Hair Loss Tips - Master Your Hair

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Hindsight is 20/20...Hair Loss Tips

You know when you take the time to reflect on the choices you've made...? Well...This blog post is a deep-dive into the top 5 things I wish I would’ve realized sooner after being diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. Hindsight is 20/20 so I figured sharing some of this might help someone else out there going through their own hair loss journey. This post covers everything from buying my first hair topper to my experimentation with various hair loss treatments, creating my blog, and lots of weird stuff in between.

1. Hair Loss Tips: Be kind to yourself...

Hair. It’s been a journey…Let me tell you…

Today I can say I’m finally in a pretty good space emotionally with my hair loss. But there have been a ton of dark days.

I’ve talked about the psychological effects of hair loss and some tools I’ve used for better days HERE.

One thing I wish I would’ve realized earlier on in my hair loss journey was that even with hair loss I am still loveable. I am still worthy of love.

Even now it’s difficult to even type that without me getting teary eyed. Waw Waw Waw…

I think regularly practicing a form of mediation called metta meditation has been a huge contributor to that feeling of self-love.

What is it and why do I like it?

Metta meditation is a loving-kindness meditation that I first learned about while using the Waking Up meditation app by Sam Harris. You can also find some great guided metta meditation on youtube.

This kind of meditation will use a mantra like “May I be safe, may I be peaceful, may I be happy etc.” During the meditation I typically choose two people to focus on. One is usually someone I’m very close with who I hold dear to my heart. Maybe another is a person where communication isn’t going as smoothly as I’d like and the last person I focus on during the meditation is myself.

I imagine myself seated in a room saying the mantra I've bolded above to the child version of me.

I’ve noticed that I’m very protective of this child version of myself. I do want little Riley to be happy. I do want little Riley to feel loved. If you've never tried something like this I encourage you to explore and check it out. By the end of the meditation I feel so much lighter.

In my other posts I’ve discussed how hair loss has made me feel so much shame. I’ve had days where I couldn’t bare to look at myself in the mirror. I felt so angry… like this shouldn’t be happening to me. Brutal.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the work of Dr. Brene Brown, but she has some great insights on shame.

I really encourage you to check out her Ted talks. In one of them Brown discussed how empathy is the antidote for shame. She explained how shame needs three things to grow exponentially in our lives: secrecy, silence, and judgement.

I think that keeping quiet about my hair loss had really helped my shame grow over the years. I was doing all three of those things she mentioned. But talking about it through starting this blog or in hair loss support groups (discussed below) and receiving empathy has been a total game changer.

One of the other ways I’ve been able to be kinder to myself and even gain back some confidence has been by being active in hair loss support groups.

I’ve talked about these groups in my blog post linked HERE but I encourage you to do your own research as well. Check out reddit, check out facebook…

Talking with these women has helped me realize that I’m not alone. I’ve been there for others to offer support and other women have been there for me. It’s a community and it’s nice to feel part of something.

2. Hair Loss Tips: Dive in. Start early on your treatment plan.

I was told at the time of my diagnosis that this was a progressive condition and the sooner I started a treatment regimen the better chances I had at seeing regrowth. There's a window of time you're working with when treating the hair follicle.

At that time (which was about 10 years ago) I chose to try minoxidil. But after reading about it in more detail I was soooo nervous about the “dread shed.” I felt like I wanted to take all the information the doctor had given me and lock it in a drawer and not look at it ever again.

How could this be my reality? I wasn’t ready to accept it.

So I did nothing for a while. But doing nothing doesn't solve anything. And every shower served as a reminder that something was wrong. I would always lose so many strands.

Also…My shower was always clogged with hair.. I bought this amazon drain cleaner to help grab the hair. I've linked the one I use below. I swear I’d pull out so much hair from my drain that I could literally make a wig… Are you gagging? Sorry. lol

The point is… I eventually decided to dive in. I started the treatment. Bring on the dread shed… Looking back I wish I would’ve started treating my hair loss earlier instead of avoiding the situation all together.

