Today's post is quite long but well worth. I am relaxing 2morro and very excited with all the growth I've gained however the ordeal is going to be bittersweet. I suffered from alopecia areata for many yrs and up until recently had no clue what I was suffering from. It always reared its ugly head on the left side of the nape heading up to the ear. I chalked it up to 1)Wools fabrics 2)stress 3)products. Over the yrs my stylists couldnt figure it out as I was a wkly patron and my routine hadn't changed. "Why is your hair breaking, are you on new medication?" I alo saw a well accredited African-American dermatologist who said it was "damaged" and gave me some injections which landed me a visit w/an ENT specialist b/c I ended up with a backup of fluid in my earl canal as a "side-effect" from the injections. When I really began to pay attn was in cosmetology school. If I was experiencing damage/overprocessing etc why was the damage localized to one area?! Everytime?! It just didn't make sense. I still didn't know what direction to turn.
Fast forward a couple of yrs and I went for a colonic. Well after analyzing the feces (ik it sounds gross but it's what they do....lol) she told me I had low iron and needed and supplement (your guess is as good as mine as to how they know from looking at poop). She referred a liquid herbal supplement and I immediately began taking daily. I noticed so many improvements in things that I didn't know were related to low iron counts and I was feeling great but after I would run out I would become very laxed about replenishing my supply. So right b/4 I was about to hit APL the thinning and falling began again. One day I looked up and I was damn near bald and while in tears the hubby says "let's back track, what've you done differently, what foods are you eating or have you stopped eating, it has to be something!" I thought long and hard b/c as above 1)It was summer no wool 2)I wasn't stressed at all 3)Hadn't switched products in forever and again was almost APL. We looked at my diet, exercise habits and then came the supplements. Whaddya know, I hadn't taken my iron supps in a couple of months. And guess what when I went for the colonic I was wearing a weave b/c of the same issue, it was after the supplement that my nape was growing to its longest lengths. When I would stop for months at a time it would start again. I never made the connection. I never even knew I was actually anemic!!! I called my mom right away b/c I know she's anemic and asked her was it hereditary and could I possibly have it. Her response "Chile you've been anemic since you were about 12 or 13 yrs old, where the heck you been". Well that's when it all began!!! Again bittersweet, the sweet? - I felt I finally could conquer this issue once and for all and retain length w/o any pitfalls - the bitter - Why the hell am I just finding this out about 18 years later. Why didnt' the stylist and the dermatologist hell even my physician do testing of hormonal imbalances etc related to alopecia areata or at least suggest one of these things as a possible cause. My allergist tested me for thyroid last yr b/c she thought that was the culprit and thank God it wasn't (and didn't even know it could've also been a factor) but she took more steps than anyone ever did leading me to step my game up!!
Long story short, or not so short lol but I am officially on the road to recovery. I cut my hair in an EL bob in Dec 08 and so my hair journey began. Ladies, I hope this helps somebody out here. I am writing about this b/c it has affected me for so long and during that time I felt like nobody understood what I was going through. It's been very hard and sometimes emotional, don't get me wrong I'm not one to trip over lenght, I've had Halle Berry, T-Boz cuts and longer hair as well. But the point is I want it cut when I chose to cut it, not when I'm forced because of problematic areas and point blank I don't like unhealthy hair anyway you slice it. If you find that you have similar issues, esp if they are localized to one area, please listen to that gut feeling and push your doctor! If they say it's nothing, see a specialist and another and antoher until you find out what's wrong. Do your own research if you have to but it's not normal by any means! Again how can hair have localized damaged when it's structured the same? You would see various breakage in different spots all over your head. But the same spot all the time! It's a sign of something deeper but it's up to you. I've atttached some links for you to check out but don't stop here. Hair's to knowledge and healthy hair growing! I hope this helped.
http://health.abqjournal.com/ConditionFactsheet.aspx?id=3&topicid=0&pg=1#S2 (check out the causes.
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good blog :) here's more info on anemia if required http://www.whatisanemia.info/
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