Help! Thin/possibly balding patch?!

[JessiBird89]

Hi Guys, I'm a newbie who has been lurking for about a year and a half - I get a bit shy and so I don't post much! However, I decided to post today because I am curious about my hair at the moment.
My hair is BSL (just recently, woohoo!) and I want to get to Waist Length at some stage. I used to get highlights and generally mistreat my hair but since the start of 2011 I have started pampering my hair - washing once a week with Sulphate free shampoo and cone free conditioner and growing out my natural hair. It is fine/thin/fragile hair so I dont brush when wet and I use leave-in conditioner. I don't use hair straightners or tongs but I do sometimes blowdry my hair on a cool setting when in a rush.
So here's my problem: About 3 weeks ago, I used a shampoo with sulphates (for the 1st time in AGES) to clarify my hair and the next day i noticed a crusty, flaky (yuck, i know) scab on the left side of the crown of my head. It disappeared after about 3 days but since then I noticed the hair in that area has been very very thin and it seems to be constantly parted, baring my scalp! It's as if i suddenly have a cows lick there. I asked my pharmacist what i can do about it and she gave me hair vitamins to take daily and told me to be gentle with my hair. She asked f i was stressed about anything and I'm not at all so I don't think it could be due to that. Any ideas what i could do apart from taking the vitamins?

PS I occasionally use clip-in hair extensions but not in that area of my head so I'm not sure if that is a factor either.

[skyblue]

sounds like some of your hair came off with the scab/crust, watch the area to see if it starts to grow back
other then that I have no idea smarter minds here will probably help you out with better advice

[Roscata]

Hello!
You could try Iodine for hair growth (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=57627), Castor oil for hair growth? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=18265), Neelibhringadi Ayurvedic Hair Oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=34344) or Rooibos = Hair growth? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=50836). I've read stories about people growing back their hair with iodine after chemo therapy. You have to do it sparingly (only a 2-3 drops/day, because overdosing could be fatal) and use the topical one. Good luck! :D

[Maktub]

hi !

You said that you are not stressed...

What about nutrition ? Are you doing any special diet ?
How much of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, etc. do you eat ?

What do you usually drink when thirsty ?

[heidi w.]

After chemotherapy, hair will most often eventually grow back.

You don't seem to be doing anything to cause this spot. You might consider having a dermatologist check your scalp for a more serious form of Dandruff, known as Seborrheic Dermatitus, which I have had for more than 15 years now. I didn't always have it, but I do now.

I would heartily recommend you switch from brushing to combing your hair with a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair. If you need to detangle when hair is wet, and I mean sopping wet, place conditioner in the hair, and dip a wide toothed comb in a vat of conditioner over and over as necessary, and detangle using the shower water to aide in the detangling process. Many curly hair types need to detangle hair while it's wet.

It will take a bit to switch from using a brush. It took me two attempts, and the second success was because someone had provided me with a comb that had wider teeth placement, so I could get the comb through my hair.

I do hope you're detangling from the bottom working your way up the hair. It sounds tedious, but it does work.

Um, for clarifying, one does not use a regular shampoo with cones in it, unless I misunderstood and you bought a "clarifying shampoo" that also contained cones? If you're using regular shampoo to clarify then you are not understanding how to clarify, and need to post asking how to clarify. In the recipes forum I believe there are articles on clarifying.

One potential source may be the answer to the question which way do you sleep? On the side the burr on your head has appeared? If yes, wash that pillowcase! Immediately.

Also consider sleeping on a slippery surfaced pillowcase such as satin or sateen or something like that. You'll quickly discover that cotton is not the smoothest fabric, by comparison.

I hope something that I've offered here is helpful,
heidi w.

[Roscata]

After chemotherapy, hair will most often eventually grow back.

Yes it does. This lady however said her hair grew back thinner, finer and with some spots missing (ETA: which is why she said iodine helped her out to grow it back the way it was pre-chemo). I wish I could find her article. *sigh*

[JessiBird89]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the replies.

Yes, I use loads of conditioner when untangling my hair in the shower with a wide tooth comb and when I do brush my hair, I use a natural boar bristle brush when my hair is dry.

When I clarified (not sure if i did it right :o), I used a 'clarifying shampoo' which had sulfates in it but it had no cones. Perhaps it was a reaction to the use of sulfates as I had been using a no-sulfate shampoo for months.

I'm eating a fairly balanced diet, in my opinion. Lots of protein, veggies and fruit so I think I can cross that one off the list. And I dont sleep on a particular side of my head but will purchase a satin pillow case just in case my current one is wreaking havoc.

I think I will continue taking the hair supplements as it cant hurt to take them and also I may try the iodine idea and keep my scalp moisturised with my Apricot kernel oil :)
I will go to see a trichologist or a dermatoligist by the end of the month if there is no improvement, however. Just to put my mind at ease!

I have recently started braiding my hair before going to sleep, I wonder if it has something to do with that?

[Roscata]

I honestly do not know what is causing this. But here is some information you might find interesting:
Your Shampoo May Be Hazardous To Your Health (https://morroccomethod.com/en/educational-resources/cancer-a-chemical-toxicity/175-your-shampoo-may-be-hazardous-to-your-health) (SLS information)
Alopecia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia), Hair loss and braiding (http://www.hairlosstreatment-s.com/traction-alopecia-hair-loss-and-braiding.html), Scarring Alopecia (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1073559-overview). Alopecia can have different causes, one of those could be updos BUT only if they are really tight and repeated over a long period of time causing scarring that leads to hair loss.

In my opinion chances are that neither the SLS nor the updos caused this, whatever it is, you'd probably be better off going to a doctor to find out. I say this because even if iodine grows your hair back, if you don't know the cause of your hair loss you can't prevent it from happening again. You would be treating the symptoms not the cause.

Good luck! :)

[JessiBird89]

Will do, doctor is the best idea out of all.
Thanks again for all your help :)