Female hair loss.

These comments touched a chord with me - I used to have very thick hair and now it is rapidly thinning and I appear to have male pattern baldness -i.e. a receding hairline with virtually no hair growth or fringe - I'm planning to start being creative with scarves to try and hide the hair loss but as I have also suffered for the past 10 years with very bad hot flushes and night sweats I'm not sure how I will cope - I can't even wear a hat because I overheat!
Still, looking on the positive didn't Queen Elizabeth 1 have a similar hairline - and it didn't seem to styop her acheiving!

I am fortunate that my hair is still thick, and I do think of it as an asset, I'm lucky because I've always coloured it, it has been varying shades of red and blonde for the last 50 years.
I so feel so much for those who have thinning hair because I know that I don't feel right if my hair isn't right.

What I want to say is about wigs. My sis in law lost her hair via chemo. She got a wig supplied and was dreading it. Wow.... it was fabulous. She got it before her loss of hair, in preparation, and one day was in my house ..... I said her new cut really suited her. And she lifted the wig off. She got a 2nd wig. One was a bob and the other was an elfin cut.

I know that a wig is a poor substitute for luxuriant hair and know that I would be devasted to lose my hair. But from what I've seen I wouldn't be afraid to have a wig, honestly.... they are so natural nowadays.

I guess it's easy for me to say..... and I hope I haven't offended anyone.

Have you just noticed it or are you finding that lots of hair comes out when you brush it etc? I went through a phase when I was doing my last year at work that I found hair everywhere and I'm wondering if it was stress related [I even started saving it cause I couldn't quite believe what was happening; I think it was the hair that still had colour in that was falling out]. Ok, my hair's thin now and has never recovered but it isn't [touch wood] falling out the way that it was then. Might be an idea to see a Dr and check if your thyroid levels are ok. anno; I asked the S.O. something about my hair [can't remember what it was; maybe to do with a hat I was trying on] and he replied that he couldn't see what I was asking about but he could see my scalp .

I've rarely bothered with changing my hair colour and it's losing its texture anyway. I have a good hairdresser who makes the best of what I have, but I do get a bit depressed when I can see my scalp through my thinning hair!

I may get shouted off here because I confess to not reading back through all twelve previous pages, so please be kind to me if I'm repeating words that have already been aired. It's just that over the last couple of days (literally) I've despaired of my fringe, and the rest of The Mop, 'suddenly' becoming, well, half the hair it used to be - not in width or length, but volume. It's all my own fault, yes (I throw my hands up and admit it) I've always loved having different coloured hair throughout my life (at the moment it's pink - it looks like candy floss). Now the colouring has taken its toll and I'm thinking about having the whole lot chopped off and letting it grow back to its natural salt 'n' pepper. I'm writing here because it's come as a big shock after all the years of assuming 'it's my hair, I can do what I want with it' and (seemingly) suddenly Hair is rebelling.
My hair's very fine, naturally light blonde. I'd like to ask other GN'rs who have thinning hair problems, can cutting help restore the volume (as the experts say) or should I just keep going on til it all falls out then go for a wig?

Tegan 'thin and silky' sounds lovely. Half the hair adverts use either very young models or those like Cheryl Cole who are wearing extra hair. The current Yours magazine has a photo of Lulu who has extra hair added so it's all smoke and mirrors this 'Show' Business.

It seems that it's more 'natural' to have thin or thinning hair. Helen Mirren has fairly thin hair.

I find the thickening shampoo makes my hair very dry and, with it being white it seems very thin but coarse...not a good look. So I'm just using lots of conditioner to make it look thin and silky. Also, with this weather I can wear shades on my head all the time or a panama hat [with them being all the rage at the moment]. Looking on the bright side;my hairdresser now only charges me pennies to trim my hair [with there being so little of it]. ....Trouble is I still tend to look at women older than myself with even less hair and get a 'that's me in a couple of years' feeling, but at least I've gotten out of the 'my hair is horrible so I won't bother about how I look' state that I'd been in for a while.

Except that bloody j08 woman.

It is good to share isn't it?

I tried wigs but apparently I have a big head (who knew, I always thought it was small) and the one I had rode up my head and the other was a failure as well). Aso I found them itchy, hot and I do have enough hair in some parts. It has grown in parts and like you ovth I use the shampoo mentioned. I also take pills and use Grow Gorgeous Serum.

The latest news is that an apple a day is not only good for cholestrol lowering but also hair loss.

I am thin on top mostly and scare myself looking at it so wiil stop. I suppose some of that might be age or heredity as I've noticed this si v fairly common in women but some is definitely stress in my case. It's not always clear cut which is which.

and to all of you on here.

Before I retired I work in a London hospital in the maternity ward. Clerical not medical.

Anyway because of the location a huge percentage of the midwives are black.

What they have which we white people don't, is a general acceptance of wig wearing. They all wore them and had a few different ones each. When I started working there I didn't realise they were wigs but of course learnt this over time.

This of course isn't going to help anyone here but it just shows what a cultural difference there is regarding wearing wigs.

I haven't lost all my hair, but it is thin and you can see my scalp on different parts. I have been using the L'Oreal Elvive Fibrology Thickening Shampoo and it does make a difference. I don't bother even with the conditioner just the shampoo.

