Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello ladies, are you struggling with hairloss?
I want you to know you're not alone.
Hi, I'm Bambi Staveley, former registerednurse, author, founder of Boost N Blend
and someone who probably just like you hashad first -hand experience with hair loss,
which is all covered in my latest book,Hair Loss in Women.
(00:23):
When I noticed my own hair thinning 15years ago,
I went looking for information and I wentlooking for products for women, just like
you and me.
But all I could find out there wasproducts made for men.
And most of the information I could findwas about male pattern baldness.
Well, that's not much help.
So I set out to change that.
(00:44):
I want to see women with hair loss talkingabout it and talking to each other,
sharing their stories from a place ofknowledge.
So join me.
as I meet some courageous women.
I'll share some information and we'lllearn together on the Hair Loss in Women
podcast.
(01:12):
Hi ladies and welcome to the Hair Loss inWomen podcast.
In this podcast, you'll hear real storiesfrom women like you and me about their
hair loss.
I'm also going to share some facts, someinformation and some interesting tips
around hair loss in the aim to help everywoman listening in some way.
(01:33):
So you'll hear that straight after ourinterview.
And for this episode, I'll be talkingabout stress.
So make sure you stay listening after theinterview for that.
Of course, in this episode and in all theepisodes, the advice given is of a general
nature.
Please check with your doctor for specifichealth advice.
I believe that the most powerful way toconnect and feel okay about where we're at
(01:59):
is to share stories.
So with that in mind, I've asked somewomen who have struggled with hair loss
themselves, some who found a way toimprove it, and some who are still living
with their hair loss to share theirstories with you.
and I'm really grateful for theircontribution.
Today, I'm talking to someone who brokeher silence about her own hair loss when
(02:20):
she appeared on the Australian TV program,Insight, in 2022.
I hope you enjoy this conversation I hadwith John.
Jot, welcome to the podcast and thanks fortalking to me and to all of us today.
(02:43):
Thanks, baby.
I want to find out about this moment whenyou decided to talk quite publicly about
your hair loss.
But first, tell me a bit about your ownjourney.
When did you first discover you werelosing your hair?
Look, I started noticing hair loss andprobably when I was 16, but I didn't
really pay attention to it.
And in fact, I because I had really,really thick, long hair growing up.
(03:08):
It was really hard to manage.
And so when it was falling out and I was16, I was in high school, like final year
of high school.
In a way, I was kind of a little bitrelieved because I felt like if it was a
bit, if I had less hair, it would be alittle bit more manageable.
I didn't really think anything of it, butwhen I was in my early 20s, I went to see
a dermatologist about my skin and she saidto me, oh, I noticed that your hair is a
(03:32):
little bit thin at the front there.
And I hadn't really thought about it.
I was never, you know, one of these girlygirls that really worried about hair,
makeup, fashion, any of that sort ofstuff.
So I was like, oh, okay.
I think she then referred me to aspecialist dermatologist.
I think I was now in my mid twenties andhe did a biopsy, a scalp biopsy and
(03:54):
basically said, you know, you haveandrogenic alopecia.
I wasn't super surprised because both mymum and dad had hair loss.
So I had the crappy hair genes on bothsides of the family.
So from about that point on, I've gonedown the medication path.
So I've been on one form of medication oranother since that time.
(04:17):
I have sort of taken breaks from it, butthe medication pathway has changed over
the years because when I first startedall, all you could have was a topical
minoxidil.
But then, you know, then they startedgiving you Spiro and then they were
starting to combine it.
And then, you know, various differentdrugs came on the market that they were
(04:37):
using for female hair loss.
I had sort of started using fibers at thatpoint, but I, you know, I did the whole
looking at the back of my scalp with amirror and realizing how thin the crown
had gotten.
And then that was when I was like, okay,it's really, it's really progressed.
And while I've been on medication, youknow, I'm...
Like it's hard to know because it, if Ihadn't been on it, it might have
(05:00):
progressed a lot more.
These days I kind of, I wear toppers whenI wear my hair down and I wear fibers when
I, or use fibers when I wear my hair upbecause I wear my hair up in a bun.
