thinning hair....?

[celtic]

Hello my long haired friends. i have a problem. been noticing that my hair has been thinning in the last year. i see less, thinner hair. what do you think? a year ago i used different poo and condish, but....if nothing was different aside from that, hair would not simply look thinner correct? i see less hair. in the first pic, angle is the same, same time of the day pics taken, nothing but clothes and products different. do not think the shirts is the problem.

my hair has been tangling more in the last 6 months, and yes i have noticed a lot of hair falling when i brush due to the tangles. changed products, oils, and washed brush. so it is not a simple oily hair issue, washed today, poo twice, a few drops of oil on the ends, and air dry.


http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/image.php?u=77724&dateline=1470620251&type=profileTaken today inside kitchen.


http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24237&d=1470622000
Taken 1 year ago. inside kitchen.

Yes trimmed about an inch since last year. and used different oils.

Am i overreacting?


and can anyone help me if i am not? how, besides cutting can i help the thinning issue? since i would have to cut to BSL to even my hemline and help the thinner length. or is that the solution? simply cut? restart at BSL?

BTW { Sorry about the sizes, do not know how to fix and make both pics the same size.}

[vampyyri]

You could always try castor oil and scalp massages to encourage new growth, or take biotin to help it along as well. If those don't help, I would suggest consulting your doctor to see what options outside of natural are available to you.

(I hate to be the graphic design stickler, but the second photo looks photoshopped with the cloning tool with extra thickness with the repeated patterns and random missed bits on your dress... do you have a proper representation of your "before"?)

[AmberJewel]

I am having a very similar issue and look forward to seeing peoples' responses. So far my ideas are that maybe it's stress-related shedding, or maybe (horribly) age related. I read somewhere that once you hit 25 your hair often thins a bit..? On the other hand, my hair does seem to pull out fairly easily, so maybe I've just been doing updos too tightly? I'm being more careful to keep updos looser. Not sure if it's helping yet. Here's hoping for advice!

[Decoy24601]

I really can't tell any difference in thickness from those pictures, but the second one is extremely hard for me to actually see what's your hair and what's the dress and hurts my eyes to look at.

If you think you're hair is actually thinning, I would suggest going to see your doctor and see if it's actual hairloss, since then they could give you directions on topical medications you can use on your scalp. As far as I know there haven't been any studies on biotin for hair regrowth, only nails, but I don't think it would help much unless you're deficient. There have been studies on using topically applied caffeine (grounds or caffeine tablets, or caffeinated shampoos) on balding men and it has been shown to help with hair regrowth.

[celtic]

photoshopped? you mean changed by computer in some way? sorry never used any computer photo fixing yet, but been interested in learning. let me check to make sure none at home have been dabbling with my pics. { since 3 of us use the laptop here, } thanks for the help.

Decoy, sorry i hurt your eyes. the shirt is pink and i have no other pics from that time, just got a pic from 2013 when my hair was BSL, or between BSL and waist? and BTW. the thickness/ amount of hair looks thicker also in the older pic.

like i said maybe i am overreacting, due to the difference in amount/ thickness of hair in the pics. i am maybe going a little bald, since i have lost a lot of hair due to the tangle problems, and perhaps my age? i am about 1 month from 50 years old. and have been told that hair changes at around 50. due to the ageing process.

[Decoy24601]

Oh, it's ok :). I really can't say if or how your hair is thinner. If it is, it could be from age or malnutrition/stress, but I think your best bet is to talk to a doctor about it.

[Tosca]

It could also be a medication side effect if you take any. Just google the medication name and 'hair loss'. I think my medication plus stress is what caused my thinning.

[celtic]

Decoy.....found the original, yep you are right, my niece had been messing with her graphics and my pics.

slapped her hands with glue and slapped them to the table, reminded her to tell me if she was going to use my pics for her school.

here is the original.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24240&d=1470627063

[Decoy24601]

Actually, I don't think the bulk of your hair looks any thinner. I think the reason why it might appear thinner is that your hair is longer now, and for some people their ends start to thin out and "fairytale" at that length. Could it be that you're just approaching terminal length? It also looks like in the most recent picture that your hair has a little less wave/volume, which might make it appear thinner too though.

[vampyyri]

Ah yes, that photoshop job would have had me worried as well! (I hope I didn't come off as rude, not my intention at all) I don't think it's that bad now that I see the actual photo, no real physical difference other than it being longer. When hair gets longer, it loses a lot of volume at the ends naturally and tapers when you shed old hairs. It may look thinner still if you're shedding too many of those hairs.

But if it's more than what we can see (we don't have the ability to feel it over the internet, it might well feel much different) and it worries you, it wouldn't hurt to check with your doctor to make sure everything's okay!

[meteor]

Hmm, I can only see one photo in the OP, for some reason :hmm: , so I can't compare any "before" and "after"...
But I agree with others - if you see any significant thinning, please do try to see a doctor and also mention any other health-related symptoms you may be having - hopefully, a regular blood panel will give more information to work with. :flower:
And yes, there can be an optical illusion of less volume just because the length makes the thickness look less (proportionately to length) and because the hair gets weighed down, too, so it's something to keep in mind, as well. :flower: Circumference measurement is more reliable.

