin whom i forced to help me.)
the darker portion is the root end. magic! science! hair! there’s that mystery solved.
for the most part, my bald spots do start filling in with white hair, and eventually their darker pigmented friends join the hair growth party. i’ve got a few chunks of white hair that i actually think look kind of awesome. my hair dresser wanted to colour them, but my TCM doctor insists that my hair couldn’t take it. so here i am, wig-free (yay!) with a few bald spots (no biggie) and some streaks of the whitest white hair, that make me look a few years older, but that’s cool. i honestly don’t mind.
thanks, hair! i’m happy to have you back.
the alopecia project.
hi friends!
remember almost 8 months ago when i stopped wearing my wig? welp, i’m happy to announce that i’m still wig-free, although not bald spot free. i’ve got a few spots on the side of my head and one that’s starting on the top of my head (that’s probably noticeable to anyone taller than me, which is a lot of people).
i saw my TCM doctor about a month ago because i was getting nervous about my new spots. he reminded me that alopecia areata has no set path and unfortunately, there’s noway to anticipate what its next, sneaky move will be. he told me to keep using that awesome 7 star hammer (LOVE that thing!) and keep taking the herbs he prescribed for me. i told him i’d been thinking about getting a cortisone injection in the spot on the top of my head, and he fully supported it.
so now, for the second time in my life with alopecia areata (15 years now) i’ve gotten a cortisone injection. the first experience (years ago) was not great. this experience, was much better. i went to my specialist (who’s a dermatologist, i just call him a specialist because it sounds so special)… he also reminded me that alopecia areata is unpredictable, but that i’d never lose all my hair. he used the tiniest needles and basically circled the entire spot on the top of my head that’s losing hair. it barely hurt (compared to the first time which hurt a lot). i’ll go back in a few weeks for a follow up.
here are some things that had changed in my life, that might be responsible for the new bald spots:
i bought a house (a house that needed a lot of work, money and paint) so i might have been a tiny bit stressed. i started slacking on the treatment shampoo that a lovely woman in L.A. sent me (i have to sit with it on my head under a shower cap for 30 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes feels like a long time). i was also slacking with my vitamins (iron, biotin, magnesium bisglycinate). and was just generally busy, and didn’t feel like i had a whole lot of time for myself (because any free time i did have, went into painting my house). i hate the idea of blaming alopecia areata on stress, but maybe it is a cause of it.
so i’m back to using my treatment shampoo, taking my vitamins and have stopped painting my house (thanks to a pinched nerve).
i’ve decided to not document this hair loss with photos, because i’m trying to ignore my bald spots as much as possible (which is a very tough thing to do). in general, i’m actually in pretty good spirits about it and am really just appreciating being able to get up and not have to put on a wig.
thanks to everyone who have sent emails sharing their stories, offering support and asking questions. i’ve never met anyone in real life with alopecia areata, but i sure have met a lot of amazing people with alopecia areata on the internet.
The fancy scientific term for male pattern baldness is androgenetic alopecia. Here are a few facts and myths about men’s hair loss. Baldness occurs when hair follicles shrink to the point where the hair stops growing. When hair stops growing bald patches and thinning hairlines begin to appear.
Over 50 million men in the United States alone suffer from androgenetic alopecia. That covers about half of the male population in this country. Being insecure about hair loss is a common concern for men so if you are feeling bad about going bald you are not alone.
Most people assume that going bald is a problem that only older men face but statistics show that alopecia sometimes begins after puberty. By the age of thirty almost one third of the men who suffer from male pattern baldness will start losing their hair.
Blaming your mom’s side of the family for baldness is an old wives tale. Also, wearing hats does not directly cause hair loss. Baldness occurs when a hormone called dihydrotestosterone is present and causes the shrinkage of hair follicles. Other factors that cause alopecia are both maternal and paternal genetics and age.
One way to prevent going bald is to keep an eye on your scalp. If you notice thinning hair or a receding hairline it’s better to take action early. Have a good friend or family member occasionally inspect the top of your head or any other hard to see places. With today’s technology there are multiple viable options available for both hair loss prevention and hair replacement.
The best place to start if you’re suffering from hair loss is to contact a hair loss studio. To schedule a hair and scalp analysis, contact a local studio by clicking here.
