Growing out hair after losing lots due to medication

[MissMoppet]

Greetings! Without going into a lot of personal details, I was on a medication early this year that caused a lot of hair loss. I have thick hair to begin with, so I still looked ok, but it was crazy to see small clumps of hair come out when I brushed it. I definitely lost a lot of volume and my hair dresser said she definitely could tell something was up. My body seems to have normalized now, and while I still have to be on the medication, the serious shedding has long since stopped, The problem is that my hair is growing back in phases. At first I had a tonne of short frizz at the front. I looked crazy and got teased, so I got that Brazilian blowout treatment just at the front to smooth it down a bit. That hair has since grown about 5 inches and is now lying down, but there are 2 inch layers that grew in a few months ago that I am yet again wanting to tame, and every week I feel like I still am seeing short little hairs growing back. I just want everything to even out because all the new stuff sticks up from my head like a halo. When I do braids and updos it can look really weird. I understand that hairs have a resting and growing phase, but since they all fell out within a month, shouldn't those hairs grow back in at the same time? Is there anything I can do to help this process along? I am currently taking Biotin, Folic acid and msm in the hopes that this will help. Any advice would be fantastic. ;)

[meteor]

:grouphug: Very sorry about your hairloss, but I'm so happy for you about that massive regrowth you've been experiencing.

My advice to you would be to lay off of all the Brazilian/Japanese straightening treatments - they are a combination of chemical and heat straightening procedures that really damage hair a lot. If you are struggling with new growth sticking out, how about using some flaxseed gel or aloe vera gel or a bit of oil to tame the baby hairs?

Also, scalp massages increase blood circulation and are a good practice to promote healthy regrowth.

Best of luck to you! :flower: And happy growing! :D

[meteor]

I forgot to add a recommendation to really protect those baby hairs: sleep on silk satin (pillowcase and/or sleep cap) if you can, wear a hat/scarf when you are out to protect scalp/new growth from UV rays and wind.

Also, the diet should be rich in unprocessed foods with naturally-occurring fats and proteins. Yes, it's really proactive of you to take those supplements, but consuming unprocessed foods rich in biotin, folic acid and msm would be even better, since they are in bioavalable form.

[lapushka]

My advice to you would be to lay off of all the Brazilian/Japanese straightening treatments - they are a combination of chemical and heat straightening procedures that really damage hair a lot. If you are struggling with new growth sticking out, how about using some flaxseed gel or aloe vera gel or a bit of oil to tame the baby hairs?

This. ^^ And if natural gels don't do it for you, there's always Eco Styler gel, which is a moderate to strong hold gel without alcohol (so no flakes). Use in moderation, though. You really don't need much.

[alabaster]

Definitely stay away from the straightening treatments as others have said. Sometimes some oiling or gel can do wonders!

[MissMoppet]

:grouphug: Very sorry about your hairloss, but I'm so happy for you about that massive regrowth you've been experiencing.

My advice to you would be to lay off of all the Brazilian/Japanese straightening treatments - they are a combination of chemical and heat straightening procedures that really damage hair a lot. If you are struggling with new growth sticking out, how about using some flaxseed gel or aloe vera gel or a bit of oil to tame the baby hairs?

Also, scalp massages increase blood circulation and are a good practice to promote healthy regrowth.

Best of luck to you! :flower: And happy growing! :D

Thank you for the great suggestions! Natural gel's did not even occur to me, but I have some argan oil on order via amazon, so when it gets here I will definitely try to use it to help tame flyaways. I will go online and see if I can order some of the gel's everyone here mentioned also. I am working overseas for a charity at the moment, and it is super humid here, and it makes my hair harder to deal with. Hopefully gell and oil will do the trick, so I can look a bit more presentable. :)

[MissMoppet]

This. ^^ And if natural gels don't do it for you, there's always Eco Styler gel, which is a moderate to strong hold gel without alcohol (so no flakes). Use in moderation, though. You really don't need much.

I am looking up both Aloe Vera Gel and the Eco Styler gel right now. I am going to order both. The Eco Styler gel seems to come in different versions. Should I get the olive oil, argan oil, or protein version? Thank you for your suggestions!

[MissMoppet]

Definitely stay away from the straightening treatments as others have said. Sometimes some oiling or gel can do wonders!