And so, you know, you can cover that sortof back area.
Um, so yeah, that's sort of how my journeyhas been over the last 30, 25, 30 years.
(05:22):
Wow.
So are you on any medication these days?
Yep, I am.
So I'm on a combination of like sublingualminoxidil by clutamide and a combination
of sort of these vitamins, minerals kindof, it's a combination drug that they give
And do you feel that that's making adifference?
(05:44):
Like I said, it's hard to know.
You know, I'm still shedding hair, butwould I have a lot more if I wasn't on it?
I'm, you know, now post menopause and Iknow things get a lot worse.
in that time of our life.
So it's, it's really hard to know.
The good thing is, is I don't really getside effects.
So I'm happy to keep taking them.
(06:06):
Um, you know, if I was someone that wasgetting really nasty side effects, I would
probably stopped a long time ago.
So you're wearing either up with fibers ordown with a topper and that's pretty much
every day.
Well, if I'm home, I don't go.
In fact, when I go out shopping, I justwear a cap.
I don't wear fibers or a topper becausewith androgenic alopecia, the texture of
(06:28):
your hair changes.
So it becomes quite frizzy and dry and itdoesn't really matter what shampoos or
oils you put in it.
It still doesn't really help me.
And I know some people when they wearfibers, they just don't like the way their
hair looks.
And so they would prefer to wear a wig ora topper all the time.
(06:48):
But I'm, yeah, like I said, I'm not toofussed about that.
And I go to work essentially with fibresand my hair up in a bun.
It's an interesting world we live in, youand I.
It's just something that only I thinkother women who are going through what
we're going through could reallyappreciate.
(07:09):
How much it adds to our day, to gettingready in the morning.
Yeah.
You know, to having someone stay over.
We had some friends stay over this lastweek and, and, um, you know, you, you just
want to always look your best.
So there's a lot we need to do to stay ontop of that.
Tell me what was the reception like afterthe show and you know, what was it like to
(07:35):
tell your story on television?
Yeah.
It must've been a very daunting task.
It was very daunting.
It was very nerve wracking.
I questioned myself, questioned why I wasdoing that, why I was putting myself
through that kind of stress because I'mnot someone that likes to be the center of
attention or anything.
(07:56):
I don't like public speaking or anythinglike that.
So I think though that once I committed toit, I kind of had to go through with it.
I think the thing was though that I didn'tget asked a lot of things.
You know, usually with the insightprogram, they'll feature one or two people
and then they'll have the other peoplethat they'll just ask one or two questions
of.
And I guess the other thing for me wasthat there was two really young girls who,
(08:21):
you know, I think one was eight or nineand the other one was 11.
Um, and both of them had, uh, alopeciauniversalis or ariatis.
And I just kind of saw how brave theywere.
Like they were, I,
bumped into one of them in the foyer ofthe hotel and you know, we got the cab
together with her mum to the studio and Isort of said to her, how are you feeling
(08:44):
about this?
And she said, nervous but excited.
And I said, yeah, me too.
But yeah, they were incredibly brave.
And so, yeah, I figured if they could doit, you know, I should put my big curl
pants on and be able to do it as well.
But I actually think that,
(09:04):
putting the post up on Facebook.
I was more nervous about that becausebefore the show, like we filmed the show
two or three months before it actually isput on air.
So when we got the date of when it wasgonna be put on air, like the day before I
sent, I put a post up on Facebook and thatwas like, I was really, really nervous
(09:25):
about that.
Because I think perhaps because these arethe people that...
should care about you and you you hopethat they would support you and that there
wouldn't be any light judgment or anythinglike that.
So whereas when you're on TV, like it's abunch of strangers essentially.
So you don't really care that much.
The good thing was I had some privatemessages from friends who said, you know,
(09:45):
I have the same thing and I didn't know.
They said, we didn't know about you and wehave it as well.
And, and cousins of mine who liveoverseas, they sort of also.
which doesn't surprise me because you knowsame genes I guess so they said as well
you know we have thin hair and maybe weshould talk to you about toppers and
things like that so yeah overwhelminglysupportive no negative comments it's like
(10:12):
old news you know no one's really talkedabout it since I don't really post about
it on Facebook you know my account onInstagram I've got a hair loss account and
then a personal account and I don't really
Yeah, I don't really kind of mix the two.