Photo Credit: James Creegan Via Flickr Creative Commons
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a lot of people have a lot of opinions about gluten. perhaps not surprisingly, since i started blogging about my adventures with alopecia areata, a lot of people have told me i should try giving up gluten. due to my intense love of / addiction to gluten, i mostly laughed in these peoples faces (or to my computer if the comment was online). fast forward to two weeks ago when i started seeing a new naturopath. after an hour of her asking me questions about my health, my diet and my poop, she suggested that despite having no other obvious symptoms, i might actually have celiac disease. when she mentioned that celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder, the worlds largest, brightest lightbulb exploded above my head. my mom was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was a teen. i’ve always known this, but had no idea it was an auto-immune disorder and had never made the connection between her disease and my alopecia. my naturopath told me there’s a simple blood test that can determine whether or not someone has celiac disease. i did the blood work that day, stopped eating gluten that night and felt the most relief i’d felt in a long arse time that maybe somebody (whom i’d just met, no less) had solved all my alopecia problems.
after two weeks of not eating gluten (and awkwardly staring at people as they ate gluten), my test results came back negative. the good news is that i don’t have celiac disease! the bad news is that i still have alopecia areata.
my naturopath has suggested i try an anti-inflammatory diet consisting of lots of lean protein, veggies, fruits and beans, as well as exercising more and spazzing less. good luck, lindsay.
she’s also tweaked my vitamin regimen a bit. check it:
natural factors, zinc citrate 50mg / day
nutrasea hp (high concentrate fish oil), 2 tsp / day
vitamin d, 4000 iu / day
thorne, ferrasorb (iron) 2 / day
natural factors, vitamin c, 1000mg / day
natural factors, biotin 300mcg / day
plus
he shou wu (from my tcm practitioner).
i’ve actually decided to stay off gluten. i’ve never been a farty person (i swear) but my stomach is totally silent since i’ve stopped eating gluten. downside, no more embarrassing stomach sounds during meetings at work.
in other news, my dermatologist is a little worried that my bald spots seem to be increasing. my hair is growing back much quicker with the cortisone injections, but he recommended 10 days of oral steroids to stop this round of alopecia areata and get some new hair sprouts, sproutin’. i told him i’d have to think about it, as roids sound kind of terrifying (side effects include being extra spazzy and eating everything insight). i mentioned the roids to my naturopath, and much to my surprise she was actually quite supportive of it. i see my dermatologist again at the end of february… i’ll decide about the roids then based on how much hair has collected in my shower drain.
the alopecia project.
friends and strangers, gather ’round for a sweet little story about a girl with alopecia areata who wanted to confidently go out into the world, without wearing a wig. the story has pictures, calm down.
i’m a pro at rocking the female combover, unfortunately for me, one of my bald spots has gotten large enough that my female combover is coming up short. enter life changing product, sure thik. it’s an easy to use, lightweight powder that’s available in a bunch of shades (mine’s medium brown, thanks for asking). here’s how i use it: i sprinkle the powder over any bald-ish areas, gently pat it down, re-position my combover, give it a spritz of hairspray to hold it in place and voila! (see photo for voila moment).
there are similar products on the market, but i specifically chose this for a few reasons:
1. the ingredients are natural. there was nothing crazy sounding that i couldn’t pronounce.
2. my dermatologist gave it a big ol’ dermatologist’s thumbs up.
3. it’s canadian (yay canada!). this point won’t matter to you if you aren’t canadian. it might not even matter to you if you are canadian.
i’d highly recommend this to anyone looking to cover thinning / balding areas. i live in canada where it’s currently winter and sure thik definitely holds up against the frigid, snowy, windy elements. it’s made it so much easier for me to go out with confidence (and without a wig). it’s $ 30 for a bottle that lasts me for a couple of months. not a bad price to feel good about yourself.
in may, my dermatologist and i set out on a fun new alopecia areata adventure where we made my body allergic to a compound called squaric acid dibutylester (which from here forward i’ll just refer to as squaric acid because dibutylester is a ridiculous word to type more than once) by applying a concentrated solution of it to my arm. (see amazing bicep photo below). this photo does not do justice to how itchy this got. like, the itchiest itch i’ve ever itched. it took about a week for the reaction to peak and eventually the reaction had to be stopped with cortisone (yay, steroids!).
next step was a less concentrated formula that i applied to my bald spots once a week. on a scale of 1 to “the itchiest itch i’ve ever itched”, the formula that i apply on my scalp is probably a 6 or 7. the sensation lasts for about 36 hours, then it gets flaky, then at day 7 it looks like a “normal” bald spot again and it’s time to reapply. i’m so happy to say that it’s all worth it because typically after a few weeks of applying, i can start to see hair growth. (see amazing scalp photo below).
the idea behind squaric acid is that when applied to a bald spot, the allergic reaction earns the attention of your immune system as something to fight, rather than fighting with innocent hair follicles. i believe this treatment is also done with poison ivy, the downside being that poison ivy is a substance that you could run into in nature, whereas squaric acid is man-made and there’s very little risk of running into it on a hike and having an over the top allergic reaction. does that make sense? i’m not a doctor.
i’m still applying the squaric acid to my menagerie of bald spots every 7 days, and happily scratching away, eagerly waiting to meet my new hair sprouts.
yay, chemistry!
the alopecia project.
