Losing Your Crowning Glory

Growing up, I never paid so much attention to my hair.  I remember my grandmother would always tell me to comb my hair, because it was never a habit for me to comb constantly.  The only time i would comb my hair was after taking a bath, as i would just tie it, once i feel that it's all messed up...then the next time i'd get to touch a hairbrush or a comb is the next bath time.  

Don't get me wrong though, i love my hair!  I'm just not the type who would go gaga when someone touches the "do".  I'm not the type too, who would be at a salon at least once a week, and would try all hair products, I just didn't put so much attention to it. 

It's a different case though, when you start losing hair, not just the normal 100 (ave.) strands a day but more than 500 strands a day!  That's what happened to me in the beginning of 2010, when i started noticing so much hair fall every time I took a bath.  Then, even if my hair wasn't wet, strands fell one by one with just a simple blow of a wind.  When I woke up every morning, i'd pick up more than a bunch of hair on my pillow, on the bed, or on my night shirt.  Then the baby hairs on my forehead were gone, and my hairline has receded.  I also noticed that the skin within my hairline has smoothened, just like that of a baby without hair or that of a bald person.

I started to get depressed and was stressing over my hair, which I was literally losing by the second.  When I was in Bacolod, my bestfriend, took me to a quack doctor, who told me that someone did that to me and he/she will never stop until i lost all my hair!  Creepy!  Imagine what i went through with that quack doctor, she crushed a lot of ginger and rubbed them all over my head, then magically small rocks / pebbles fell from my head, that my friend and I literally looked up the ceiling, wondering if they came from there.  I know now, that it was a bad idea to go to that lady, but at that time, especially when you are feeling desperate and hopeless, you would believe anything or anybody who can give you at least a tinge of hope - that things will get better.  I couldn't forget the smell of ginger all over my hair and scalp.  The old lady told me not to take a shower for 24 hours after my session with her...so, i'm sure you can just imagine the stench that I was stuck with.  But, as I said -- I was desperate and was willing to go through anything just to put a stop to the rapid hair fall.

When I got back home to Manila, I went to a dermatologist at Skin Health in Greenbelt as recommended by a good friend of mine (Jav Villarruel).  The doctor - Dra. Lorenzo, discovered I had more than 20 Alopecia Areata, a condition that caused round patches of hair loss or bald spots.  My bald spots were about 25 centavos in diameter each!  The doctor had to inject me with steroids on my scalp with at least 3-4 shots per bald spot, so that was a total of about 60 shots per session!  I can still remember the painful pokes of the needle until now.  I had to go back every 3 weeks since March till May.  Aside from the steroid shots, i had to take steroids orally, and vitamins for the hair.  I also had to apply steroid cream and minoxidil on the bald spots religiously with the help of our househelps, every morning and night.  

A sample of the hair fall i experienced every time i took a bath

While undergoing treatment, I also had thorough medical tests, to check what was causing my balding, however, everything came out normal.  According to the doctors who checked me (aside from the dermatologist, I also went to an internist),  my bald spots were caused by stress.  I didn't know what caused the stress at that time, but according to them, i may have experienced the stressor at least 2 months prior to the manifestation of the hair fall.  Their advice, was not to think too much of whatever it was that stressed me, and do a lot of relaxation techniques.  It was impossible for me not to stress out at that time, as it was an agony for me everyday to fix my hair to make sure that the bald spots didn't show.  Aside from that I was gaining weight rapidly due to the steroids I was taking.  So there - I was balding and getting bigger, and the hardest part is I didn't know what caused my stress.  Even though I am a strong person, I got depressed for awhile.  I knew I had to allow myself to feel it, or go through the emotion, so I don't keep going back to it.  Once I was done with that stage, it was time to let go and get well.   

After taking about 60 shots from my derma, i had to treat my son and myself at Mr. Jones

So, with a lot patience, a lot of massages, a lot of leaves from work, a family vacation, a lot of prayers, a lot of support from family, colleagues and friends, my hair started growing!  From June till October, i have grown more than 4 inches of hair already!   

Look at my baby hair, it's all curly and wavy!  A nice birthday gift from the God Almighty.

The moral of the story is, whatever it is that stresses us, it is not worth it!  When working hard, it is necessary to take a break, relax, call a friend, go for a walk, go to a spa, visit the prayer room, or if it's hard to do all these, just turn your back from your desk and close your eyes even just for 2 minutes.  Stress does not only cause bald spots, but it can also cause recurring headaches, weight gain/loss, lower immunity, and the most fatal - a heart attack.