So before the Facebook post, had you nottold your friends or were your friends not
(10:34):
aware of your hair loss journey?
There was probably only my partner at thetime knew and I would walk around the
house with no topper or no fibers oranything.
So, you know, yeah, I think I told acouple of friends, but overall, no, it's
like, you know, my doctors, my treatingpractitioners, my support group.
(10:54):
All the people on Instagram, uh, of whichnone of them are like my, my friends, you
know, my, my, my real, my in real lifefriends.
So no, I hadn't hadn't told them.
And I think it's because I'm justgenerally pretty private about here.
I am on a a podcast and went on TV, butyou know, I'm generally pretty private
(11:15):
about things, certain things in my life.
And so I, it's not that I was necessarilyhiding it from them, although.
You know, the first time I wore a topper,it was very different to my natural
colour.
And it was actually a guy that, you know,a male friend that noticed it first and
(11:36):
said, oh, what have you done to your hair?
And I had a ready -made response, but hesaid, oh, what have you done to your hair?
It looks very different because my naturalhair is quite wavy and it's obviously a
natural black colour.
And I had a topper that was, you know,a...
You know a light a brown, you know a darkbrown with highlights through it and
they've never seen me with highlights So Ijust said yeah, I've had it colored and
(12:00):
you know, I've had it straightened andI've put extensions in for Added volume
rather than length, which is kind of true,you know top is like for volume rather
than length Yeah, so he decided he justsaid oh, yeah looks good.
You know conversation moved on and
another girlfriend of mine when I toldher, she actually told me when I, when I
(12:24):
sent that Facebook post out, she messagedme and she said, when I asked you about it
and you told me you'd done all thesethings, she said, I thought to myself, I
should do the same thing because she wasexperiencing hair loss as well.
So it's pretty daunting to wear it out thefirst time, particularly if it looks
different to your hair.
(12:45):
But you know, I think for you and for me,
The reason we're doing what we're doingand sharing is just because we want to
give other people the confidence to do thesame.
And it's funny you saying that when youtold people and particularly your cousins
and other family members who are went, oh,really, you too?
Well, that's us, you know?
And that's the amazing thing about femalehair loss.
(13:08):
We are so not alone.
And I think there's this tendency to feelalone about it, particularly if we keep it
to ourselves.
And so...
putting it out there and having theseconversations really does help other
people to fit, well, it helps to normaliseit because it is so common.
You've gone on to create this group whomeets up in Melbourne.
(13:29):
So tell us a little bit about that group.
So it's actually a support group that isAustralia wide and into New Zealand, but
then there's been these offshoot meetupgroups set up.
So we have them in Melbourne, Brisbane,Perth.
Sydney, Auckland.
And it's just a really nice way to meetsome of the people that you're talking to
(13:53):
online, face to face.
Yeah, I really encourage people who arejust starting out, you know, on their hair
loss journey.
I don't really like it for your journey,but you know, they've just, they're just
starting to work out what they want to doto come along to these groups and have a
chat to the ladies because everyone is ata different, um,
(14:16):
place.
I think it's good for them to see thatpeople live quite happily, you know, women
live quite happily with it.
And it's not the end of the world.
And, you know, it concerns me when thewomen are like, I don't want to leave the
house.
And, you know, I'll never meet someonelike it's it's really sad.
(14:37):
When you hear stories like that.
And if I do hear stories like that, I'malways referring them off to a
psychologist or can I go to the GP to get
some referral for some counseling.
Yeah.
And then when they kind of meet women whohave been experiencing it for a very long
time, they can see that actually life isstill good.
(14:58):
Yeah.
Interesting thing is that once you becomeaccustomed to the fact that this is you
and you work out your way of dealing withit, whatever that is, and for all of us,
it's different, that we can, I always sayto walk out into the world,
and try to look for opportunities to makesomebody else smile.
(15:19):
That's just something that I really liketo do.
And I think we, you know, feeling, feelinggood looking for me is about trying to
make other people feel great.