[celtic]

Vampyyrrii sorry yeah no worries, thank you for letting me know my niece had been playing doctor with my pics and her graphics. i get it, perhaps it is just me overreacting.

Decoy, maybe i am approaching terminal, been eating better in the last 6 months. not sick, except for allergy and asthma meds which have not been changed in years. perhaps stress? been a bit with the issue of my vision loss in R eye. and issue of being very sad since april 2015 when my best friend/younger sister/god daughter. got married without telling me and moved to another country. trully made me sad that after 23 years she did something like that which broke my heart and made me cry a lot. plus due to the blindness and glaucoma have not been able to obtain a job. and perhaps the pain meds? started getting deadly kidney stone pain and was given new meds, injected. Very strong Opioid meds. maybe the combination of all issues caused this or maybe like i said just overreacting.

My new hair oil is 1/3 of the oils, of pure natural castor oil which is why i changed my oils. to a pure natural oils mix. and started to notice that since i started using the new oils mix hair seems thinner. so i stopped the over use of the oils today. i usuallu drench my hair in oil mix. for the week, wash on sat. and redo,

BTW the newest pic, hair had not been trimmed in over 1 year so the ends were all over the place. sorry. it just seemed that the new blue shirt pic showed lesser hair/thinning. i will just wait a few weeks to see if the changes i have made have any effect. since oils mix started just 1 month ago, and poo and condish just started yesterday with new ones. Love cone Condish, hair feels so silky and finally no tangles.

maybe the tangles problem was caused by Co ing for a year without using poo?

hope i am not reaching terminal length, want my hair past classic.

BTW. doc visit is not feasible, docs are very expensive here, i mean costs a month wages per visit. no insurance,

thank you all for the help.

[celtic]

Meteor, circumference measurement? how do i do that?

[Decoy24601]

I wouldn't worry about the oils causing hairloss. I've heard stories of scalp oilings increasing shedding, but I suspect that it mostly just loosens up the follicles that are already just about to fall, rather than causing growing follicles to fall.

I think instead of trying to see if the length looks thinner, maybe try looking at your scalp? How does the hair look there? I think that'll help you tell better.

If the hair on your scalp doesn't look any thinner, I doubt your length looking thinner is caused by stress or diet. I think it's very likely that your hair is just appearing thinner because it's longer and probably starting to thin out at the ends. You could try maintaining at that same length for a while and see if your hair thickens up. New medication can cause hair-loss depending on the meds and how your body reacts to it. So I'd try and see how your scalp hair looks.

[Arctic]

Does it also feel thinner, not just look in photo? Have you ever measure d your ponytail circ? That's one relative good way (doable at home) to monitor hair thickness. You could do that now - without previous measurements it's not much use now to tell if it's thinner, but it might come useful later, if your problem continues.

Do the hairs you see falling come of with roots, or are they broken?

[lapushka]

Due to the weight of longer hair, it can "appear" thinner, especially if there's less weight to it in the first place and now it is added - if that makes sense. It's not a problem I have with iii hair, but my mom definitely had that issue with her i/ii hair when it was longer. It "appears" thicker now it's between shoulder and APL rather when it was BSL.

I see no difference.

But did you measure your ponytail circumference at all? Is there a difference there, because that's where it counts, not from judging pictures (which is too hard to do).

[vpatt]

Meteor, circumference measurement? how do i do that?

I think in your profile there are instructions for measuring ponytail circumference. I usually lean forward and brush or comb all my hair forward. I pull my hair into a ponytail (just using your hand, no elastics). I try to make the pony at the crown area. Then use a tape measure to see what the circumference is. Or use a ribbon that does not stretch and then measure it. If you are concerned with hair loss then you could measure every month (being careful to measure in the same place) and compare measurements.

My hair is tangling more now that it is approaching BSL. I think it looks thinner even tho the pony measurement is increasing. Not only can longer hair appear thinner towards the ends, but my scalp hair looks thinner to me. But that could be due to the length pulling the scalp hair flatter and tighter to the scalp thus showing more scalp. At shorter lengths my hair fluffed up more near the scalp than it does now.

[eadwine]

It doesn't look thinner to me to be honest, just because it is longer the ends are thinning out, but that is normal. :)

DO get yourself insured though... you wouldn't want to get into an accident and not have insurance.. brrr.

[lapushka]

Meteor, circumference measurement? how do i do that?

You make a ponytail and measure around it (no including the elastic band, though!), that's it!

[Jovana]

I use hair mask every time that I wash my hair, it helps me to prevent thinning (grows thin from the roots, so bad) and get it thicker. Using a hair dryer at the roots (cold, without heat) when my hair is dry, let me gets volume (looseng the scalp) and unglue hair shaft at the lenght.

Your hair don't looks thin for me, looks like a normal hair.

[Curly_Jessica]

I use hair mask every time that I wash my hair, it helps me to prevent thinning

This is a great tip, I'll start using it. Thanks!