hair loss network

Working Out In a Bonded Lace Topper

by MalloryT on January 27, 2012

One of the questions I see the most on the forums is the issue of working out in a bonded lace system. I was planning to do a series of tests to put my system through the straits since getting it in July but life and my recruiting obligations got in the way. However, I have my full time post-grad job lined up and have been putting some serious work into working out since December 22nd. I’m planning to write a series of posts about taking my lace system through different workouts for informational purposes.

First System: Reprieve Integration. The Reprieve Integration sits on top of your own bio hair-there are tabs around the edge of the system through which your bio hair is looped to “tie” the system to the top of your head. This can only be done by a trained technician on the system. I don’t know what the base material is…it almost felt like a hard plastic-y mesh of sorts? I used to work out in this system last year and had a lot of trouble because it gets SO HOT that I could not bear to work out for more than 30 to 35 minutes. I think I hit 45 minutes max. Sweat head also affected me in close spaces…I really think it’s having all the bio hair underneath it. The plus side is that I was never concerned about the system coming off-it is “taped” but the tape doesn’t sit against your sweating scalp, they hold together the looped hair that binds the system to your head.

Lace Systems: I wear a silk top with all lace, no poly. The silk top panel is 4 x 4. I sweat through the lace except at the point of the silk top panel. I have not had any issue of the system being too hot on my head in any situation and I only start to “notice” it on my head if I go 11/12+ days without re-bonding.

I re-bonded my lace system last Thursday. Here are the workouts I’ve done to date (I’ve worked out every day). [click to continue…]

{ 6 comments }

Finding Peace, Strength and Friendship

by Y on January 24, 2010

As most everyone who frequents this network knows, I started this site in 2007 during one of my darkest and loneliest times. At that point, I had already been dealing with hair loss for 8 years, but things had taken a drastic downward turn and down I fell into the hole of isolation.

That was then.

Since that time I have had the chance to interact with so many women that have touched my life in such profound ways. I have discovered just how strong women really are, and I have learned so much.

By being able to unite women with hair loss, and helping them to find support and understanding, I have found just that for myself… understanding and support, and I no longer feel alone.  I have met a few women from the network, in California and New York, and each time it has been a truly wonderful and amazing experience.

I just wanted to say Thank You to Everyone. Thank you for helping me to find some inner peace, a strength I never thought existed, and friendship that is pure and true.

You have changed my life.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life.. and I’m feeling good
~Nina Simone

{ 8 comments }

Helping Another

by Rebecca on March 1, 2009

This beautiful story of inspiration, strength and understanding  was written by Becca, a member of The Women’s Hair Loss Project Network.

Yesterday started like one of those days that you don’t even want to get out of bed for me. Tuesday, my 2 year old and I both had the stomach flu, so between her vomiting anything that went in and me having a mind numbing headache, we survived. My husband decided that he would take the day off yesterday to help us recooperate and maybe do the five loads of vomit laundry that we accumulated. I had to get my normal bloodwork done, I have it done every two weeks because of my hypothyroidism, so we had to find a lab that would accept my new insurance. I had some bad experiences in the past with waiting in the lobby of these places, till they actually forgot I was there and turned out all the lights. I didn’t want another experience like that, especially being sicker than I normally am.

I reluctantly put on a wig, it was colder here so no bald head outside, and we left the house. Once we got to the labcorp building I just wanted to go home and lay in bed with a bucket. After registering with what I thought was just a receptionist, she informed me she does the whole shebang, registery, bloodwork, and follow-up. While she was entering all my new information, she turned around and said, “Ya know, I was just diagnosed with what you are getting bloodwork for.” I laughed a little and said good luck! Here is a woman in her early 50’s, very put together, almost looking defeated when I said that. I realized how it came across and I explained to her that what I have is a very rare form of the disease and all my symptoms are extremely heightened. She asked me about some of the symptoms, like my hands and feet fall asleep, my joints ache, exhaustion constantly, etc. And then she mentioned hair loss. I’m not one to get embarrassed, so I just told her, “Yeah, mine is so bad, I shaved my head a few weeks ago.” She just looked at me and then told me that she too, is having hair loss in quarter sized patches and it scares her. I thought of all you ladies immediately!! I could see in her face this look of upsetedness and sympathy. I knew what I had to do for her and the hairlossproject. I told her how devastating it was for me at first and how I found support with you ladies. I told her how I cried all the time at first and really felt alone. I told her that acceptance will come, no matter what happens with her hair. [click to continue…]

{ 4 comments }

I’m 19 Years Old and Have Suffered Major Hair Loss and Thinning – Linda’s Story

by Y on August 28, 2008

Hi, I’m a 19 year old girl who has suffered major hair thinning. I’ve just discovered about this community/project a few days ago. Uptil now, this seems to be probably the most resourceful place I’ve seen.

