Thinning or fine hair, oh the frustration, but there's hope!
Are you like me, do you hate the wind? Something so simple can completely ruin my hair style. It seems to somehow make my hair limp and appear greasy! Unfortunately, I'm also blessed with a large forehead and it's not nicely rounded so "no bangs" is NEVER an option!
Here are some pictures taken within the last 2yrs where it is obvious that I have a bit of a receding hairline happening on my left temple. This is where it stands out the most. I will quickly add that it's a hereditary trait for me, my mother, sister, aunt, grandmother ALL have the same issue.
Your hair can say a lot about you. Healthy, vibrant hair is a good indicator of a healthy diet. Specific conditions like dry/brittle hair or poor hair growth and loss of colour can actually determine nutritional deficiencies.And then of course there is simply the vanity aspect, just look at media and marketing, everyone has beautiful thick and typically long hair and if you don't, they have some product or another for you!
I am going to share with you everything I have done to help get my hair back. It's an ongoing process but I see promising improvement.
About the time those pictures were taken I was purchasing a home laser hair removal machine in a hair loss clinic (oh, the irony!) and the owner offered to take a picture of my scalp. He told me I had dormant follicles, perhaps I had experienced a period of stress and this was the result. It was good to know that there was still hope that. I purchased a spray from him (I'm going to guess it was something similar to Rogaine). I wasn't very diligent about using this product on a regular basis because it made my hair sticky and impossible to style, but if I had to comment on results, I would say it was effective. By the way, the name of the clinic is Freedom Hair Systems in North York (Toronto). And the laser hair removal worked too!
 |
The next thing I tried was a supplement called silicea, in my research I could not find anything negative about this product and it safely mixed with other supplements and vitamins. The first thing I noticed after a month were my nails! Previously, if I was lucky enough to actually grow nails, they were thin and would always break, after silicea they were insanely strong and never broke.
I happened to be in school for skin care at the time I was taking silicea, so I wasn't sure if the improvement in the appearance of my skin was from all the new treatments we were practicing on each other or the product (I think it had a lot to do with it).
Did it help my hair? My mother lives 4hrs away and we go months without seeing each other, when she saw me she asked right away and we went out and bought her some too!
I also suggest a product called femMED, also for hair, skin and nails (an entire line, doctor formulated for women). You take 2 pills a day for 30 days and you're done. You can repeat several months later, but neither one of these products are for continuous use.
Remember when you're trying something new and looking for results, it will take up to 6 months and possibly longer to see changes in your hair. The reason for this is because of the different phases of hair production. The active, growing stage is called anagen and can last anywhere from 2 to 6 years. This explains why some people can't grow their hair beyond a certain length, it means the anagen stage is shorter for them. In case you're curious, our body hair grows at a much shorter rate.
It's normal to lose 50-100 hairs a day.
Examples of:
Folate - leafy greens, spinach, edamame, broccoli, brussel sprouts, avocados, okra, artichoke, beans, romaine lettuce, soy nuts, meat livers etc.
Vit B6 - sunflower seeds, pistachios, fish (tuna, salmon, halibut), poultry, dried fruit, lean beef, bananas etc
B12- shellfish (clams, oysters), liver (beef), crustaceans (shrimp, crab, lobster), soy products, fortified cereal, cheese (swiss, reduced fat mozz), eggs etc
DHT is a male hormone and an enemy to hair follicles on the head.
We need to reduce the activity of the enzyme that activates testosterone into a more potent form, DHT. And to do this we need foods that contain iron, zinc and fatty acids.
Green tea provides hydration, prevents ailments and consists of vit A,C and E. Green/red peppers, strawberries and citrus foods are excellent for vit C (did you know that a red bell pepper has more vit C than an orange?). Spinach is great for iron as well as vit C & E and zinc! Nuts and seeds are good sources for fatty acids.
 | ||
| Frozen fruits/vegetables are a good idea to have on hand in case you run out of fresh or fresh isn't an option. |
I eat mostly organic, very little meat and avoid wheat when possibly, I'm not wheat sensitive, but with all the information available I made the decision to cut it out of my diet for the most part. Maybe in a future post I can explain why organic, why my decision for less meat and the reason for wheat free (mostly, not easy to do!).
Lastly, here are a few other things you can do.
-Buy a filter for your shower head, eliminate as many chemicals from the water as possible
-Use organic shampoo and conditioner
-Massage your scalp, encourage circulation and hair growth. I've read that peppermint and rosemary essential oils are good for hair loss. Look up techniques on youtube.com
-Do headstands/yoga poses, encourage blood flow. Hang your head over the bed or couch and massage at the same time!
-Drink kefir water/milk. I have talked about this pro-biotic before and for good reason. It's good bacterial for your gut (like yogurt but much better) to keep your immune system healthy, thus keeping everything else functioning at it's optimal capacity. I have never been as "regular" as I am now, I could do an entire post on that, maybe I will :)
So.....what does my hair look like now?
From this ....I must say, it was hard to find pictures of before, I didn't want my picture taken!
 | ||||
| Notice how thin and spaced out my bangs are. |
 |
| A lot more fullness. |
 |
| You can see how the temple area has filled in. |
So in conclusion I'd like to say, you can experience hair loss at any age because of many reasons, such as, age, diet, external environment (pollution/UV damage), smoking etc. Just remember,
you didn't get to the point you're at over night, so the problem isn't going to resolve itself in a day. Be patient, it will get better, in the very least you will put the hair loss to a stop. The more consistent you are about staying on track with whatever plan you put together from my experiences, the better the results will be and you will be happier too!