I thought that the keratin treatments were safe for hair. It made such a difference to the hairs at my crown. Drat. Here's hoping that the gel helps then. :)

[lapushka]

I am looking up both Aloe Vera Gel and the Eco Styler gel right now. I am going to order both. The Eco Styler gel seems to come in different versions. Should I get the olive oil, argan oil, or protein version? Thank you for your suggestions!

I have the olive oil one. Smells nice & fresh and does the job. I am going to be starting my second big jar (the biggest they do) soon. :)

[rags]

I have been in your shoes! I lost over half my hair to a medication shed (it didn't all grow back in my case, so I'm glad it is in yours!).

What I did a lot once the shorties got a couple of inches long was to twist them and clip them up with those teeny claw clips. And I wore a LOT of headbands. I have super baby fine hair and even the lightest gels make me look like a drowned rodent, but I did resort to hairspray a few times (if you do that, wash it out, don't brush it out!). Gels are much better if you can use them!

I was still quite ill during the grow out so I wasn't too fussy. Mostly I did the headbands - wide ones are great.

[Panth]

I thought that the keratin treatments were safe for hair. It made such a difference to the hairs at my crown. Drat. Here's hoping that the gel helps then. :)

Anything that's "set" using flat irons is never going to be safe for hair. Any heat that's hotter than you could safely touch with your hands is not going to be good for hair. And that's ignoring the chemical aspect of the keratin treatments, which includes formaldehyde.

The general consensus seems to be that keratin treatments make hair look nice initially (anywhere between a few weeks to a few months), then really begin to show the damage. As with all damaging things, it'll be worse if you did more treatments.

~~~

I'd recommend you head over to the hairtyping post (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=116252), do exactly as it says there and take some photos. It'll be a lot easier to recommend particular hair routines once we know what hair type you have.

[Beborani]

I have been going through lots of regrowth for past couple of years (induced by minixidil, not natural) but these short hair never stick up for me even though I am a curly and used to be frizz prone. Leave in from root to tip immediately after wash is the secret. I also cowash or shikakai wash (preoil before wash) though that may not be necessary--just keeping it conditioned with leave in should do it.

[MissMoppet]

Anything that's "set" using flat irons is never going to be safe for hair. Any heat that's hotter than you could safely touch with your hands is not going to be good for hair. And that's ignoring the chemical aspect of the keratin treatments, which includes formaldehyde.

The general consensus seems to be that keratin treatments make hair look nice initially (anywhere between a few weeks to a few months), then really begin to show the damage. As with all damaging things, it'll be worse if you did more treatments.

~~~

I'd recommend you head over to the hairtyping post (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=116252), do exactly as it says there and take some photos. It'll be a lot easier to recommend particular hair routines once we know what hair type you have.

Good idea. I will do just that! Thanks for posting the link. I did not know that such a thread existed. :)

[MissMoppet]

I have been going through lots of regrowth for past couple of years (induced by minixidil, not natural) but these short hair never stick up for me even though I am a curly and used to be frizz prone. Leave in from root to tip immediately after wash is the secret. I also cowash or shikakai wash (preoil before wash) though that may not be necessary--just keeping it conditioned with leave in should do it.

My problem is that I have patches of different types of hair on my head. :( The hair at the nape of my neck is almost straight. The sides are wavy, the back is even more wavy, and at my crown it is curly. The texture of the hair here feels totally different than at the back. Because a lot of this hair fell out, it is sort of corkscrewing out of my head and standing upright. When I am able to finally post photos I will try do do so.

When I use gel in my hair and follow a method I have for drying it upside down with a diffuser, I used to get beautiful Botticelli type curls. It is like my hair changed though and it lies a lot flatter now. My routine did not change, nor the products I was using, but my girls got limp and stringy no matter what I tried. I can't keep up with it - it seems like my hair is it's own person and always throwing me curve balls. I am going to try to type it though, to see what the people here suggest I do going forwards, with the hair I have now. :)

[MissMoppet]

I will definitely give the olive oil gel a try then.

I guess I should be grateful that I am getting lots of new hair growth. I just wish it would all come in at once so I could look forwards to it growing into the rest of my hair soon. I think I am going to have a perpetual halo for quite a while though.