That looking out for other people, lookingout for, you know, smiling to people who
maybe someone hadn't smiled at them today.
And, you know, things like that, that makeus feel good about ourselves rather than
(15:40):
focusing on how we look.
or how our hair looks, which, you know,it's all very well to say.
For each of us, it's different and how wefeel about it is different.
So what do you think has been the hardestthing for you to deal with?
There are times even now, even though I'vebeen living with it for a long time, where
I'm just absolutely fed up and I, youknow, I just would like to be able to just
(16:06):
wear my hair back in a ponytail when Iused to do that when I was younger.
It's particularly when I'm...
you know, I was away in Bali and it wasreally hot and I just didn't want to wear
a topper and you know, although I had ahat on most of the time, it's like, well,
I have to take my hat off, you know,fibres, it's too hot, like, you know, that
(16:26):
whole thing and just, yeah, having tothink, like even now when people come to
my house,
Like if a tradie comes to my house, likeI'll put away all my wigs and you know,
cause I've got wigs out on, on the shelfand I'll just, and toppers, I just like,
I'll put it away.
Cause I think I just don't want to, I justdon't want to answer questions unless I'm
kind of ready to do it.
So even though I've been on TV and I'm,you know, I've got this group and things
(16:50):
like I really want it to be on my termsand who I tell and how I tell them.
So.
Although it may seem that I'm open, I'mprobably not as open as some people where
they just are quite comfortable wearingdifferent colored wigs or anyone that
comes into their home and they just leaveeverything out.
(17:11):
And I kind of wish I didn't care so much.
You know, there are people on Instagramthat I take my hat off to them and walk
out with no fibers, you know, nothing, youknow, no topper, no wig.
And they're in a place that they're socomfortable that don't do it.
I'm not there.
I'm not there yet.
And I may not be, but - No, well, we'reall so different.
(17:33):
So, you know, that's the great thing alsoabout this is being able to tell other
women that there are other people likethem.
There are, you know, I'm self -consciousas well.
You're self -conscious.
That's totally normal.
Yeah.
And we can normalise that.
We don't have to be willing to go outwithout.
hat on or without fibres in.
We don't have to be that person.
(17:53):
We can be who we are.
And, you know, I think I think you've beenreally brave to speak out as publicly as
you have.
Do you think there's been some good comeout of speaking out for you?
Yeah, I think that it's, you know, likeknowing that there's people in my family
(18:14):
and my mom's not around anymore, but, youknow, knowing that this female cousins
who, you know,
going through the same thing and that Ican be there, you know, for support and
advice if they need it.
You know, creating like a nice circle offriends that are going through the same
thing.
And we've moved on from the fact that ourown common, you know, the thing that kind
(18:37):
of links us is hair loss.
Like we've now moved on to more afriendship based being.
But I do want to say about the hardestthing, it's like the up and down.
I don't stay down for very long.
Like I'm lucky in that way that, you know,yeah, I'll feel kind of like, I'm just, I
hate this and I'm fed up with it.
But those periods don't really last thatlong.
(18:59):
And I'm just generally someone that justgets on with life, you know, and try not
to think about it.
Like I understand when people like saythey're freaking out, you know, but.
I do try, particularly in my group, I dotry and get them away from that counting
how much hair is dropping.
You know, they're like, I drop, you know,I've got like a hundred hairs that it's
(19:22):
like, you've got to stop doing thatbecause it's going to drive you crazy.
Yeah.
I'm lucky in that, you know, uh,psychologically I've always been pretty
strong.
I'm not in the depths of depression everor anything like that about my hair loss
or anything.
So that's great to hear.
That really is.
And I think that's encouraging for otherpeople.
as well.
(19:42):
And as for the counting hair, that is oneof my greatest bugbears.
I just don't think it's necessary.
I think it's something that we shoulddiscourage other women from doing, I
think.
I think so.
And I think, but you know, when people areright at the start of it and they're just
kind of freaking out, like I canunderstand that, but it's not good to kind
(20:04):
of dwell on that.