Hunnyb22

I started losing my hair nearly 20 years ago, it started with just a small patch at first but gradually increased. Yes, it's embarrassing for a woman to lose her hair and I kept combing it over, it's especially worse in windy weather. I first thought it was due to my underactive thyroid (was born with it) but numerous blood tests were fine. I can only put it down to the stress I was under throughout my 6 year marriage, I won't go into gory details, suffice to say, I didn't come out of it unscathed. I hoped that my hair would grow back once I was divorced but no. So, if you see women with bald patches, don't stare, it's not our fault!!

I agree with you Leah. I have almost total hair loss as documented above.
Someone (who had very thick hair) said to me once 'for goodness sake, it's only hair'. I was suicidal at the time, people have no clue but I suppose it's like anything else, if you haven't experienced it how could you possibly understand. I agree that there are much worse things but it's very hard to come to terms with.

Apparently Evening Primrose can help. I can't take it because of medication for underactive thyroid. My hair has thinned considerably, but because I had very thick hair before, people think it is still thick. However, it is completely different from what it once was. Because it is not an illness, few people understand how miserable it makes you feel.

Lorianne - Thank you. I hope you and all struggling with hair loss find a solution. How unkind of those people near you.

Thanks Katy. Your hair system sounds great anyway and I bet you look fab. In the 60s loads of people wore wigs, hairpieces and 'wiglets' and they looked fantastic.

You are very kind to think of others. I've noted that in your previous posts on this thread. I have a family of chavs near me and they took the pee out of me as I was ringing the Samaritans and all sorts at one time .

I am over it now.

Lorianne - it was just a hair item on this morning. The hairdresser is leo bancroft. Too late for me but may help others. He said there is a good mousse and a serum made by kerestase.

That's great positive news Katy. I meant to add that my new hairdresser isn't pushing any products and isn't making much money from me with my 'dry cuts'! It's not that kind of place.

I have noticed that there are many hair thickening/growing products on the market at the moment. Is this because I have that problem, I ask myself, or are there other reasons we are not aware of - for instance taking medications such as those for high cholestrol. I don't take them myself but one hairdresser I went to thought this caused it in clients. She may of course be mistaken.

I only wash my hair about once a week nowadays. One good thing is that it dries quicker, having less of it. I recall through my life having at times loads of hair, taking an age to dry, then less hair, then more, so it's not only age. One hairdresser said I had a head and a half, and not in a good way. You really can't win.

That programme sounds interesting - wish I'd caught it.

Nonu

Oh KATY.
x xxx "s to you

As previously mentioned in my posts on this thread, I have practically no hair now and have had to invest in a rather expensive hair replacement system (for the sake of my own and my family's sanity). I have said many times to doctors/hairdressers/specialists that my hair has never actually fallen out ie
in the sink on my pillow, on brushes and combs etc it has not shedded. I was told I was being ridiculous, it must have. No it didn't. I have always said that it was as though it couldn't get through my scalp somehow. I was told I was being ridiculous so assumed they knew better than me. Then only yesterday there was a hairdresser on TV who was giving general advice on hair problems. He said many people suffer with thinning hair due to blocked hair follicles. He said the hair is there but can't get through due to the blockages. It was as if a light bulb had gone on in my head. I have felt that this was my problem from the start but no one told me there was such a condition. He said there are products on the market now which can help unblock the follicles thus giving sufferers thicker hair. He was nothing to do with any company and was not selling any products of his own, just giving general advice.

www.patient.co.uk/health/telogen-effluvium

I am 69 (70 this year) and like many others found that after ruling out thyroid or iron problems via standard blood tests doctors are of little help in this area. For example, they do not seem to have heard of telogen effluvium where you can lose a lot more hair than usual about three months after a trauma, operation, loss or stress. The hair is said to grow back again after some time and the stress has passed.

Combined with general thinning of hair with age and also 'female pattern balding' which is general thinning and scalp 'showthrough' mainly on top it is difficult at our age to separate or combine what as actually happening anyway! Some of it is natural really.

I have had a terrible year but at last some of my hair is thickening up. Im using the Grow Gorgeous and the L'oreal products but am also much less stressed. A new hairdresser told me her mum lost her hair when she was worried about her son in Australia suffering from an accident. Her mum's hair grew back eventually after they had bought her a wig and everything, and at the age of 84 she has better hair then she ever had before!

One thing I've not read on this thread is something I had and still have sometimes. It is basically senstaions of my scalp being pulled or tugged (I know it sounds weird) and also itching. This could be due to tension or circulation (or lack of?) before it falls out I suppose. I do massage my scalp and use no heat letting it dry naturally and using sponge rollers rather than blow drying. My hair is said to be in excellent condition, not dry and the cuticle is great etc. and it has a shine being naturally dark brown with grey streaks (mine own that is). I am just having it dry cut at the moment, but with a water spray added.

Anyone else know what I am talking about with the scalp sensations? It has been a torment to me as bad as the hair loss. Doctors can't help - no change there then.

Hi fellow sufferers, I have a low thyroid function and take levothyroxine for it. However - it has not helped with the thinning hair AT ALL. Just as it hasn't melted away the extra stones I put on because of the illness. Don't know what the answer is xx

Pillow cases!