My Hair Fall Problem | Clare Henney

The pandemic is a stressful time for all of us. One thing I noticed recently is that I have been having a lot more hair fall than usual. I learned that I’m not alone in noticing that about myself. I’ve talked to friends at work and to my family about it and it seems that everyone is noticing the same thing. 

Photo from StockSnap on Pixabay

According to some articles I’ve read online, a lot of people are experiencing this during the pandemic, and that it’s a result of the stress we are feeling during this time. Some articles are saying that this is nothing to worry about and that hair will grow back, it’s just that we are “shedding” more than normal. It was also assured by some experts that people normally lose 50-100 hair strands a day and that sometimes people with longer hair (like mine) tend to think that they are losing more hair because their hair is long and it makes it look like you’ve lost a lot. 

To be fair, I used to think that my hair loss was not that bad. I think it wasn’t initially. People tend to assume that I am losing hair if they don’t know me well because I have a big forehead (a five-head, as Tyra Banks said about her own forehead) and I often covered it up with side-swept bangs. Now that my hair is long and in one length, people notice my forehead a lot more and think it’s due to hair loss. Even with the amount of hair I have lost so far I have not been that worried since I see a lot of “baby hairs” or shorter/newer hair growing from my scalp that are obviously replacing the ones I lost. It’s growing back, that’s what counts. 

I’ve had issues with hair loss before when I was having a stressful time at work and I started to use Aloe Vera Shampoo and Conditioner along with a serum for my scalp. I felt that my hair got thicker in the process and then I stopped using the products because I did not like the scent. It served its purpose, I moved on to more preferred shampoos and conditioners.

Now that hair fall has again become an issue, I decided to try a scalp massager. The problem was that when I used the massager, it seemed that I lost even more hair after it so I threw that one away (never again, the amount of hair that stuck in there scared me I thought I was going to need to wear a wig!). After that, I decided to look for another shampoo that I could use to help with my hair fall problem.

The salesperson at the SM Department store recommended a shampoo that she claimed was organic and was effective, with results showing up as fast as one week after first using it. I was skeptical because that seemed too good to be true (plus the shampoo was very expensive) but I decided to give it a try. I won’t reveal the brand name because I did see any significant difference after using the entire bottle.

I liked the scent and I felt a little tingle when using it on my scalp so I am guessing there is something medicinal about the shampoo that maybe helps with strengthening the hair or making it grow more. While I can’t say it made a significant difference, I also noticed that there wasn’t much hair fall after every shampoo compared to when I was using another brand. The shedding during the day, however, was still the same.

Another thing that I am doing to help prevent further hair loss is I’ve let my hair down more. I’ve been told that keeping it tied up could add to the strain on my hair so I decided to keep it down. I’ve also changed my bad habit of leaving the house with my hair still wet. Someone told me that leaving that way means the hair is still weak from being wet and I could get it tangled up while I go about my day. I was told this could lead to breakage and hair fall so I make sure my hair is dry before I leave the house now. I also bought a brush that is supposedly more gentle to use on the hair. This also doubles as a scalp massager (which is softer and less scary to use than the other massager I mentioned). 

Unfortunately, I was placed in quarantine last month and it caused me so much stress that my hair fall got so much worse. I panicked. I was trying to bear with it since I was trying to grow my hair to donate it, but I felt that I needed to do something or I wouldn’t have any hair left to donate. I cut it short. I never had hair fall issues when my hair was short, so I decided to cut it to try to see if it would make it healthier I can. I could always grow it back and donate later. I really wanted to see it through and donate 12 inches of my hair but at that point, I was too stressed out to even think about keeping it long. I’m hoping that the cut helps because I don’t see what else I can do right now.

If anyone else has any tips and tricks about this problem of mine, please feel free to leave a comment and help me out!