What on earth to do with my hair? Curly and fine/thinning

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

I used to love my hair a few years ago, but I had a severe illness about 15 years ago and it all fell out. It did come back eventually and didn't look too bad. But now I am ill again and also suffer from a range of age/illness related issues and my hair is really thinning on top.

So, my hair is now very fine and soft. It is cut to between jaw and shoulders and is slightly layered. It is coloured by the hairdresser to hide the grey. I cannot blow dry it as it just frizzes to nothing, so I leave it wettish and let it dry into corkscrew curls. This looks OK for most of the day, but the thinning is worst on top and so goes very flat. If I sleep on it, then my hair is almost straight the next day and you can see how little I have now :(

So, can anyone give me any advice as to products, techniques that might help? I don't really want to cut it shorter as I like my curls :)

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

Can anyone help, please?

[Beautyfm]

Hi There
Have you thought of haveing extentions in the Hairdresses or what about a wig my friend has loads of different styles and they look fab real hair as well.
The other new product you can try get it from super drug or boots is VO5
Give me texture instant oomph powder brilliant brilliant gives instant volume
lasts for ages. hope that helps x

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

I don't think extensions would work as I am thin on top. I could look at the VO5 idea - thanks for answering :)

[nellie02]

I too have fine curls. I'd suggest a good cut (i have some layers much shorter, including the back, which magically makes it look fuller). Then not too much product and a light conditioner (bumble and bee (sic?) have a light curl creme specifically for fine curls, and it doesn't need serum etc with it).

And finally, you could try lifting some sections up in a twist and pinning them towards your crown?

[clucky80]

Hi there, my hair is very similar to yours fine and naturally curly. Four years ago I had to have alot of surgery and the subsequent medication I need to take has hair loss as a known side effect. I was lucky and didn't lose all my hair and it thinned all over rather than in patches but it just looked like thin little straggles of curls if you know what I mean. I started with long hair and got shorter and shorter. I always swore I would never have a short bob because of the frizziness and curls but getting it cut shorter definitely thickened it up. Also changing my parting and having a side fringe cut further back covered some of the bits on top where my scalp was showing through. I tried the shampoos that give volume and they helped slightly but I started using Nioxin shampoo, conditioner and lotion. I got it in a hairdressers and I think you can buy it online. From what I remember it doesn't smell great, not disgusting but not like the mainstream shampoos but it stimulates the hair follicle or something. It took a good 3 months or so but my hairdresser did say I was getting regrowth. I tried hair extensions as I was getting married and they were ok but my hair wasn't great when I had them taken out. The clip in extensions are quite good and you can get bits to add volume at the top but I was a bit cautious about using them as I felt the clip bits might show through because there wasn't much hair there. I have to be very careful with supplements and I am not allowed to take any kind of herbal medication or ingrediants as they may boost my immune system which is bad for me but I have heard that Nourikrin tablets are good although you need to give them a few months to work as it takes a long time for new hair to grow through and have a noticeable impact. When I am really aneamic I defintely lose more hair and I had an iron infusion in February and that has helped with hairloss. Also when you are ill you don't really feel like eating but increasing my protein intake has helped with my hair. I'm sorry I have written such a long post, I just know how distressing it is when you are losing your hair and I have tried and tested lots of methods!

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

thanks so much - this gives me so much to think about! :)

[Conflugenglugen]

Make an appointment with Philip Kingsley Trichological Clinics for your thinning hair. It is expensive, but I have found it to be completely and utterly worth it.

[chipstick10]

Am plucking up courage to make an appointment with Philip Kingsley.

[Conflugenglugen]

I think you'll find it's worth it. From my perspective, I had had increasingly thinning hair for a few years, and it got to the point where my DH told me that it was noticeable and that I might want to consider seeing if I could do something about it. I was diagnosed with female pattern baldness - it's not easy to hear at first - but told that it is treatable, if not completely reversible. In other words, they can stop the thinning, and some will grow back, but not all of it. I am now on hormone drops - which I apply to my hair daily. It costs a pretty penny and the consultation isn't cheap. But my hair has already started to grow back, and I cannot tell you what that has done for my self-esteem.

Apparently, pattern baldness (which is usually a sensitivity to testosterone, not too much of it) is the least easy to treat, so anything else should also be more than able to be treated.

Just don't go for any of the optional extras and stick to the bare bones of what you need to pay for - they'll tell you if you ask.

Good luck!

[Conflugenglugen]

Cost will be in the region of £200 - £300 for the consultation and initial treatment; and then £55 per month. You'll need to decide whether it's worth it.

[chipstick10]

What??????? i am shocked. I know what the consultation costs but im shocked at the price of the hormone drops. Is this for life? I have researched extensively and im positive i have fpb.

[superv1xen]

about 7 years ago i had loads of hair loss through stress and depression and although luckily mine wasn't noticeable it was still very scary when it was coming out in huge clumps in the shower, on my brush etc

i also used nioxin shampoo and it was brilliant, after a few months it slowed the hair loss right down and i got loads of regrowth. so i would definitely recommend it.

i also used nourkrin supplements and i think they definitely helped too although they were expensive, i do think they work.

[chipstick10]

I think TE which is when you shed loads of hair is reversable fpb is not. I am still reeling from the price of the hormone drops.

[Conflugenglugen]

Yes, the hormone drops are expensive. I didn't shop around - to be honest, I was desperate and terribly upset when I made the appointment - so it is absolutely possible you'd find an equivalent at a more reasonable price. The difficulty lies, I think, in the fact that Philip Kingsley makes its own products, and I'm not sure how much the ingredients are in the public domain. Also, because they are hormone-based, they are subject to stricter regulations, and you'll need to have your hormone levels checked annually, which is a regulatory precaution.

[Conflugenglugen]

Yes, you don't get hair growing back with FPB unless you have some form of clinical intervention. I just couldn't bear the thought of being one of those elderly women with about five hairs on their heads. It was a compelling reason to bite the bullet and invest in the hormone treatment.

[chipstick10]

Cornflugenglugen thanks muchly for your help. I am still reeling re the price because if its something like regaine or whatever its called isnt it the fact that you have to use it everyday for ever and ever or your hair falls out again? Ps very happy it has worked for you i know how shattering it is.

[Conflugenglugen]

I reel too ... and then I put the cost on my credit card :)

As far as I know, you do need to use it permanently.

[chipstick10]

They certainly catch you by the short and curlys so to speak. They know noone is going to walk away and say "no thanks i dont think ill bother i'll just live with the hairloss" They can charge what they like. Its a bit of a racket really. Im imagining they can hike the price up anytime they like. woah im still reeling. £55 every month for life.

[Conflugenglugen]

£55 every month until the monopoly is broken. It does seem unfair, doesn't it? But, then, given so many of us are willing to pay for it, then 'fairness' becomes relative. Sheesh!

[chipstick10]

I suppose the only way to look at it (i looked at worst case senario) very good quality wigs are mega expensive and need changing every 2 years. Hair systems, hair extentions etc all very very expensive and on going, so its all relative i suppose, and your right Con until the monopoly is broken.

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

oh dear, I can't afford anything like that, so I will just have to live with it :(

[chipstick10]

NotQuiteSoDesperate have you considered looking into "Viviscal" ? Have been looking into it myself, mixed reviews but its a natural product.

[NotQuiteSoDesperate]

Chipstick- hadn't heard of that before, will do the research, thanks.

[chipstick10]

I can see the scalp on my crown, i hate it, i could probably live with the rest but that bits awful.