What is happening to my hair??

[postcardfromme]

I found a bald patch (pic attached) in the middle of my scalp yesterday...I am a bit worried now :-(((
Does anyone know what / why this is happening?

It could be alopecia areata but obviously this is only a guess OP. I do sympathise though. My hair is thinning all over at the moment and I am losing lots of hair every time I wash it. I think it's probably something to do with my underactive thyroid but as I cannot get a GP appointment at the moment I am unable to get this checked.

I noticed my hair had a few thinning patches about a year or so ago.
I had been very stressed at work and hardly eating.
I used coconut oil (think about 3 pound from Sainsbury's) heated up and applied to my scalp for 30 minutes every time before i washed my hair. Pic before and 2 months later.
I m now WFH (pandemic) so eating a more healthy diet and walking for exercise and had no further trouble, though I did cut my hair by a few inches to get rid of the dead frizzy ends and stop dyeing it.

Thank you both for replying. @recklessruby I will definitely give coconut oil a try - hope your hair continues to thrive! 😊

Iron deficiency?
Fungal infection?
Stress related?
Do you wear glasses on your head or clip your hair up?

How old are you ?
I started to lose hair aged about 43.

Oh forgot to say are you on any medication?
Some anti depressants can have hair loss as a side effect.

I'm 43 and on a very low dose of sertraline 50mg

Do you have autoimmune disease in your family. Alopecia areata possibly, or Lupus.

We have autoimmune in my family, and my nephew had this type of loss. They did scalp injections and I think vitamin D supplements.

Good luck, I hope you get it resolved.

@postcardfromme

Maybe try some of this.

www.lookfantastic.com/aveda-thickening-hair-tonic-100ml/11095596.html?widget_id=91264&affil=thgppc&kwds=39700058783045446&thg_ppc_campaign=71700000065525030&adtype=&product_id=&gclid=fdad12431f6315d743874db46d949a74&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=fdad12431f6315d743874db46d949a74&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UK%20%7C%7C%20EN%20%7C%7C%20NB%20%7C%7C%20DSA%20%7C%7C%20Index%20%7C%7C%20Designer%20URLs&utm_term=%2Faveda&utm_content=DSA%20%7C%7C%20Aveda

You can get similar products too. Just google it.

All the best. Must be worrying for you.

It could be age dependent, or hormonal?

I have naturally very thin hair, so my post partum hair loss was particularly noticeable at the time. I used Nioxin shampoo, which, although it's expensive, worked very well for me - there are lots of different systems depending on your hair type. I also found that trying to avoid heat styling, leaving longer between washes, and using a wet brush helped. Try to stay away from any chemical treatments, especially home hair dyes.

This worked for me, didn’t expect it to.

watermanshair.com/collections/hair-growth-shampoo-and-conditioner/products/best-hair-growth-shampoo-fast-hair-growth

Another one who was losing hair here. I never found a reason for it. I guess stress.

What helped me was Neem oil. Within weeks of using it I had new hairs growing back.
It smells like death but it's worth it.
Mix some in with your shampoo and can also be massaged neat into the scalp. But rubbing any oil into your scalp and stimulating blood flow helps. So coconut oil works too as others have suggested.

@popNlock thank you for you recommendation...where can I buy Neem oil?

I usually find it in Asian shops. In the hair care section. But you can order it online from many places too.

www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/miaroma-neem-oil-60036303

And holland and barrett!

There are many brands. I find the ones in Asian supermarkets just as good and often much cheaper than fancy health store labels and brands.

Thank you you all have been really helpful. I'm just so worried this will get worse so I really want to try anything!

Please try not to worry all the time. I know it's silly to say as I have been in your shoes. But the more I stressed and cried it seemed like the quicker my hair fell out.
I domt want to pry but if there's anything else extremely stressful happening in your life (minus the global pandemic) maybe try to work through that to try bring your stress levels down .Good luck op.

I even went to a dermatologist to look at my scalp. And although she couldn't even guess what it was at the time she said more often than not, its down to stress.
She told me that once any other health factor was at not at play (alopecia etc) that it would likely come back with a little encouragement and massage. My hair is back to normal and it took about 6 months.

I have really thin fine hair which were falling out. Whilst wfh I kept the oil routine every night, a mix of almond, castor and coconut and also started some hair burst. I also had low iron and vitamin d whilst this happened so maybe get some blood tests done aswell. My hair has come a long way in the past 6 months.

@popNlock > 'I domt want to pry but if there's anything else extremely stressful happening in your life ...'

Early 2019 I was starting to find small clumps of hair coming out, and my brush was showing me I had a problem. I really thought I was going to lose my hair (eg perhaps alopecia, because I did have stress). Googling, I found the condition 'Telogen effluvium'. This is a condition when 'more hairs shift to shedding stage' than is normal, and can happen suddenly. This condition can actually be brought on by stressful events. I was massively grieving at the time but wouldn't have thought it would have such a physical effect, as it was a grief that many would dismiss.

If someone's suffering from telogen effluvium the good news is hair will go back to normal quite quickly, as the follicles haven't been damaged by it (unlike alopecia). I found hair/nail/skin supplement helped, but had to use one that didn't need to be taken on a full stomach as I also wasn't eating.

caspah I sympathise, I’m guessing it may have been loss of a pet, the type of grief many people dismiss but can actually be devastating, made worse because society in general doesn’t recognise it so you can’t openly express it either so exacerbates the problem.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful replies...they are very encouraging 😊I am under a lot of stress at work and personal life. This is a wake up call...I need to slow down and stop stressing about what I can't change. I've noticed my skin is so dry - that's probably due to wearing a mask all day! My bones are achy and squeaky! I really need a rest and forget everything for a couple of weeks. I need to exercise, drink water and just allow myself to breathe!

@ZaraCarmichaelshighheels - Yep. Love the name

Mine has improved a lot from stop using hair elastics (only soft scrunchies and not all the time) and taking nails for hair, skin & nails. My nails break less easily too. My skin hasn't improved though.