Rapid thinning without shedding or breakage!!

[summergreen]

Hello :) I haven't been on here for ages - it feels good to be back :) please can anyone help me with this mysterious problem? Has anyone else experienced a fairly rapid thinning of their hair, without any significant shedding or breakage?

I started putting my hair up all the time about 4 months ago - I was so disheartened with it and thinking of cutting to BSL or APL, I hate the colour (its not a nice grey for my colouring at the moment, hopefully when the silver overtakes the brown it will be) and my scalp is too sensitive for dyes/henna, so I thought I'd feel less self conscious with it up while I decided what to do. Since then my hair has reduced by about a third, for no reason that I can see - admittedly my 'going out' updo needs a firm ponytail base to avoid collapsing quickly but I didn't see any breakage or shedding from it and at home I was just wearing a hair friendly cinnabun. Now that it's so much thinner I can't wear it down at all and I'm scared to cut it in caser it looks worse and then my updos would look even smaller! (also my hair doesn't seem to like being cut, trimming always makes the ends thin out rather than thicken up.)

I don't understand how it can have thinned so much without the hairs apparently going anywhere - can only think that although I'm shedding normally the hairs aren't being replaced. I am post-menopause (two and a half years), which I know can cause thinning, but why would it happen so suddenly?! Surely that would be more gradual?

My hair was on the thin side to start with and if it carries on at this rate...I'm scared I will need a wig fairly soon!

If anyone else has had anything like this I would love to hear about it. Thanks in advance!

[Silverbrumby]

I've had thinning in my 40's due to hormonal shifts. What was your ponytail before? What is it now?

I'm talking biotin and biosil and have regained a lot of hair closer to my head. It hasn't improved terminal length or the thinning past 6 inches.

[lapushka]

Is it thinning out at the scalp, or are you talking about natural taper (thinning with length)?

[summergreen]

Hello both, thanks for your replies :)

Silverbrumby - my ponytail was around 2.75 before, I am too scared to measure it now!! But I can tell by looking that it is a fair bit thinner, and elastics that had to be stretched before use fit now (I mean, other ones from the same packet). I used to take biotin and a load of other stuff but stopped about 18 months ago because of stomach problems (didn't see any difference in my hair after stopping); I'm going to get back on the biotin and L lysine now though and see how it goes!

lapushka, it is somewhat thinner on the scalp and noticeably thinner through the length, it has always been tapered with thin ends (althought that was partly due to damage which I cut off last year) but now the ends feel non existent from BSL downwards (its about 2 inches below hip). Its also thinner higher up - I can tell when I braid it for sleep.

[Magalo]

The tight ponytail may be the problem too. :/

[Firefox7275]

You really need to seek a medical diagnosis. You must be shedding because we all do, maybe the hairs are not growing back properly. Consider traction alopecia from too tight styles on a sensitive scalp, imbalanced diet/ nutrient deficiencies, scalp conditions/ underlying irritation or inflammation, stress, hormone imbalances or some combination. It may be your too tight hairstyle is simply the 'straw that broken the camel's back' after illness and menopause. You should not need micronutrient supplements if you are eating a balanced, nutrient dense anti inflammatory diet.

[summergreen]

Thanks Magalo and Firefox :)

yes I'm sure the ponytail doesn't help - I take my hair down as soon as I get in now, unfortunately it's the sort of slippy hair .that won't stay up without a firm base.

Firefox - yes I am shedding some, I meant I'm only shedding my usual amount and not any extra, sorry for confusion! There's no breakage that I can see, I think hairs not growing back seems the most likely thing. I haven't been ill as such but high doses of iron (prescribed) caused me some nasty digestive problems and I stopped taking all my supplements when I stopped taking the iron, that was 18 months ago now. I have to get my thyroid levels checked in a couple of weeks and will get ferritin checked as well, once that's done I'll see my homeopath (GPs not that interested in hair issues :( ). I do eat a good diet, lots of nuts, olive oil and veggies. I will look into anti-inflammatory diet!

Thanks both for your input :)

[Beborani]

Summergreen see my thread on minoxidil. After you have checked out all the medical issues you can look into it if you are willing to commit to regular use. I too had second round of hair thinning around age 45 (first one told in my saga in my introductory post) which is why I looked into it seriously.

[Juanita]

Do you take blood pressure meds. It causes hair thinning. Mine is much thinner now than it used to be. Post menopause and meds add to my thinness sadly. My hair is between waist and hip.

