hair falling out

OK, this is a problem I've been having for a few years now.

Every summer, my hair starts falling out. When I wash it, loads comes out in my hands. The first time it happened was 3 years ago, the summer after I did my GCSEs. I wasn't too bothered because it was coming out evenly, rather than in clumps, so I didn't have any bald patches, but I was still quite concerned by the sheer amounts that were falling out. My mum took me to the doctor, who said it was probably stress and nothing to worry about. After a couple of months, it stopped. Then in the autumn, I started getting little bits of baby hair growing, which looked a bit....fluffy and weird.

Two summers ago, after my AS levels, it happened again. This time is wasn't as much hair, but it was still noticeable. Again, it stopped after a couple of months and started to grow back. Last summer is happened again quite badly; this was after my A-levels and around the time I broke up with my boyfriend. My mum and I decided there was probably a correlation between my stress levels and the amount of hair that was coming out. I'm generally a very calm person and stress doesn't show too much, so maybe that was the physical sign of it. I don't know.

Anyway, this summer it's happened again. Not too badly this time, and still no bald patches, thank god, but still enough to block the shower plug if I'm not careful.

I now straighten my hair about three times a week and wash it very other day. (When it was curly it didn't need washing so often.) I'm just a little bit worried that I'm putting my hair under unnecessary strain and it will become all thin and horrible. When I straighten it, it goes really smooth, soft and silky, but when it's drying naturally it doesn't feel very nice. Because I can only get it to look and feel nice when I straighten it, that's what I tend to do. But I don't want to ruin it.

Is there anything I can do to protect my hair? I'm not convinced that using expensive products will help, and I can't really afford to anyway. Has anyone had any experience with hair-thickening shampoos? Do they work? What other stuff can I use to put the moisture back into my hair and make it stronger, without making it greasy?

Thanks!

Reply 1

viviki

alopecia can be stress related. Mine is so brittle at the moment that it gets so much weaker if I straighten or blow dry it that I don't bother. I tried using a thickening shampoo but it seemed to make it worse if anything so I now use unscented shampoo and conditioner wash it less, every 2 days instead of every day and use leave in spray conditioner every other time I wash it. Doesn't make it too greasy. I think its just trial and error really just try different things and make sure you keep track of what does what.

Reply 2

Apricot Fairy

*bump*

Sorry......can anyone else help with this? Thanks to Viviki anyway!

Reply 3

saz_1989

I have the same problem of hair falling out. Could it be anything to do with your blood count? When I was anaemic I had loads falling out and it went really thin. Straightening definitely damages it but only if you do it loads. Try drying it on a cool setting then put it up in a ponytail for days when you don't straighten it. Alternatively get a better hairdryer with a really thin nozzle and you can blow dry it quite straight. Take some vitamin tablets as well just in case that's what's missing.

The only shampoo I can think of is one for long hair. I guess there are probably ones out there for people growing their hair as well; they would be useful. I find the VO5 hot oil quite nice as well, my hair looks all shiny afterwards. If you want a good conditioner, use the ones out of hair colours (the ones for after you dye your hair) because they're so concentrated, and leave it on for a while with a towel over the top.

Do you colour your hair at all? That's the main reason why my hair is so crap. Colouring, and straightening with an iron made it really weak, now it breaks off whenever I straighten it. My boyfriend advises just holding the straightening irons on the end of your hair, don't run them through that part because it's more likely to break off.

Anyway let me know how it goes, your hair sounds the same as mine (and OMG aren't the baby hair tufty bits horrible and annoying??!).

Reply 4

rock_eleven

in my experience recently, my hair came out a lot more when it went unwashed, even for a few days. Are you also getting dandruff or is your head itchy etc?

Reply 5

harryamos

just do not use dandruff shampoo too much

Reply 6

buttons7

i have exactly the same problem. i get stress-related illnesses easily, and i suffer from iron-deficiency, both of which i think contribute to the hair falling out. try taking vitamin supplements and (you won't like this) leave your hair alone for a while. my hair really went kamikaze this year and so in may i cut it a few inches shorter (to just below the shoulders) stopped straightening it or using any products other than shampoo and conditioner (and i used combined shampo and condition and then single conditioner to try and get it better). it has meant spending four months looking a bit, erm, messy but my hair is now staying in place... and is much shinier and healthy looking!