Female hair loss.

In the rush to condemn has anyone stopped to notice that j08 also has a hair loss problem.

Tegan my heart goes out to you but thank you for bringing this subject into the open; I suspect a number of us have concerns.

My hair is fine and in certain lights my scalp is visible. I am glad to be tall because there aren't that many people who would look up there. I used to count the number of hairs I lost when showering but now I scoop them up quickly . When the hair fashion was back-combing mine just wouldn't stay up but when the fashion was long and straight then I loved my hair. Now I have it trimmed short every five weeks even if it makes my head look like a pimple on a haystack and try to ignore it.

If you feel it would help your confidence then I think you should check out wigs but try to spend as much as you can on it and get proper advice because this will be the 'new you' and yes, you are worth it

Tegan I assume your doctor colleague explored Minoxidil for your androgenetic alopecia.

Riverwalk that doesn't give her permission to be abusive to others! Not needed

Tegan Female hair loss is one of those subjects that tends not to be discussed or, if it is, is mentioned in whispers. Like you, my hair is very fine and thin and has never been my crowning glory. Fortunately, I don't think it has become any thinner since the menopause. However, I do understand how other women feel when their hair does. Following an almost fatal illness many years ago, a lot of major surgery and weeks in intensive care, I was beginning to recover – still in hospital – when my hair started falling out. I had endured all the pain, surgery and worry fairly stoically but the handfuls of hair reduced me to a sobbing wreck. It's not vanity, though I guess most of us don't actually want to be bald, it's something to do with the connection between how we look and who we are.

I had a similar experience, absent. Several months in hospital, suffering malnutrition because I couldn't keep anything down, and I lost between 1/4 and 1/3 of my hair, mainly around the hairline. As my nutrition improved after hospital discharge, it grew back. I was too ill to notice until I started combing my own hair and the hairbrush was full of it every time. I did use hair thickening products, but it was good nutrition that rectified my hair loss. It's not till it happens to you that you realise how much your hair is a part of your identity and the prospect of losing even more makes you feel vulnerable and upset.

I didn't really discuss it as a patient, Riverwalk; it was just a comment made while we were working together. I've got really sensitive skin so worry that minoxidil would irritate my scalp. I did read that Lumigan eye drops increased hair growth [in lashes anyway] and thought about asking everyone I knew that used to to let me have what was left when they had to dispose of it after a month . Thanks anyway, ladies. Hair loss isn't the end of the world but it does make you feel a bit miserable. I have noticed that, since I stopped work the hair loss isn't so bad so there is hope .

Tegan as I understand, it can be taken in tablet form for hair loss - obviously only under direct medical supervision as it's a vasodilator.

My hairbrush has a handful of hair in it every morning, but then it always has had, I' suppose I'm lucky to have a lot of hair. If I was going bald I would have no hesitation in buying a really good real hair wig! After all Joan Collins wears one I believe!

I've always wanted to be daring enough to shave my head completely but never have. I think I have about half as much hair as I used to have. I thunk this the other day when I did a plait. It was as thick as one of my two plaits used to be. Hey ho.

If I do go bald, or baldish, I shall wear a buff tube thingy in various colours depending on my outfit, flung on and allowed to drape down the back a little. I already do sometimes, e.g. when gardening or when doing archery because I have v fine escapist hair and it flutters about my face and tickles me even when it is tied back.

I've always had baby fine hair - described as like a cobweb by one of my first hairdressers. That was actually attractive when I had a lot of it, but now I'm cracking on it's thin as well and the bane of my life.

There's not enough to do anything with - I tend to just keep it fairly short and fasten the wispy ends back in a scrunchy or clip. And as j08 says, it's scary when there's an overhead light in front of a mirror - there's no way you can pretend there's nothing wrong when you stand under it!

I do take Viviscal - whether it helps or not I don't really know, but I fancy there was a slight improvement at first, so I keep on.

For a couple of years I went down regularly to Mark Glenn's salon in London for extensions - the salon specialises in styling people with hair loss problems so you don't run the risk of damaging what you have. Mark and his staff are miracle workers. I was once having a bit of a moan to a girl there who I assumed was just waiting for someone, because she had the most beautiful shiny thick hair, so of course I was whining about how lucky she was and what a rough hand I'd been dealt, boo hoo hoo. Then she told me she had had alopecia since she was 14, and was virtually bald.

I stopped going because it was a bind to have to trek to London for a Saturday every 3 months, and of course not cheap, especially with train fares added. I wish I could find a similar salon that I could trust up North.

One tip is Batiste dry shampoo - I should have shares in it! It does bulk up what little I have, though you have to watch out for the greying effect if you don't brush it all out. There are versions with a bit of colour added, but I don't find that they work just as well. Ditto other makes of dry shampoo, in my experience.

Sorry for the long post - but if anything above is helpful, my work here is done!

PS LizG - pimple on a haystack - love it!

If we could just get a trend going for wearing all these Halloween hats, all our troubles would be over!

I wondered about Viviscal; think it's about the same price as Nourkrin. I'll look out for Batiste. I am going down the buff thingy route and have bought several bandanas from Claires to match different outfits. I've read that you can have a very low level thyroid deficiency which doesn't get picked up on blood tests and wondered if that's why Nourkrin and Viviscal works? The young girl in Claires is another one that had my share of hair; she looked like someone in a Pre Raphaelite painting .

Here is an independent review of studies into female pattern hair loss.
It seems to conclude that minoxidil may help but the area is not as thoroughly researched as reviewers would like.
They also say that you should see your doctor to check possible causes.

http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD007628/treatments-for-female-pattern-hair-loss

sorry
summaries.cochrane.org/CD007628/treatments-for-female-pattern-hair-loss

Tegan - look out for special offers on Batiste. Superdrug do regular half price offers. I stock up on it then.

Will do. Going into town on Sunday.

Also Home Bargains, Tegan. I think you have that shop down your way as well?

Charlotte - rather than a general reminder about the guidelines why don't you just address the specific poster!! But oh no, just let her carry on as usual!

You haven't answered my question about generalised warnings rather than dealing with specifics

I have never seen so many deleted posts!

#mumsnetsgotnothingonus

Yes it's hilarious isn't it .

Tegan - I've been lucky and escaped the curse of alopecia that occurs in our family occasionally. There are some excellent wigs now, good styles and quality. I'd go for the best quality you can afford, and choose a style you feel good with. My mother lost all her hair in her mid 20's after a serious health problem. She had months in isolation hospital, lost a lot of weight and felt dreadful, but she said the hair loss was hardest to deal with.

It seems one poster on this thread has tried for, and achieved a record of deleted posts. Hilarious - not.