3. Hair Loss Tips: Be patient with yourself and with your hair.

After a few years of just using minoxidil I started to develop contact dermatitis on my scalp which caused it to be red, itchy, and inflamed. My dermatologist recommended I stop using minoxidil and give my scalp a break. My mom would always joke with me.. “You’re just a sensitive girl with a sensitive scalp.” Too true.

So I stopped using minoxidil and just kind of gave up. I figured… Well that’s a rap. What else can I do?

Of course, there were also oral treatment options available but at the time I wasn’t interested in taking those. (But more power to you if you are. It just wasn’t a fit for me.)

At this point in my hair loss journey I remember feeling totally deflated. I had completely stopped treating my hair loss.

Looking back I wish I had been more proactive during this time and searched for alternative treatments sooner. If you’re interested in other hair loss treatments check out some of my blog posts HERE.

It took time but I finally got back on the horse. I discovered PRP and decided I would move forward with this. I also began using Lipogaine which is a minoxidil formulation that’s developed for sensitive scalps…

And way later I learned about other treatments like microneedling, scalp massage, and ketoconazole shampoo. You can find more about some of the treatments I use in my own regimen HERE.

Hair regrowth takes time and it takes consistent effort. It can be so frustrating when you are putting effort in and not seeing results.

But continue to have an open dialogue with your doctor about your treatment regimen. If something has been tried for a significant amount of time without results have the discussion with your doctor about alternative treatments. Keep in mind that not everyone is a responder to minoxidil.

4. Hair Loss Tips: Get the topper

types of hair extensions androgenic alopecia

I’d always have major anxiety about having to do my hair if I was going to be going out on the town…

When wearing my hair down I usually clip in my extensions for increased fullness. I’ll also spend time concealing my hair loss by adding hair fibers and root touch up. You can read my posts where I detail how I use products for concealing hair loss HERE.

But throughout the night I'll be wondering… Is everything covered up? Are these hair fibers still on my scalp or are they chillin on my forehead? And sometimes you just want to do something faster with your hair that requires less effort but still looks great.

Initially I was so worried about buying a hair topper. Don’t get me wrong I wanted one… I had saved up for the purchase (If you need help with budgeting a great blog to check out is Making Sense of Cents).

I would spend hours on youtube watching how women would blend the hair toppers with their hairline.. I learned how to measure my head for sizing, what density to look for, the differences between a silk base top and a monofilament base top, along with the pros and cons of each… But I was too afraid to make the purchase.

It just seemed like there was this stigma around it… Okay, so you’re going to wear a toupee? It felt like with the purchase I’d be admitting I was balding… and that felt…wrong? I don't know how else to explain it. I just didn’t feel good about it.

Then I worried about the wind… What if I was out and it was windy and it lifted off from my head? The horror! But I didn’t have any trips planned to Chicago (the windy city)….

And after an especially bad hair day.... I checked myself… What are you waiting for? So I decided to go for it.

WOW! Are you kidding me? What a freakin game changer. And you can’t tell it’s not my bio hair. No one can tell!

I’ve purchased a few now from serenity wigs and toppers. I also just purchased one from Uniwigs that I’ll review in a subsequent post.

But it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my confidence on this hair loss journey. Looking back I wish I would’ve made the purchase sooner. All I do is clip this thing in.. add a few curls, and I’m out the door.

5. Hair Loss Tips: Live

The news has been so awful lately…And I think it’s been a reminder of how precious our time is while we’re here. I know that I still have so much I want to experience. But for a long time, I would remove myself from social situations because of my insecurities around hair loss. I wouldn’t date. I wouldn’t say yes to overnight trips with friends. (This prompted me to write a whole blog post about tips for concealing hair loss while camping because it was such a stressor for me… You can read the post HERE).

I would even stress out about going to bachelorette parties if they would include women who didn’t know about my hair loss. Sometimes you just don’t want to have to explain androgenic alopecia to someone…

But when I really think about my life and what I want it to be…I know I want the confidence to go on these adventures, I want to make these memories, and I want to strengthen my friendships and even make some new ones.

