Styling for thinning temples?

[hennared]

I underwent a serious thinning of my hair this past year (4" circumference down to about 3" :(). I think the shedding has subsided, but regrowth, if any, appears to be a long ways off in some parts of my head; particularly at the temples. My right side, in particular, is really thin, under the long 'bangs' I have. Right now, my hair is ~24-26" long with fairytale ends, and some really long (jaw length or so) bangs. My hair tends to like to be parted to the right - which is good, since I need to 'push' more hair to that side! But I am considering cutting in true bangs again, thinking it might make it easier to hide the thinning.. OR would it make it worse?? I'm not sure. I know right now, I *hate* wearing my hair up, since historically, I like to leave some of my long bangs down, but if I do that now, the bangs separate at a point that make the thinning area kinda visible. I could just continue to grow my long bangs out and put them up with the rest of my hair, OR, I could cut in shorter, deeper, bangs. I used to think I looked good in bangs. I have _no_ interest in cutting my hair short or in (gasp) layers, as I know a lot of women seem to do when they have significant hair thinning. But I do want to figure out how to best deal with my thinning, and yet keep my hair long. I just feel clueless what to do as I've never historically done much to 'style' my hair, I just let it grow. I never had what was to me a good reason to; but this thinning thing is kind of a good reason!

Opinions welcome. Thoughts?

(edited to add - I put my first picture up in an album that sorta shows what I'm whining about..)

[Kirin]

my temples thinned out as I got a little older. I went with bangs, its the ONLY way to mask it. I tend to go for the 60's mod type thicker bangs that graduates down to the length of my hair. Its the perfect disguise.

[julya]

I have found that just parting my hair before I put it up makes a big difference for me. If I comb it straight back I think my hairline looks a little strange. My hair did a similar amount of thinning this past year.
I can see how bangs would help too.

[Elenna]

Shedding here too!

Noticed that the temple hairs are a bit thin now. So I just make sure that hair is neat over that area. And yes, bangs help soften the look of thinning hair. Bangs are soft and fluffy looking. Different bangs for different folks!

[Elenna]

Opps double post!

[Anje]

I'd be afraid bangs might make it look worse, but no personal experience. For styles (other than down), I'm thinking that anything that smooths the canopy hair down over the temples (like low nape buns and braids) is better than higher buns that pull hair directly back from the temples. Two braid styles might also work really well, but that may or may not be your sort of thing.

From the picture, I'll say it definitely doesn't look bad. At 3", you still have more circumference than many of us have, and your temples don't look any thinner than mine do, without having shed at all. I know it's traumatic to lose hair, but from that picture, my opinion is that you don't have anything to worry about, appearance-wise. If it continues, though, I'd suggest having a doctor help you trace down a cause, because an inch of circumference is a lot of hair loss.

[Honey39]

I've got thinning temples - or rather, I've always had very thin temples, since a child. When I push my hair back, it's astonishing how high the hair line is. I just wear my hair down and parted to the side, and somehow the hair on the top masks it perfectly.

I do worry also about traction hair loss, so when I do wear my hair up, I am very very careful to not pull the hair back, but just to put it up from the nape, if that makes sense.

I think you should go slowly, whatever you do, and not rush into it. I think a fringe (bangs - I'm British, lol) can look fab, but I've also seen it where t he hair is put up, the bangs go down, and there is a very visible section of hair loss between that part.

PS I've just had a look at your pic, and you have lovely hair - I honestly can't see that as thinning at all. It looks very natural and lovely.

[hennared]

Thanks, guys ..

I put another picture up that is more obvious where the loss is. Yeah, I've accentuated it by how my hair is draped, here, but I *know* my hair sure was not this thin here a year ago. I'm mostly worried about it getting worse, and how to best style my hair to deal with it. Then again, a miracle could happen and it could improve, I suppose...

I'm going to take it slow and maybe cut in a bit at a time.

[vamq]

I've always had thinner hair at my temples, and whenever I stress, it's the first place where you see the hairloss.
And since I've been shedding like crazy last summer, I am also still looking for solutions to cover it up..I'm 18! I don't want people to think I'm going bald already!

The only "solutions" I have
-Massaging my temples everyday (seems to stimulate hairgrowth. I hope so)
-Using really soft shampoo/no shampoo on the thinner hair. Rough shampoo makes that the thinner hair breaks more easily.
-Not making my updo's too tight. I found out it looks worse when my updo's are really tight. Really tight updo's also makes me lose more hairs on a day
-I also have bangs. I've grown them out to chinlength, so I can put them behind my ears, so they practically cover the thinned spots. The bad thing is that it won't work for greasy hair.
-And, as mentioned before, parting the hair before making an updo also works a bit.

I'll be watching this thread with interest :)