The other thing I was going to say aboutthe good to come out of it is it's
you know, I've created a support groupthat it's a very safe space in that, you
know, it's one of the few groups thatisn't run by a weak seller or a, you know,
a company that is, you know, marketing orproduces like some other kind of hair loss
(20:28):
product.
And so the members feel safe to be able toreally provide good feedback about.
Top of they might have bought or a fiberbrand that they might have bought and I
think it's important that that the womenhave that space to be able to do that it
makes me feel good when I see someone newcome in and they Say, you know, they ask a
(20:51):
question and all these women are likecommenting and providing advice and
support and you know encouragement and youknow, it kind of Yeah, it makes me feel
good that that people are stepping on.
Yeah
Absolutely.
And so if we're talking to women who mightbe in the very early stages of their hair
loss journey, and I think at thebeginning, your hair starts to fall out,
(21:15):
you start to Google, help, help my hair'sfalling out and hopefully they will find
us and our conversation.
So what would you like women who might'veonly just recently discovered this issue
to know?
And the firstly is that you're not alone.
It's a very common problem, but I thinkrather than go to Dr.
(21:38):
Google, which is our first reaction isthat you have to find a GP who will take
your concerns seriously.
I've talked to enough women where the GPjust, it's very disinterested and just
says it's stress, use monoxidil ornothing.
And you know, so, you know, find a GP thatwill take your concerns seriously.
We'll refer you to a specialistdermatologist because not all of them
(22:01):
treat hair loss.
And then, you know, weigh up your optionsin terms of management based on what the
dermatologist says, what the diagnosis is,and then, you know, weigh out the options.
I would also say, you know, get involvedwith the hair loss community on Facebook
and Instagram, but try not to get all ofyour advice from them.
(22:23):
What I found very early on on Instagramwas there was quite a strong anti
-medication narrative.
And so anyone that was saying or posted tosay, you know, I've got androgenic
alopecia or I've got alopecia areata andI'm thinking about, you know, taking
medication.
A whole lot of people would get on andjust say, you know, that's poison and why
(22:46):
are you doing that?
And just, cause I would never say tosomeone, you should take medication.
You know, it's about knowing your owncircumstances.
And the other thing is there are no magicpotions.
There are no magic shampoos.
The shampoos that say will regrow yourhair, like they don't.
If you're using a shampoo and your hair isregrowing, it's likely it would have
(23:09):
regrown without it.
So don't get sucked into the marketinghype and try and stick with evidence
-based medicine.
When someone asks me that question's in mygroup, I have a lot of tips to, you know,
to give them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But those are probably my main ones.
Yep.
No, I'm with you there.
Okay, well, thank you so much, Jot.
(23:31):
I really appreciate you taking the time totalk about your story so openly for the
good of the community, which is, I think,what you and I and so many women want to
do.
And thanks for the invitation.
I think I'm looking forward to hearingeveryone else's stories as well.
Thank you, Jot, for sharing your hair lossstory.
(23:54):
We really appreciate it.
Have you got a story to tell that you'dlike to share?
Well, we'd all love to hear from you.
We'd love to hear your story becausesharing stories and helping each other is
what we're all about.
And then it helps us all to realize thatwe're actually not alone in this.
So this is the part of the show where Ishare with you some information or some
(24:17):
tips around women's hair loss.
If you have a question about hair loss orsomething you'd like me to answer, you can
email me at bambi@boostnblend.com and I'lltry my best to answer that for you.
So for today's, did you know segment, I'mgoing to talk about stress.
(24:38):
Stress has a lot to answer for these days,especially for women.
We seem to tackle so much.
We've got work.
Some people have kids or older kids.
aging parents, maybe even throw in somefurther education, managing everything at
home or even a side hustle, as well as allof that.
(24:58):
The list goes on.
So there is a lot of stress in our livesand there's not a lot we can do about it.
Broadly, there are two types of stressthat are associated with hair loss.
The first one is a sudden, acute, reallyobvious shedding and that's called telogen
effluvium or TE.
(25:19):
And the second type is more of a long-term degeneration, which is due to stress
really at the cellular level of our hairfollicles.
So I'm going to talk about TE, telogeneffluvium, the sudden type first.