[jacqueline101]

It might be retractions from hair being too tight.

[summergreen]

Thanks Beborani, Juanita and jacqueline 101 :)

Beborani - Ive just read your introductory post, so pleased that minoxidil worked for you! I'm very wary of pharmaceutical stuff, but never say never :)

Juanita - no, I'm not on any meds apart from thyroxine (I've been on that for 18 years and have sometimes had shedding when the dose has been wrong - this doesn't feel like the same thing and I can usually tell when it needs adjusting).

jacqueline101 - yes tightness never helps does it, grrr stupid slippy hair! I've tried so many ways to put it up but anything that doesn't start with a pony slipsalmost straight away andd then really pulls on my hair far worse :(

[Firefox7275]

Thanks Magalo and Firefox :)

yes I'm sure the ponytail doesn't help - I take my hair down as soon as I get in now, unfortunately it's the sort of slippy hair .that won't stay up without a firm base.

Firefox - yes I am shedding some, I meant I'm only shedding my usual amount and not any extra, sorry for confusion! There's no breakage that I can see, I think hairs not growing back seems the most likely thing. I haven't been ill as such but high doses of iron (prescribed) caused me some nasty digestive problems and I stopped taking all my supplements when I stopped taking the iron, that was 18 months ago now. I have to get my thyroid levels checked in a couple of weeks and will get ferritin checked as well, once that's done I'll see my homeopath (GPs not that interested in hair issues :( ). I do eat a good diet, lots of nuts, olive oil and veggies. I will look into anti-inflammatory diet!

Thanks both for your input :)

Nuts are super nutritious but many are a rich source of omega-6s which are pro inflammatory in excess. Do balance them out with plenty of long chain omega-3s from oily fish, maybe some short chain omega-3 rich seeds and nuts (chia seeds, ground flax; to a lesser extent pumpkin seeds, walnuts). The combination of anti inflammatory omega-3s and freeze dried probiotics (friendly bacteria) is beneficial for some digestive problems. Oily fish is also a good source of bioavailable vitamin D which is important in skin (and therefore hair) health.

Can you secure your ponytail at different spots on different days or with different tools such as Spin Pins or an equestrian snood/ bun net? Or do several ponytails/ several buns to spread the load? Are you any good at French braids? I only have shoulder/ armpit length hair which I badly damaged in the past partly by wearing a ponytail 24/7 and it was not even particularly tight.

[summergreen]

Nuts are super nutritious but many are a rich source of omega-6s which are pro inflammatory in excess. Do balance them out with plenty of long chain omega-3s from oily fish, maybe some short chain omega-3 rich seeds and nuts (chia seeds, ground flax; to a lesser extent pumpkin seeds, walnuts). The combination of anti inflammatory omega-3s and freeze dried probiotics (friendly bacteria) is beneficial for some digestive problems. Oily fish is also a good source of bioavailable vitamin D which is important in skin (and therefore hair) health.

Can you secure your ponytail at different spots on different days or with different tools such as Spin Pins or an equestrian snood/ bun net? Or do several ponytails/ several buns to spread the load? Are you any good at French braids? I only have shoulder/ armpit length hair which I badly damaged in the past partly by wearing a ponytail 24/7 and it was not even particularly tight.

Ohh thank you for that, I do eat a lot of nuts - I'll have to look into the omega 6 thing and perhaps replace some of my nut eating with seed eating! I don't eat fish as I'm vegetarian but the other things sound good :) and I will look for veggie sources of vit D.

I can't do much with my updos except my usual one and one at the crown, which I don't do often as it creates a massive cowlick which won't go until the next hair wash! I have always preferred my hair down and felt very self conscious when I started wearing it up - I'm totally converted now, it feels good not to have people looking at my hair and I love being able to sling a bag over my shoulder without worrying! And it lessens the effect of bad hair days. And people have said it looks nice :). But - as an updo newbie I still only feel comfortable with buns that look big and show somewhat from the front. I'd never thought about a snood, will have to check them out. And try some different ways of putting it up, perhaps a side bun if I can find how to do one that doesn't brush against my shoulder all the time (have done that before and it caused a scary amount of splits). I found an old towelling hair elastic and used that today and it felt much better, could not find any towelling ones in Claire's or Boots (why are these so hard to find now? grr) but bought some that seem quite soft and squashy and I'm going to stick to braids when I'm home.

Thanks so much for all your advice :)