Losing my hair

There were some female presenters on the TV now sho have lost their hair for some reason or another and have spoken about this.
One that came to mind was Andi Oliver but I have just found out that she shaves her head. (why?)

Why is it seemingly acceptable for men but not so for women?

I remember you talking about your hair system, kate1949 and thought that it sounded excellent, more natural-looking than a wig although they have improved tremendously over the years.
My hair got so thin on a treatment I was on years ago I thought it would all go but the treatment was changed and it did grow back. I feel for anyone who has the same problem.

It's easy to say don't feel down, not easy if it's yourself so all we can do is offer support if you are reliving trauma you endured all over again now.
I hope you have kind and supportive people around who can help you.

susan56 that is what I did, and over the months I went from completely rejecting it after I got it home to maybe to Hmm to give it a go to yes!!

No, of course it isn’t pathetic! Our hair is a part of our character. When I had cancer 10 years ago, I was terrified of losing my hair/eyebrows/eyelashes, more so than I was of the cancer. It didn’t come to that, thank providence, but completely understand how you must be feeling 💐

I will try and persevere with my wig.I have to say when she put it on it brought tears to my eyes as I looked just like me again. I think wearing it in the house and building up the time is the way to go.
My son in law didn’t even notice when I arrived home with it and as my daughter said if anyone would notice it would be him!
Thank you all so much for your kind comments.
Kate💐

MayBee70

I’ve just done some googling and realised that since I bought my wigs many years ago many hairdressers now sell them, give advice and customise them. My own hairdresser customised one of my wigs and ruined it. Looking at something on instagram it pointed out how many celebrities wear wigs eg Nicole Kidman always wears them. I went to a fancy dress party my daughter gave and felt great because everyone knew it was a wig but it didn’t matter! It was a short dark bob ( I was a suffragette): just the sort of hair I’ve always wanted!

Yes - and honestly if you think about it when you are out and about people really will not realise and you have the huge bonus of feeling so much more confident. I think it is definitely a win all around.

I’ll try to post a picture of my wig. I went for something that imitated my hair style when I had hair. I am also still having what hair I have coloured, and so the wig matches that, but I am thinking of allowing it to grow out and eventually to get a wig of my real colour.

I think that if you have no hair at all, the way to go is to look at your skin colour. So if you are like me very fair, black hair will never work. Think Claudia Winkleman she is naturally fair but after dying her hair black she now has a permanent dark tan to match her hair colour.

Not at all crazyH

Kate1949 - I really didn’t mean to suggest that your hair and tooth loss was part of ageing. It’s hard to think like that after what you’ve been through. What I meant to say that most of us lose our hair and teeth as we get older. I can definitely speak for myself.
I know your story , so apologies if it came across differently.

I think wigs have moved on since the 'old' days.

I’ve just done some googling and realised that since I bought my wigs many years ago many hairdressers now sell them, give advice and customise them. My own hairdresser customised one of my wigs and ruined it. Looking at something on instagram it pointed out how many celebrities wear wigs eg Nicole Kidman always wears them. I went to a fancy dress party my daughter gave and felt great because everyone knew it was a wig but it didn’t matter! It was a short dark bob ( I was a suffragette): just the sort of hair I’ve always wanted!

My heart goes out to you.
It’s bad enough a guy loosing his hair but must be devastating for a woman.
My dad developed Alopecia in his 40s, after a stressful ordeal of having our dog put to sleep we think!
After trying Regaine, which didn’t do much, he was referred for homeopathic treatment at a Liverpool hospital. He spent a fortune on these private homeopathic treatments, which showed promising results.
Turns out my mum spotted the same treatment in boots for a fraction of the price on the homeopathic stand.
It might be worth going to a really good herbalist & enquiring which ones are suitable.
His hair did come back in the end, eyebrows came back not so much.
I believe in these treatments as when I was learning to drive, I was having panic attacks. Gp put me on beater blockers which didn’t agree with me.
I ended up taking a homeopathic remedy called ‘argent nit 30c’.
I did end up passing my test first time with no nerves.
Worth a try.

I seem to lose an awful lot of hairs. They are all over the place.
Luckily my hair is quite thick so it doesn't notice yet.
It is absolutely not pathetic, Kate to hate hair loss. It's often these seemingly unimportant things that can bug us as we get older.
I do have a peculiar thing happening to my hair , - it's going black around the edges. It's been white for years, but now I have black hair by my ears and in my fringe, etc. Does anyone else have this?

susan56 don’t give up on the idea of a wig entirely. I am sure that there are wigs especially for sensitive scalps and very light indeed.

Perhaps we need a wig club to give each other tips and pointers?

My hair never fully recovered after breast cancer, and I began to loose it even more after a bad dose of covid and then flu.

I have struggled for all that time with my hair getting thinner and thinner and looking dreadful.

I initially thought a topper was the way to go, but the wig consultant lady said that my hair was too brittle - and so a wig it was. Well, that, was in February, and it has taken me all that time to pluck up the courage to wear it out of the house. I had spent the intervening time trying it on, rejecting it then trying it on again and fiddling with it.

Anyway last week out I went - just to the garden centre. Wow! Getting into the car my neighbour shouted “like your hair, have you just been to the hairdressers?” I told him it was a wig and he was genuinely astonished. Off I sailed and carried on perfectly normally, and it was patently obvious, that no one noticed at all. People just glance as normal and carry on, but my goodness what a difference to my confidence!

