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View Full Version : HELP! My hair used to be so curly now it looks thin and doesn't grow much, any tips?



robey
January 19th, 2020, 10:55 AM
Hello luvs,
I am so upset, my once very curly hair is very thin imho now. My brother says I am wrong and without any moose, styling gel or etc needed to make my curls defined it does look thick but like a frizzy mess! I have conditioned, stopped flat ironing except for once a month or less and tried so many oils. My hair is quite long but so thin especially near the bottom but I don't have the heart to cut it atm I would just prefer to let it grow out more but the growth seems halted!
I lose a lot of hair every time I shower and have even turned to wearing extensions (clip in's only with silicone padding to protect) on and off over the past four years or wigs to make it look longer and thicker hoping it will just GROW!
I have hyperparathyroidism but that is now controlled via high dose Vitamin D.
If any of you have any tips please help and be my hair angel because I have tried almost everything to make my hair grow.
It seems the sides and nape of my neck grows so much slower than even the rest of my hair and it hardly grows I feel compared to others hair growth. I only use color depositing temp dye to cover my whites. I have friends who abuse their hair and theirs seems more healthy than my own. I will try to post pictures soon, my brother tells me it is just me that thinks it is thin but he is looking at it and saying it is thick when I have absolutely no oils or products in it :(:confused:

MusicalSpoons
January 19th, 2020, 11:09 AM
The thing that jumps out to me is you're using high heat on your hair virtually every month - that damage is cumulative and probably causes the ends to keep breaking off.

How long has the hyperparathyroidism been under control? If it and all your other hormones and nutrients are okay, the new growth should be coming through healthier - but any hair that grew before won't benefit because once it's grown and left the follicle, that's it.

What's your washing routine like?

cjk
January 19th, 2020, 12:17 PM
Two things.

First. Hair health is related to general health, which starts on the inside of your body. You mentioned that you had been treated for a hormonal problem, how is your growth since that?

Second, how abrupt was the change in texture? I do curly girl, a lot of us around here do, and whenever our hair falls flat the first suggestion is to do a clarifying wash. Remove any build-up, so the products can get in and condition of hair.

It's rather like doing a reset.

The bit about the flat iron is bothersome, particularly since you didn't say anything about a heat protectant. Those things are damaging.

Actually, what products are you using? Let's start there.

blackgothicdoll
January 19th, 2020, 02:06 PM
Flat ironing can permanently remove the bonds of your hair. Ask me how I know.

Without proper care, i.e. flat ironing hair while damp, using high heat with water-based 'heat protectants', or even not using any heat protectant, it only takes one time for this to happen.

Outside of health, if your damaged hair is damaged enough it may be breaking at the same rate it is growing. Knocking out the flat iron and gradually trimming can help with that.

0xalis
January 19th, 2020, 03:43 PM
I'm going to have to suggest you dump the flat iron entirely and embrace what your mamma gave you.

Kalamazoo
January 19th, 2020, 04:21 PM
On every head of hair, follicles in some locations grow faster than others. Everybody's hair does that.

Also, everybody's hair tapers, and is thinner at the ends. After all, the ends are older than the rest of the hair, so the ends have been through more shampooings, more flat-ironings, more sun & wind damage, etc. etc. etc. Don't subconsciously compare your hair to the Disney Tangled Rapunzel's. She's a cartoon character, and her mom drank a magic potion, besides. Nobody in real life has ever had real hair that looked like that.

I find it helpful to look at the longest hair in the world from time to time. Here are the Guinness Book's World Record holders: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/9/10-of-the-worlds-biggest-hair-records-589939
Mme. Xie Qiuping's hair ~ all 18' of it ~ I can't help but admiring it. Long hair is beautiful! But look how thin her ends are. Yours are thicker than hers, right? But length is length, even if it's only one hair. You'll also notice thinner ends on Kazuhiro Watanabe's Mohawk, Nilanshi Patel's hair (She's the longest-haired teenager.), and Sarwan Singh's beard.

Really, if you want thick ends, you have to do regular microtrims to even everything up. The only other way to be happy is to change your standards of beauty to coincide with what you've got. (I.e., "I'm a beautiful person; therefore, I have beautiful hair; therefore, that mop that I see on my head is beautiful!")

Longlegs
January 19th, 2020, 04:58 PM
I agree a clarifying wash would be a good start. Maybe the oils and conditioners are too heavy, if your brother thinks your hair is full looking without them then maybe more lightweight moisture is needed. Have you used products specifically for frizzy hair? . Another thing you could consider is trying the curly girl method and eliminating silicones and sulphates from you haircare products.