lasercomb

Losing My Hair... Am I Vain? Rosalinda's Hair Loss StoryHi, my name is Rosalinda and I have been losing my hair since I was 17 years old. I am now 22 years of age. I started out with a huge thick mane and now I can pin everything up with two bobby pins. Sad! I dread taking showers or brushing my hair. I close my eyes when I take my hair out of my brush. I’ve heard from doctors that stress can cause hair loss and I stress about my hair loss all day long. I went to see a movie this weekend and I spent half the time looking at Eva Mendes’s full head of hair. I feel vain for thinking about it so much, it’s driving me nuts. I am on Yasmin and have been on it since I was 19. My hair loss started before I began the pill and I have been assured by many doctors that Yasmin wouldn’t make my hair fall out. I don’t want to leave the pill because my cramps are so severe I can’t function when I have them. I have had blood work and I am “fine” thyroid and anemia wise.

I don’t even remember all the tests the doctors ran. The three doctors I have seen have attributed my hair loss to stress and genetics. The dermatologist recommended dandruff shampoo and rogaine. Rogaine helps keep my hair from falling out, I do notice a difference when I try to get off of it. I am currently using extra strength for men (dermatologist said to do so) but it makes my scalp very itchy and full of dandruff. Does anyone else experience this? So I have a choice…head full of dandruff or a head with some hair, *sigh*. I am going to see a doctor again on Wed. to do blood work again, since the tests I took before were two years ago. I am also thinking of buying the laser comb. It is pricey $395-$500. Yikes! I laugh to myself because I just paid $700 to do laser hair removal surgery on my legs. Ack!

I’m trying to rearrange all of my hair situations my body has. Too funny. I noticed that no one on the blog site really had anything to say about the laser comb. Perhaps I can be the guinea pig for all of you. Take pictures and what not. What do you all think? Should I do it?

-Rosalinda

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Dear Rosalina –

Thank you so much for writing and sharing your story. I know the exact movie you made reference to, “We Own The Night” because I did the same thing as you. I couldn’t watch anything else other than Eva Mendes hair during the entire film. I’ve had that problem for quite sometime now, I actually wrote about that in this post titled “Hair Loss Can Quickly Become An Obession

Are you Vain? I don’t think so. I think you react in a very normal way to a disturbingly uncontrollable situation. Reading your email was like reading my own thoughts on paper. Trust me when I say I know exactly what you are going through, you used the words “thick mane” to describe your hair. I would as well to describe my former tresses that have since been replaced by thin fluffs of wispy hair. I actually use to get my hair thinned out at the hair dresser! Can you believe that??? My heart weeps when I think about that.

Since your hair loss started 2 years prior to you getting on the pill surely it cannot be responsible for the onset of your hair loss. In my opinion a doctor cannot state definitively whether the pill will make your hair fall out or not. Do they have a crystal ball? Likely not, and since most educated physicians know the possibility of hair loss occurring from the treatment of any synthetic hormones, they shouldn’t state things as facts that they have no way of knowing in advance. It really bothers me when I hear things like that. [click to continue…]

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Laser Comb and Other Laser Hair Loss TreatmentsI was asked yesterday what my thoughts were on the lasercomb and other various laser hair loss treatments currently available. Admittedly, I’m not incredibly knowledgeable about them, rather I just have a personal opinion. This is what I wrote in response:

“As far as the Lasercomb, I haven’t tried it. Any hair loss treatment (no matter what it is) can cause what they call the “dread shed,” which is excessive shedding for a couple months before you see improvement. Truth be told, I can’t afford to shed anymore hair than I already am. Since I personally don’t think very much of the laser treatments, it’s really not worth it to me. I think that there would be women screaming from the mountain tops “I got my hair back, look at my pictures” if it were really all it was hyped up to be. Hair loss treatment is always a very personal choice, but for me I wasn’t willing to try the lasercomb.”

Like I mentioned this is just my opinion. I would love to hear other women’s experiences with laser hair loss treatments, whether it was the Hairmax Laser Comb, the Laser Hair Brush by Sunetics etc.

What concerns me more than the hefty price tag these treatments have, (ripping off vulnerable women is always a concern) is that I would hate for any woman to experience ill effects from it. Proponents of the laser hair loss treatments will inevitably say that the shedding caused by the laser treatment would be an indication that the treatment is working. They might go on to explain that this means the laser is exerting it’s effect on the hair follicles which in time will prove to be positive. Maybe. Maybe not. After all there are tons of medications that cause hair loss and shedding that certainly are not having a positive effect on your hair.

We all must form our own opinions based on the very limited information out there about the laser hair loss treatments. If it helps women I would definitely like to know and be able to share that with the other women visiting this site. But for now my thoughts remain unchanged.

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