I’ve been pretty desperate for answers.

As a child, my hair was extremely thick. However, as I grew up, my hair become progressively thinner. Two years go, I went on an unhealthy diet and I started to really notice that my hair was extremely thin (also, my hair was falling out like crazy). I thought that it was due to the fact that I didn’t get enough vitamins, so I started to eat healthily again. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, my hair only stopped shedding like crazy, but no new hair grew back to replace those I lost.

It has been 2 years, and my hair is still quite thin. Most people can’t see it, but I definitely can – especially when my hair is greasy or when I tie it in a ponytail (you can see my scalp very clearly).

I’ve read as much as I could on women hair loss, and nothing seems to really fit my symptoms. I took a blood test and it showed that my levels were perfectly fine.

After reading as much as I could, there were really only 2 diseases that sort of fit my simptoms.

1. Hypothyroidism – my mother has that
2. Androgenetic alopecia – my hair is thin all over my head and my hairline is not receeding.

However, the only thing that doesn’t seem to quite “fit” is the falling of my hair. My hair does not seem thinner than it was 2 years ago. I do not lose an excessive amount of hair (contrary to the many testimonies I’ve read). When I comb my hair after a shower, I would loose maybe 5-10 strands. In some ways, my hair loss seems proportionnal to the amount of hair I have.

I often get depressed because of the state of my hair – especially when I see my friends with thick hair and get to choose different styles of haircuts while I’m stuck to one. I can’t confirm with 100% certainty that my situation hasn’t worsen. From what I can see, it seems to have stabilized. But sometimes, when I look at old pictures, I start believing that it did in fact get worse. Afterwards, I panick and can’t sleep at night.

Questions:
Does androgenetic alopecia have different “levels” of hair loss? I haven’t taken any medication to help, but I know for sure that I do not lose a crazy amount of hair. However, I am also certain that this is certainly not normal for a teenage girl to have so little hair (I now have less than 50% of the hair I used to have as a child, and from the top of my head, my scalp is pretty visible). From what I can see, I do, in fact, have new hair that grow, but not many.

I am so desperate for answers. Although you may not have any precise answers for me, I’d greatly appreciate your point of view on my situation.

Thank you,
Linda

***************************

Dear Linda,

Thanks for writing me and I’m sorry to hear that you are struggling with this. First things first, stop.. take a deep breath, let it all out and take a moment to reflect on how lucky you are that your hair loss has stabilized for the past two years. Losing 5 -10 hairs after a shower is remarkable, you’ll be the envy of all my readers 🙂

Having said that, I do understand your concerns and pain in having to deal with less hair than you had before. I must state upfront that I am not a physician and cannot provide medical information or diagnosis, anything I write is really just my opinion and knowledge gained from living with hair loss myself for the past 9 years (yikes that sounds like a lot). With that disclaimer out of the way I can continue on. [click to continue…]

{ 36 comments }

My Life With Hair Loss

by Y on July 16, 2008

My Life With Hair LossWhen I was younger I never ever could have imagined that my destiny was to be a woman with hair loss. The thick mane (clearly on loan) that I was born with was only a temporary gift. Over the last 9 years I’ve suffered a lot, but I’ve also learned a lot. I’ve become a stronger individual and also someone is more compassionate, forgiving and understanding of others around me. I suppose depending on your religious standpoint one could argue that God had wanted to challenge me, test me and make me a better person. I’ve searched for answers high and low, a deeper understanding of why, why me? For myself to live and stay sane, I have to personally believe that there is a “reason” that this was thrust upon me at 21 years of age. So I go with that, whatever helps you sleep at night right? I practically slept through my 20’s feeling sadness and despair for the future… what will be tomorrow. I feel such a heaviness and sadness when I write that, a get a lump in my throat and my eyes begin to well up with tears. I feel a sadness for yesterday even though it’s gone and far behind. Almost like I’m mourning the years I’ve left behind, the years of hair loss. I look back and I realize it was so needless to stay in bed and hide from the world. All along the way I had enough hair to get by and not have the world know my dark little secret.

