Runzel
December 24th, 2009, 06:09 PM
I've read other threads here before of someone having a major shed and rather anxious about thinning hair. Since severe health problems have caused multiple major sheds (and noticeably thinner hair) for me, I thought I'd share how I handle it without falling apart.
First of all, note that "normal" shedding for me is maybe 10 hairs a day at the most. As in, I keep my hair up all day and all night, I take it down and work through it with a comb in the morning, and 10 or less hairs come out. So when I begin to suddenly shed more hairs each day than I could possibly hope to count then it has the potential to be quite traumatic.
Here's what I do:
I tell myself that since my hair is not falling out in clumps, it is not technically "falling out" as a it would with, say, chemo and so I should not expect to go bald. However much I shed, there should still be some left.
I remind myself to be thankful that I still have hair. Lots of people don't.
I remind myself that as long as my hair covers my head, no one else is going to notice that my hair is not half as thick as it used to be. For this reason, I don't tell anyone.
I style my hair in a way that doesn't make me feel bad about it. If the thinness of braids is depressing me then I put it up, if my scalp is showing through my hair in a place where it really shouldn't then I re-arrange the bun to cover it, etc.
I let myself get emotional over it if I need to, but the emotion is temporary and I can count on it to pass within a day or so. I mourn privately, not because I scorn a shoulder to cry on but because I tend to recover from grief much faster when there's no one asking me about it later. Instead, I rely on the people around me to make me feel normal again as they treat me like they normally do.
Finally, I stop focusing on my hair for a while. This may include avoiding LHC, practicing benign neglect, and even intentionally occupying my thoughts with something else whenever I begin to think of my hair.
I hope some of these tips will be able to help someone else going through a major shed. I won't pretend it's easy, but I've learned how to be okay with it and not stress out in a major way, and I just wanted to pass along what I've discovered.:flower:
First of all, note that "normal" shedding for me is maybe 10 hairs a day at the most. As in, I keep my hair up all day and all night, I take it down and work through it with a comb in the morning, and 10 or less hairs come out. So when I begin to suddenly shed more hairs each day than I could possibly hope to count then it has the potential to be quite traumatic.
Here's what I do:
I tell myself that since my hair is not falling out in clumps, it is not technically "falling out" as a it would with, say, chemo and so I should not expect to go bald. However much I shed, there should still be some left.
I remind myself to be thankful that I still have hair. Lots of people don't.
I remind myself that as long as my hair covers my head, no one else is going to notice that my hair is not half as thick as it used to be. For this reason, I don't tell anyone.
I style my hair in a way that doesn't make me feel bad about it. If the thinness of braids is depressing me then I put it up, if my scalp is showing through my hair in a place where it really shouldn't then I re-arrange the bun to cover it, etc.
I let myself get emotional over it if I need to, but the emotion is temporary and I can count on it to pass within a day or so. I mourn privately, not because I scorn a shoulder to cry on but because I tend to recover from grief much faster when there's no one asking me about it later. Instead, I rely on the people around me to make me feel normal again as they treat me like they normally do.
Finally, I stop focusing on my hair for a while. This may include avoiding LHC, practicing benign neglect, and even intentionally occupying my thoughts with something else whenever I begin to think of my hair.
I hope some of these tips will be able to help someone else going through a major shed. I won't pretend it's easy, but I've learned how to be okay with it and not stress out in a major way, and I just wanted to pass along what I've discovered.:flower: