starshinedarkly
April 26th, 2009, 03:30 PM
Hi everyone,
I've been feeling a bit upset with my hair recently, seeing how thin its gotten.
This is long and maybe all the info below isn't exactly necessary, but I'm fairly new and I don't think I've ever told my hair story, so here it is. Feel free to skip the next 2 paragraphs if you want, or you can just navigate from this page altogether if it all just seems too daunting. If you read all of this, then really, you deserve a medal!
All my hair troubles started about 2 and a half years ago when I started straightening my hair (surprise, surprise...). It basically got very very damaged, to the point where pretty much every hair on my head was split multiple times and covered in white dots. It was horrible and I knew what I was doing to my hair which was somewhere between BSL and waist at the time but if I left it natural it was so much more obvious and besides, my hair didn't curl the way it used to and it was just a dull frizzy mess of half formed, undefined waves so I did the worst thing and kept straightening it. I was quite rough with my hair, I used sulphates and cones and when I saw a bit knot (I had lost of tangle back then) I just ripped it apart impatiently (I know...). Around this time my hair started to thin very badly and my hair which was once healthy and very thick was a damaged and thinning mess. I had a blood test as I was shedding a lot and my results said that my iron levels were only very slightly below par (my mum is quite badly anemic) so the doctor didn't give me anything for it.
Last summer I just knew what had to be done, and as much as I loved my long hair I had to cut it off to shoulder length. That wasn't too bad - I knew it was for the best. What was bad was that my previously curly hair had gone stick straight in most places due to all the straightening damage. There were no split ends and the hair felt healthy but I guess the damage was too bad for it to curl. Transitioning was horrible. As my curly hair grew back in it looked terrible - half my hair was very curly and the rest was straight. I tried everything to get the hair to curl again but it just wasn't happening so I starting straightening again (people do stupid things when they're desperate). My hair didn't even look nice straightened though, it looked flat and thin - my hair still hadn't grown back in. Finally, in october I went sulphate and cone free, unplugged my straighteners and I've never looked back. It honestly saved my hair, and it became softer and shinier than it's ever been. But there were still those horrid straight ends. I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere if I kept straightening my hair so I endured the not-so-good hair days so it would be better in the long run. I was never tempted to use the straighteners again, and I haven't used them since (7 months!! :D) I found this site and a few others which have taught me so much about my hair and how to look after it (Thank you!!!). I got the straight bits cut off at the beginning of this month, and my hair is now just past shoulder length and curly again. I then joined this site, as I didn't want to join until I could be dedicated to growing my hair and I knew that I wouldn't have to have another big chop.
My hair is healthy and it seems to be growing well, though its not been that long, the only problem being the thinness. My hair isn't shedding anymore but it doesn't seem to be getting better either. I had another blood test and again, my iron levels were only slightly less than they should be and its not even a proper defficiency, but I told the doctor about the thinning so he prescribed me iron tablets and for the past month or so I've been having 400 mg of Ferrous Sulphate everyday. I know its early but I'm feelng worried about this especially as my mum keeps warning me that if I don't get my hair to grow back the follicles will close up and my hair will be thin forever. I just hate that when I put my hair up you can see bits of my scalp and that my pony tail seems so tiny compared to what it used to be. I've made a complete turn around with my hair and I've even converted my mum and even HER hair is starting to grow back and she's 30 years older than me. My hair isn't seriously thin but its thin all the same - I'm only 15 and it just doesn't feel right for my hair to be this thin. The curls just make it worse, as they curl to the roots and sometimes bits of my scalp are visible.
I know this is very very long, and I'm sorry. I commend if you've managed to get through even half of that, but I've run out of ideas of what to do and this site has helped me before and I'm just hoping it can help me again. :)
Its not so much the idea of having thin hair that I hate, its just that only two years ago I had thick hair and it just seemed to go so quickly.
Thanks in advance. x
I've been feeling a bit upset with my hair recently, seeing how thin its gotten.
This is long and maybe all the info below isn't exactly necessary, but I'm fairly new and I don't think I've ever told my hair story, so here it is. Feel free to skip the next 2 paragraphs if you want, or you can just navigate from this page altogether if it all just seems too daunting. If you read all of this, then really, you deserve a medal!
All my hair troubles started about 2 and a half years ago when I started straightening my hair (surprise, surprise...). It basically got very very damaged, to the point where pretty much every hair on my head was split multiple times and covered in white dots. It was horrible and I knew what I was doing to my hair which was somewhere between BSL and waist at the time but if I left it natural it was so much more obvious and besides, my hair didn't curl the way it used to and it was just a dull frizzy mess of half formed, undefined waves so I did the worst thing and kept straightening it. I was quite rough with my hair, I used sulphates and cones and when I saw a bit knot (I had lost of tangle back then) I just ripped it apart impatiently (I know...). Around this time my hair started to thin very badly and my hair which was once healthy and very thick was a damaged and thinning mess. I had a blood test as I was shedding a lot and my results said that my iron levels were only very slightly below par (my mum is quite badly anemic) so the doctor didn't give me anything for it.
Last summer I just knew what had to be done, and as much as I loved my long hair I had to cut it off to shoulder length. That wasn't too bad - I knew it was for the best. What was bad was that my previously curly hair had gone stick straight in most places due to all the straightening damage. There were no split ends and the hair felt healthy but I guess the damage was too bad for it to curl. Transitioning was horrible. As my curly hair grew back in it looked terrible - half my hair was very curly and the rest was straight. I tried everything to get the hair to curl again but it just wasn't happening so I starting straightening again (people do stupid things when they're desperate). My hair didn't even look nice straightened though, it looked flat and thin - my hair still hadn't grown back in. Finally, in october I went sulphate and cone free, unplugged my straighteners and I've never looked back. It honestly saved my hair, and it became softer and shinier than it's ever been. But there were still those horrid straight ends. I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere if I kept straightening my hair so I endured the not-so-good hair days so it would be better in the long run. I was never tempted to use the straighteners again, and I haven't used them since (7 months!! :D) I found this site and a few others which have taught me so much about my hair and how to look after it (Thank you!!!). I got the straight bits cut off at the beginning of this month, and my hair is now just past shoulder length and curly again. I then joined this site, as I didn't want to join until I could be dedicated to growing my hair and I knew that I wouldn't have to have another big chop.
My hair is healthy and it seems to be growing well, though its not been that long, the only problem being the thinness. My hair isn't shedding anymore but it doesn't seem to be getting better either. I had another blood test and again, my iron levels were only slightly less than they should be and its not even a proper defficiency, but I told the doctor about the thinning so he prescribed me iron tablets and for the past month or so I've been having 400 mg of Ferrous Sulphate everyday. I know its early but I'm feelng worried about this especially as my mum keeps warning me that if I don't get my hair to grow back the follicles will close up and my hair will be thin forever. I just hate that when I put my hair up you can see bits of my scalp and that my pony tail seems so tiny compared to what it used to be. I've made a complete turn around with my hair and I've even converted my mum and even HER hair is starting to grow back and she's 30 years older than me. My hair isn't seriously thin but its thin all the same - I'm only 15 and it just doesn't feel right for my hair to be this thin. The curls just make it worse, as they curl to the roots and sometimes bits of my scalp are visible.
I know this is very very long, and I'm sorry. I commend if you've managed to get through even half of that, but I've run out of ideas of what to do and this site has helped me before and I'm just hoping it can help me again. :)
Its not so much the idea of having thin hair that I hate, its just that only two years ago I had thick hair and it just seemed to go so quickly.
Thanks in advance. x