I would really like to drum that message into the minds of the women who are waking up today and realizing they are losing their hair. You still have A LOT of hair, more than you know and the world isn’t staring at it, only you are. Someone once asked me what I would do differently looking back on the years I’ve dealt with hair loss… I would have lived more. I would have said yes to more dinners and social gatherings, parties and quiet get togethers, I would have let my hair down instead of trying to hide what was only visible to myself. After all during all that time, I still had enough, but I was too focused on the worry of tomorrow to appreciate what I had today.

I am 30 years old now and don’t want to make that same mistake. There is no doubt my coping skills have far advanced over the years and I can snap out of a “down time” a lot faster. I still struggle with things like talking about my hair loss, letting others into my world. I still have a long way to go (hopefully with hair still on my head) in self acceptance, but I’m pretty proud at how far I’ve come. I still run away from mirrors and turn off lights, it is all apart of how I’ve learned to cope. I hope one day I’ll be able to stare at myself in a store window or leave the harsh lights on in the bathroom, look at my reflection and love what is looking back at me. This is me, this is who I am, I have female pattern hair loss… the hand has been dealt and now it’s is up to me to either learn from the past or guarantee myself future regrets.

~Y

http://community.womenshairlossproject.com/womenshairlossproject/

{ 15 comments }

Welcoming Female Guest Hair Loss Bloggers

by Y on March 17, 2008

Welcome Female Guest Hair Loss BloggersThe Women’s Hair Loss Project is looking for creative, passionate and knowledgeable volunteer hair loss writers to write original articles for our blog. You must have a good command of the English language and be able to effectively communicate your thoughts through words. You don’t have to be a professional writer by any means, just need to be passionate and with a desire to help other women and write articles that other female hair loss sufferers can relate to and learn from.

The hair loss world is much bigger than my thoughts and views and I am looking to provide women with a greater hair loss perspective outside of my own. I’ve seen the blog writings of many women in our network and realize that so many others have so much to contribute. I’ve already reposted a couple of writings written by Dottie and Kathyloulu, members of the Women’s Hair Loss Project Network.

What Type of Articles Are You Looking For?

Pretty much anything that would be of value to another woman going through hair loss. Some example topics of interest could be:

Tips and suggestions for coping and dealing with hair loss

Thyroid and hair loss

How to emotionally deal with hair loss.

Making the decision to wear hair

Adjusting to wearing hair ( If you are a hair wearer you definitely have something to contribute here)

How to find a reputable hair loss replacement provider

Hair loss treatments (the real ones only used by medical professionals) Rogaine, Aldactone (spironolactone) and oral contraceptives. Vitamins and nutritional supplements are good too expand upon.

Help finding the right doctor.

How to avoid getting scammed by the online hair loss predators

PCOS and hair loss

Hair loss news commentary

Etc Etc. The list could go on forever.

By opening the blog up to other writers I am probably going to get a swarm of people interested in only writing a fluff article to embed a million links back to their own site. So here our my over protective rules.

Guidelines and Rules

Since I am looking for only sincere people I have to get a bit creative. All articles written will contain the author credit at the top and bottom of the article. [click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Women’s Hair Loss Project Network LAUNCHED!

by Y on January 18, 2008

Women's Hair Loss Project Network LAUNCHED!The Women’s Hair Loss Project Network (community.womenshairlossproject.com) is the newest addition to The Women’s Hair Loss Project. It is place where women losing their hair can connect with each even further.

What can you do in the Network?

Create a Profile
Share Photos (of anything you like, doesn’t have to be yourself)
Create Your Own Journal
Search and Add Friends To Your Network
Leave Comments on Other Women’s Profiles
Option To Make Profile “Private” To The General Public.
Photo albums can also be set to private as well.
Only Members Can View Private Profiles and Albums
Chat – Real Time Private Discussion

I think the Network will be a good adjunct to The Women’s Hair Loss Project. When I post women’s hair loss stories I will be able to not only post and respond to them but also link to their profile on the network (assuming they’ve created one). It will allow us all to share a little more about ourselves and get to know each other better. If you already have your hair loss story posted on the blog and would like it linked to your profile let me know!Create Your Profile Now!Create Your Profile Now and Start ConnectingView Profiles Already Online at http://community.womenshairlossproject.com Please let me know if you need any assistance creating your profile or signing up, I will be happy to help you women@womenshairlossproject.com

{ 5 comments }