Looking back I wish I has said “yes” more…

I can say that the scenarios I made up in my head about how certain people would react to my hair loss or how certain trips would go because of my hair loss were way worse than what played out. You can read about some of my experiences dating with hair loss HERE.

Listen.. We know hair loss sucks. But in my experience… and I’ve said this in many of my other blog posts…People have their own stuff that they’re focusing on. They really aren’t paying a ton of attention to what was going on with my scalp. People just aren’t scanning my hairline to make sure I'm not wearing a hair topper.

It just wasn’t on their to do list lol…And everyone is fighting their own battle. No one's life is perfect and I think it's been important for me to keep that perspective.

Final thoughts…

I’m not saying I have it all figured out. I still have hard days. I still struggle. But I wrote this post to share what I wish I had known sooner. I hope some of this was valuable to you. Thank you for being here with me and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a post!

Hindsight is 20/20...Hair Loss Tips

1. Hair Loss Tips: Be kind to yourself...

Hair. It’s been a journey…Let me tell you…

Today I can say I’m finally in a pretty good space emotionally with my hair loss. But there have been a ton of dark days.

I’ve talked about the psychological effects of hair loss and some tools I’ve used for better days HERE.

One thing I wish I would’ve realized earlier on in my hair loss journey was that even with hair loss I am still loveable. I am still worthy of love.

Even now it’s difficult to even type that without me getting teary eyed. Waw Waw Waw…

I think regularly practicing a form of mediation called metta meditation has been a huge contributor to that feeling of self-love.

What is it and why do I like it?

Metta meditation is a loving-kindness meditation that I first learned about while using the Waking Up meditation app by Sam Harris. You can also find some great guided metta meditation on youtube.

I imagine myself seated in a room saying the mantra I've bolded above to the child version of me.

I’ve noticed that I’m very protective of this child version of myself. I do want little Riley to be happy. I do want little Riley to feel loved. If you've never tried something like this I encourage you to explore and check it out. By the end of the meditation I feel so much lighter.

In my other posts I’ve discussed how hair loss has made me feel so much shame. I’ve had days where I couldn’t bare to look at myself in the mirror. I felt so angry… like this shouldn’t be happening to me. Brutal.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the work of Dr. Brene Brown, but she has some great insights on shame.

I really encourage you to check out her Ted talks. In one of them Brown discussed how empathy is the antidote for shame. She explained how shame needs three things to grow exponentially in our lives: secrecy, silence, and judgement.

I think that keeping quiet about my hair loss had really helped my shame grow over the years. I was doing all three of those things she mentioned. But talking about it through starting this blog or in hair loss support groups (discussed below) and receiving empathy has been a total game changer.

One of the other ways I’ve been able to be kinder to myself and even gain back some confidence has been by being active in hair loss support groups.

I’ve talked about these groups in my blog post linked HERE but I encourage you to do your own research as well. Check out reddit, check out facebook…

Talking with these women has helped me realize that I’m not alone. I’ve been there for others to offer support and other women have been there for me. It’s a community and it’s nice to feel part of something.

2. Hair Loss Tips: Dive in. Start early on your treatment plan.

I was told at the time of my diagnosis that this was a progressive condition and the sooner I started a treatment regimen the better chances I had at seeing regrowth. There's a window of time you're working with when treating the hair follicle.

At that time (which was about 10 years ago) I chose to try minoxidil. But after reading about it in more detail I was soooo nervous about the “dread shed.” I felt like I wanted to take all the information the doctor had given me and lock it in a drawer and not look at it ever again.

How could this be my reality? I wasn’t ready to accept it.

So I did nothing for a while. But doing nothing doesn't solve anything. And every shower served as a reminder that something was wrong. I would always lose so many strands.