This kind of hair loss usually happens afew months after the event that caused it.
(25:40):
So due to the nature of the hair growthcycle, which is growth, rest, shed, and
then the cycle starts again,
We find that a few months later, the cyclewas interrupted.
So at some point, something was going onin your life, perhaps three months
earlier, and the body didn't prioritizehair growth during that stressful period.
(26:03):
And it's interesting how the body doesthis.
It actually concentrated on other moreimportant things like keeping you alive,
for example, because hair really isn'tnecessary for our survival.
and the body knows that.
It knows not to expend too much energy ortoo many precious resources like nutrients
on growing hair.
(26:23):
This is why a few months after the trauma,there is a sudden shed.
What we're talking about here in terms ofwhat causes it is something like a bout of
acute stress, illness, for example,something severe or even COVID, even mild
or severe COVID either.
Something upsetting or devastating likeperhaps a divorce or a death, major
(26:50):
surgery is something else that can causethis kind of hair loss.
And moving house, moving overseas, or evenjust a big life changing move.
These things can cause an interruption tothe hair growth cycle, which then ends up
in a shed a few months later.
And...
Actually, a couple of years ago, myparents, who were both in their 80s at the
(27:12):
time, they moved from the family home toseniors living.
It was a massive upheaval for them.
There were treasures that were going,there were memories that were going, there
was furniture that they had loved, whichthey couldn't take with them.
After they moved and after they'd settledin a couple of months later, they both had
sudden hair loss.
(27:33):
It was really interesting.
It was about three months after theymoved.
And in my line of work, I was trulyfascinated actually to see it so clearly
and firsthand.
And actually there was hair everywhere intheir new place.
And my mother said, you know, what'shappening?
My hair is falling out.
And I said, yeah, mama, it really is.
And it's due to the stress, the stress ofthat move.
(27:55):
I hadn't realized just how much that movehad stressed her out.
But I gave them both some of my shampooand one of the growth shampoos to make
sure that they were at least using goodquality stuff while their hair recovered.
And it did, you know, and by the way,there are no miracle shampoos people.
There wasn't a shampoo that suddenly grewhair.
It was just a good quality boost and blendshampoo, but the shedding stopped and they
(28:18):
both returned to their previous full hair.
And in fact, my mother's husband has a lotof hair from a man now in his nineties,
but anyway, I digress.
So T E is.
temporary.
It's sudden, it can be severe, but it istemporary.
If that's happening to you, think backthree months or so ago to what was going
on in your life at the time.
(28:41):
Once the stressful situation has passed,your hair will recover.
It should stop within a couple of monthsand you should start to see new growth
within say six to 12 months.
It's a very broad range because it doesdepend on
you and your overall health, but try notto stress over it.
Let nature take its course.
(29:02):
Don't dwell on it too much.
But if it's been longer than say 12 monthsand you're still shedding, then you'll
need to look for an underlying cause.
So in that case, while stress was thetrigger, there is something else going on,
I'm afraid.
So you'd need to see a doctor and startwith that, get a blood test, at least as a
starting point, because
(29:24):
There are literally dozens of underlyingcauses.
And obviously I can't cover them all here.
They are covered in my book though, HairLoss in Women.
Onto the second kind of hair loss causedby stress.
And that is long -term cellular damagecaused by long -term and chronic stress.
So completely different to the previoustype of acute sudden stress.
(29:48):
So this, and this isn't just the stressyou feel, this is stress on your body.
Cellular stress is a long -termdegenerative process and it affects all
the cells in the body, not just the hairfollicle, but definitely including the
hair follicle.
And as you may know, stress is combatedthrough the hormone cortisol and raised
(30:11):
cortisol over the long -term stayingconsistently high can lead to all sorts of
problems.
It's actually known as a reason for hairloss on its own.
but can also contribute to what we callsystemic inflammation.
And that is an inflammatory process thataffects the body as a whole.
(30:32):
And so that can contribute to hair lossalso.
This is then a vicious cycle.
So stress leads to raised cortisol, whichleads to inflammation, which then leads to
female hair loss.
And female hair loss can cause stress anda round we go.
