The unfortunate thing that I had always feared, has now happened. Yes friends, I am experiencing hair loss on my hair line.

Ugh!

In this post, I wanted to give you a bit of information on hair loss as well as what my hair growth journey looks like. If you are interested, read on!

About hair loss

Hair loss can happen to anyone. It does not discriminate. However, the causes, places where it occurs and severity, do vary depending on the person.

There are different types of hair loss patterns and they include the following:

• Thinning around front and/or back edges
• Bald spots
• Decreased volume and thickness of hair in general
• Widening of middle part

People can have one of the above or all of them.

The reasons for hair loss are varied and include the following:

• PCOS– A hormonal condition affecting only those with ovaries.
• Alopecia areata- An immune system issue that can cause hair loss everywhere on one’s body.
• Androgenetic alopecia- This is when the body’s response to androgens cause hair loss in men and women.
• Genetics- It is in some people’s genes to lose hair.
• Stress- If one is under a lot of stress, it can stress out their physical self and in turn cause hair loss to occur.
• Post-partum- A lot of times people lose hair or have thinning after they give birth.
• Hair products-Some hair products have chemicals in them that can cause hair loss or thinning over time (i.e. hair relaxers).
• Cancer treatment- Both chemo and radiation can cause hair loss in individuals undergoing them.
• Medication- Some types of medication can have hair loss and thinning as a side effect (i.e. Warfarin and Depakote).
• Traction alopecia- This is when hair styles are pulling back on one’s hair and scalp too hard.
• Infections- Infections (such as ringworm) affecting the scalp can cause hair loss and bald spots.
• Trichotillomania- The pulling of the hair that one with this condition does can cause hair loss.
• Lupus
• Thyroid issues
• Diabetes
• Malnourishment and vitamin deficiencies- One needs the right nutrients to grow and keep hair. If you are not getting them- hair loss can occur.

Figuring out the cause of hair loss is important because you will then know if there is a treatment for it or not. Unfortunately, some types of hair loss can’t be treated. This means that no regrowth can happen. Here are the treatment options one has if their hair loss is indeed treatable:

• Rogaine- This is an OTC treatment that contains something called, Minoxidil in it. You can find it in liquid, foam and oral pill form. It is very effective but it does need to be used everyday.
• Red light therapy- There is some studies showing that exposing your head/scalp to red LED light can promote hair growth. There are lamps and caps one can buy to try this method out.
• Treatment of medical condition- If you have a medical condition that is causing the hair loss or thinning- treating it could help.
• Changing diet- If your diet is lacking in nutrients that our hair needs- it might be a good idea to try and add those nutrients in. This could mean taking supplements or eating certain food.
• Spironolactone- This is a blood pressure medication that is also used for it’s ability to reduce androgens. It has been shown to stimulate hair growth.
• Finisteride- This medication treats the prostate and male-pattern hair loss. It is important to note that it doesn’t work for hair loss on the temples.
• PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections- This is when one’s own blood cells are injected into the area that needs to be treated. It is said that this can stimulate hair growth.
• Supplements- There are certain herbs, oils and vitamins that people have said helped them grow their hair. The science behind them isn’t strong at this point, though.
• Hair transplant- This is a surgery in which hair from another part of your head is moved to the areas that are thinned or bald. It is expensive but a lot of people have success with it.

As you can see, there are several options one has to treat their hair loss and thinning. It is important to talk to your doctor so that you can figure out the right one for your case.

My journey to regrowth

All of a sudden (in the past couple of months), I have noticed hair loss and thinning on my edges. The hair on the rest of my head is as thick as ever right now but who knows if that will change or not.

This has really been getting to me. Because of this, I have obsessively researched things that I could do to help the situation and prevent it from getting worse.

First, I wanted to figure out the cause. In my case I believe it is a PCOS thing despite me having a lifestyle that should be enough to have the condition under control (more on that in another post). Other possible causes I thought of were my recent workout routine (lots of high intensity cardio), being too rough when doing loc braid outs, not moisturizing my locs enough, unintentional fat loss and maybe a COVID case (asymptomatic) months prior.

Maybe it is all of those things combined?

Next, was coming up with a plan to get some regrowth going. I contemplated doing and using quite a few things at first and felt very overwhelmed. Then I finally came up with products to use and a weekly routine I felt I could stick to.

Here are the products I will be using:

• Aloe Vera spray and gel- Moisturization and hair growth
• A very moisturizing conditioner
• Almond oil- Moisturization
• Olive oil- Moisturization
• Black tea- Hair growth
• Peppermint tea- Hair growth
• Rosemary oil- Hair growth
• Honey-moisturization
• The Ordinary Peptide Hair Serum
• 0.2 MM Microneedle

Here is my routine that includes all of the above products:

Wash days (once a week)

Mornings-

1. Brew two black tea bags and two peppermint tea bags in one cup of hot water for six minutes. Pour into a spray bottle and let it cool off in the refrigerator for a bit.
2. Shampoo hair. Then, spray on the cooled down tea all over-making sure to really massage it into my hair line.
3. Tie a plastic cap on my head and let the tea sink into my head and hair for 30 minutes.
4. Rinse out the tea and condition my hair. Spray aloe Vera on my hair line.

*Twice a week I will be deep conditioning instead of just a regular conditioning. This is when I will mix a conditioner, oils, honey, aloe Vera gel and rosemary oil together. I will apply it all over and leave it in for 30 minutes.

Evenings-

1. Prepare my microneedle by soaking it in rubbing alcohol for three minutes.
2. Roll it all over my hair line for a few minutes.
3. Soak the microneedle in rubbing alcohol again and put away.
4. Apply The Ordinary hair serum to hair line.

Non-wash days

Mornings-

1. Scrub hair line with a damp cloth. Apply 2% diluted rosemary essential oil on hair line and massage in.
2. Leave the oil in for 30 minutes and shampoo it it out with wash cloths (just the hair line!).

Evenings-

1. Apply The Ordinary hair serum.

Here are pictures of my hair line taken the Sunday before starting my routine (I am on week as I type this post):

In conclusion

I think the routine I put together is pretty solid right now. It is going to take some time though. If I am not getting any results in a few months, I will probably consider Rogaine next.

This post will serve as the first in my hair regrowth journey series. The next one will be in a month or so and I will provide pictures as well as an account of how everything went for the period of time.

Have you had any issues with hair loss or know someone who has?

Thanks for reading!

*Health disclaimer: I am not a doctor so do not take what I say as a substitute for medical advice. I am simply just talking about what I have learned from reading and hearing various things. It is imperative that you speak with your doctor before doing something with your body. Your health is your own and I am not liable for any consequences you suffer due to your choices.

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