Also…My shower was always clogged with hair.. I bought this amazon drain cleaner to help grab the hair. I've linked the one I use below. I swear I’d pull out so much hair from my drain that I could literally make a wig… Are you gagging? Sorry. lol

The point is… I eventually decided to dive in. I started the treatment. Bring on the dread shed… Looking back I wish I would’ve started treating my hair loss earlier instead of avoiding the situation all together.

3. Hair Loss Tips: Be patient with yourself and with your hair.

So I stopped using minoxidil and just kind of gave up. I figured… Well that’s a rap. What else can I do?

Of course, there were also oral treatment options available but at the time I wasn’t interested in taking those. (But more power to you if you are. It just wasn’t a fit for me.)

At this point in my hair loss journey I remember feeling totally deflated. I had completely stopped treating my hair loss.

Looking back I wish I had been more proactive during this time and searched for alternative treatments sooner. If you’re interested in other hair loss treatments check out some of my blog posts HERE.

It took time but I finally got back on the horse. I discovered PRP and decided I would move forward with this. I also began using Lipogaine which is a minoxidil formulation that’s developed for sensitive scalps…

And way later I learned about other treatments like microneedling, scalp massage, and ketoconazole shampoo. You can find more about some of the treatments I use in my own regimen HERE.

Hair regrowth takes time and it takes consistent effort. It can be so frustrating when you are putting effort in and not seeing results.

But continue to have an open dialogue with your doctor about your treatment regimen. If something has been tried for a significant amount of time without results have the discussion with your doctor about alternative treatments. Keep in mind that not everyone is a responder to minoxidil.

4. Hair Loss Tips: Get the topper

I’d always have major anxiety about having to do my hair if I was going to be going out on the town…

When wearing my hair down I usually clip in my extensions for increased fullness. I’ll also spend time concealing my hair loss by adding hair fibers and root touch up. You can read my posts where I detail how I use products for concealing hair loss HERE.

But throughout the night I'll be wondering… Is everything covered up? Are these hair fibers still on my scalp or are they chillin on my forehead? And sometimes you just want to do something faster with your hair that requires less effort but still looks great.

Initially I was so worried about buying a hair topper. Don’t get me wrong I wanted one… I had saved up for the purchase (If you need help with budgeting a great blog to check out is Making Sense of Cents).

It just seemed like there was this stigma around it… Okay, so you’re going to wear a toupee? It felt like with the purchase I’d be admitting I was balding… and that felt…wrong? I don't know how else to explain it. I just didn’t feel good about it.

Then I worried about the wind… What if I was out and it was windy and it lifted off from my head? The horror! But I didn’t have any trips planned to Chicago (the windy city)….

And after an especially bad hair day.... I checked myself… What are you waiting for? So I decided to go for it.

WOW! Are you kidding me? What a freakin game changer. And you can’t tell it’s not my bio hair. No one can tell!

I’ve purchased a few now from serenity wigs and toppers. I also just purchased one from Uniwigs that I’ll review in a subsequent post.

But it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my confidence on this hair loss journey. Looking back I wish I would’ve made the purchase sooner. All I do is clip this thing in.. add a few curls, and I’m out the door.

5. Hair Loss Tips: Live

I would even stress out about going to bachelorette parties if they would include women who didn’t know about my hair loss. Sometimes you just don’t want to have to explain androgenic alopecia to someone…

But when I really think about my life and what I want it to be…I know I want the confidence to go on these adventures, I want to make these memories, and I want to strengthen my friendships and even make some new ones.

Looking back I wish I has said “yes” more…

I can say that the scenarios I made up in my head about how certain people would react to my hair loss or how certain trips would go because of my hair loss were way worse than what played out. You can read about some of my experiences dating with hair loss HERE.

It just wasn’t on their to do list lol…And everyone is fighting their own battle. No one's life is perfect and I think it's been important for me to keep that perspective.

Final thoughts…

I’m not saying I have it all figured out. I still have hard days. I still struggle. But I wrote this post to share what I wish I had known sooner. I hope some of this was valuable to you. Thank you for being here with me and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a post!

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