But there may be,
other factors that are also at play, suchas type 2 diabetes or being overweight,
(30:59):
emotional or even physical stress, andcellular stress that affects the
mitochondria or the energy station of thehair cell.
So as you can see, this kind of long -termdrawn -out debilitating stress can cause
damage to the hair follicle at thecellular level.
Unfortunately, stress
(31:20):
is a major factor in our modern lives.
There's cortisol, the hormone that werelease to combat it is always going to be
there.
But high circulating cortisol itself, evenwithout inflammation, is a known factor in
hair loss.
There is actually a scalp hair analysisthat they can do, which can measure
(31:41):
cortisol and increased levels of cortisolhave been found in the scalp and
particularly in the scalp hair of peoplewith hair loss.
And actually,
In the study that I read, it was alsothere if they were obese, which is
actually considered a form of physicalstress.
So there's a lot of factors at play herewhen it comes to stress and hair loss.
(32:03):
And I've actually read literally hundredsof studies on hair loss while I was
researching my book.
And there is so much documented evidence,which leads to the conclusion that stress
is and has long been.
implicated as one of the causal factorsinvolved in hair loss.
Even stress caused by experiencing hairloss is a significant contributing factor
(32:28):
to hair loss itself.
So take note ladies, it truly can be avicious cycle.
And so the suggestion, don't stress aboutyour hair loss is really much easier said
than done.
However, I do really believe in tryingyour best.
to manage your stress.
(32:50):
Try everything you can to give yourself abetter hair outcome.
And in fact, it makes me think of my firstexperience with hair loss, with my
hairdresser.
This is going back over 15 years now, butshe was doing my hair and she suddenly
started laughing as was her style.
And she said, oh, this is hilarious.
(33:12):
You've got a bald patch on the back ofyour head.
And she just laughed and laughed and
I laughed and I don't know what I thought.
I'd never thought about having hair lossbefore, but it was like, oh, I've got a
bald patch.
Right.
But do you know, because she laughed, Ididn't worry about it.
It was hidden.
I mean, you couldn't see it under my hair.
(33:32):
Only she knew it was there and now I knewit was there.
But because I didn't worry about it, Ididn't stress about it.
And actually it completely disappeared.
I forgot about it and it disappeared.
And I think my ignorance, because that wasclearly an indication of things to come,
but my ignorance at that time may haveserved me quite well.
I didn't stress over it.
(33:54):
And also, since I began using Boost andBlend cotton hair fibers, I don't stress
about my hair loss either, because I don'tstress about it being noticed.
I'm perfectly camouflaging it.
Nobody would have any idea.
And this provides some relief from thestress of hair loss for me.
and therefore relief from its potentialeffect on my self -esteem.
(34:18):
So look, ladies, stress is a huge topicand there's actually a whole chapter on it
in my book.
So if you think this could be you, maybeget a copy of the book because I can't
explain it all here and I can't go intoall the details that you need to
understand.
So not only do I explain it in more detailin my book, but I've got lots of
(34:40):
suggestions.
on ways to combat hair loss when it'scaused by stress.
So there's a lot in there.
There's a lot on stress.
You've got a lot to learn if you thinkstress is perhaps one of your causal
factors.
So I would encourage you to researchstress and hair loss.
So that brings us to the end of our veryfirst episode.
(35:04):
I hope you've enjoyed this.
Don't forget to subscribe or follow.
the podcast so that you know when a newepisode is out.
Look, I know only too well how hard it canbe to face hair loss each and every day.
And so I have a saying that I'd like toshare with you that I try to remember when
I'm going through difficult times and thatis kindness is beautiful.
(35:28):
So wear it every day.
Thanks for joining me on the Hair Loss inWomen podcast and a big thank
Thank you to the women who share theirstories here and with others in their
community.
One of the hardest things about hair lossfor women is that we don't talk about it.
So if you do want to hear more, pleasesubscribe to the podcast.
(35:52):
And if you like what you heard, why notleave a review?
Positive reviews will help other women tofind this podcast too.
You can also find out more in my book,Hair Loss in Women.
This podcast has been recorded in Sydney,Australia.
and is produced by Pod and PenProductions.