Thinning Hair, what to do?!

Hair is so personal, right?

I mean, we can try to categorize our hair by curl pattern, color, porosity, etc., but the reality is, everyone’s hair is different. E ven if I find someone with similar hair to me, there’s always enough variants to make me think I’m wandering through the hair-world on my own. Because of this,  I always look to my mom for help with my hair since I literally have her genes. I have the same color, texture, curl pattern, and even scalp issues that she has. She’s one of my very best friends and has been doing my hair since the day I was born. Who else better to gab hair to?!

My mom is in her late 50s but doesn’t look a day over 35. (Woohoo, black don’t crack!) However, when she told me about her thinning hair, I knew that was something I could likely expect to deal with in the future, as well. Sure, I’ve made a few different hair choices than she has, (usually in protective styles, went natural a lot earlier in life, don’t put a lot of heat on my natural hair, etc.), but I still know this could be what is in store for me.

I decided to try to be proactive about it and do some research into what I could do to help prevent, slow down, or stop this all together. Her thinning is around the top of her head (the crown) and is easily hidden. I wanted to find several ways to prevent thinning all together, hide thinning if and when it occurs, and possibly even treat or reverse thinning hair. Here’s what I found:

• Masks – Especially in the black hair community, there’s been a charge to go back to our natural roots, not only in how we wear our hair, but how we treat it. Our hair is curly and porous and hand-crafted by God! It deserves only the best treatments. This could include things like avocado and olive oil hair masks that promote moisture and hair strength, clay masks that promote stretching without breaking, and castor oil hair masks which treat the scalp. Lots to consider in this option… (and lots of messes to be made!)

• Medicated Treatments: So my mom recently started seeing a dermatologist, which has been integral in her treating her hair loss and the scalp condition we share. The key here has been seeing a black dermatologists who understands our hair, our scalp, and how best to treat it with the day-to-day. I should probably begin seeing one as well, however, my mom sees the ONLY BLACK DERMATOLOGIST IN OHIO and she is in Cleveland. Isn’t that sad?!

• SMP: Okay Kelsea, wtf is this? It’s a way to HIDE your thinning hair. SMP is a specialized pen that technicians use to implant pigment into a client’s scalp in the form of tiny dots that mimic the appearance of closely shaven hair follicles! (Think microblading.) Artist Clayton Rush of Ohio SMP Studio has been in the hair industry for over twenty-one years. He applied his SMP technique on himself and decided he wanted to pass along the benefits to the public.  He opened multiple successful barbershops and is a multi award-winning master barber in every type of hair color, hair thickness, and hairline there is. You can learn more about it all by watching these Micropigmentation reviews and see how it’s done! The results will shock you!

• Diet: This one hurts to type out because I know, that I know, that know, that I KNOW if I were to just drink more water, eat a better diet, and maybe exercise once in a while, about 99% of my problems would disappear. Like literally *POOF* they’d be gone. Here’s the issue: 1. I hate working out with a severe passion. 2. I am addicted to Uber eats. 3. I’m still nursing so I just exist in a constant state of dehydration.

• Protective Styles: they call them protective for a reason, girl! Wearing weaves keeps my hair braided up and protected for most of the year. I do need to get better about giving my hair breaks in between weaves, however. The tension from the sew in has broken off my edges before. (Don’t worry, they’re back with a vengeance.) But I truly always see a difference when my hair is protected for a long period time in its length and strength. 

Fortunately, hair loss isn’t an issue quite yet for me, but I know it’s probably not far off on the horizon. I’m glad to know the options I do have if and when it becomes a priority in my life. Especially Micro Scalp Pigmentation! How cool?!