So I say go for it - one bonus I paid no VAT because hair lose was due to medical reasons.

Oh Susan I feel for you. It takes sway your feminity and confidence not that I had much of that. Weddings and social events become something to dread. Yes my hair system is great and has helped me but it's quite expensive and I know it's there. Also my lovely hairdressers see me with a bald head. It's humiliating and traumatic. In the scheme of things it's nothing but to me it is.

Maybee💐
I notice wigs too but I don’t think anyone else does either and definitely something inbetween would be per.
I thought we were done with weddings too as this couple said never and here we are with a two day extravaganza 😩

Susan56

It’s not pathetic at all.I lost a lot of hair through illness a few years ago but as I had really thick hair it was okayish.
Last year I was really ill and lost hair from the top of my head.It has affected me massively.I have lost all confidence and although I plan to do things, meet people etc I can’t.I am ok with family and a few close friends but feel sick at the thought of meeting other people.Even writing this I feel sick.
I think to myself it’s only hair, get over yourself.A nurse asked me what I had done to my hair, did I pull it out which really didn’t help.
With a band I can convince myself it looks ok.
The clinic referred me for a wig on the NHS.It is amazing and looks like my hair but after wearing it for a couple of hours I am in pain as my scalp is too delicate.
We have a wedding to attend in the summer and I really don’t want to go.
My husband, daughters and granddaughter are such a support to me.
I just need to accept it I think and then maybe I will get some confidence back.
Sorry Kate, I don’t want to take over but just say I totally totally understand how you feel.Sending you so much love💐

Wigs make me itch terribly and in summer I overheat. I have two but I’ve never worn them. Winter isn’t too bad because I have the world’s biggest selection of hats and head warmers but I’m scared of situations in which I have to take them off. I wish someone would invent something half way between a hat and a wig. I’m glad that I no longer have any weddings to attend as they were occasions that I dreaded because of my hair. I bought my wig to wear when I went to the theatre, the only time that I ever made an effort to dress up but I no longer go to the theatre. Because of my own hair problem I do tend to notice when other people are wearing wigs when, in fact, no one else does. I don’t really feel feminine without hair .

Susan56

Thank you everyone. To those who say it's part of ageing to lose hair and teeth, I was 11 years old when I had all my teeth removed due to neglect. It as been difficult. Yes I am aware that people go through worse. Then in my 50s when I lost my hair. I now have none. Yes I have a system and am lucky there but the psychological effects remain.

I started loosing my hair after covid too. I also lost my dh at the same time so wasn't sure which caused it. But I read that the high temperature you get with covid damages the hair folicals causing hair to come out. Luckily mine ceased after about 4 months and I just shed the normal ....for me anyway....amount.
I really feel for you ladies with this issue and the thought reminds me of the panic I felt everytime I brushed or washed my hair during that time!!!

mum2three, I too have grown to love a hat.A beanie or bobble hat in winter and sun hats for summer.But not sure what for this season😫

Something odd happened to me. I had grey hair around the periphery of my face, and thick eyebrows. Then I caught Covid and all the grey hair fell out and hasn't grown back. So now I have brown hair with a receding hairline and no eyebrows!
I wear a hat when I go out!

It’s not pathetic at all.I lost a lot of hair through illness a few years ago but as I had really thick hair it was okayish.
Last year I was really ill and lost hair from the top of my head.It has affected me massively.I have lost all confidence and although I plan to do things, meet people etc I can’t.I am ok with family and a few close friends but feel sick at the thought of meeting other people.Even writing this I feel sick.
I think to myself it’s only hair, get over yourself.A nurse asked me what I had done to my hair, did I pull it out which really didn’t help.
With a band I can convince myself it looks ok.
The clinic referred me for a wig on the NHS.It is amazing and looks like my hair but after wearing it for a couple of hours I am in pain as my scalp is too delicate.
We have a wedding to attend in the summer and I really don’t want to go.
My husband, daughters and granddaughter are such a support to me.
I just need to accept it I think and then maybe I will get some confidence back.
Sorry Kate, I don’t want to take over but just say I totally totally understand how you feel.Sending you so much love💐

Forever Marine Collagen sold as a box of 30. EBay prices are about £64 for a box. Take for at least 3 months. Having had a miraculous hair regrowth, I now take 3 or 4 sachets weekly. Collagen, biotin, zinc, vit C. Also Korres shampoo for hair loss has helped plus cheap hair conditioner.

No it isn't pathetic Kate. Its very understandable. . You need to look at all you have accomplished though despite your childhood. A good family and a nice home. Also so many people who once had thick hair and good teeth, start to loose both as they get older. I knew two men, very attractive, married who both lost all their own teeth in early twenties and I honestly didn’t know. A friend of mine started to lose her hair after her husband died and she wears scarves, tied round her head, like a headband but wider, they look great, people see you, not thinning hair as we all have faults. You should be proud of yourself. I do not wish to come over as lacking in understanding for how you feel, just that you are so much more than that.

both.

I joked with with MrP, how is that hairs keep coming on my top lip but falling out on my head. 🤨

Kate
If I remember correctly I thought you said you had a hair system .
Has something happened with that. I remember you put up a picture.
But all the best wigs etc in the world can’t take away the sadness of loosing our hair.
Up until a few weeks ago I had stopped the fall out for a few years but now it’s falling out at the rate it started with about 6 years ago.
I spent hundreds of pounds seeing probably the top Trichologist in the country.