May 20, 2024 • 35 mins
Looking good is a state of mind.
And in this episode of the Hair Loss in Women podcast you’ll meet Chelsea who, after many years of hiding her hair loss, decided to shave her hair off. Tune in to hear how that momentous day changed so much in her life.
In this episode you’ll hear about:
- What led Chelsea to make such a life changing decision
- How even with a biopsy, there can be confusion around the cause of hair loss
- Can you still dye your hair when you have female hair loss?
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DISCLAIMER:
While Bambi is a former registered nurse with extensive knowledge on hair loss in women, she is not a medical doctor.
All information shared in this podcast is of a general nature.
Please see your GP or other medical professional for specific advice related to your circumstances.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
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 and 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.
(01:15):
Hi and welcome back.
If this is the first time you're listeningto this podcast, you can listen back to
previous episodes if there's somethingthere that you're keen to learn about.
We've covered so many topics.
We've covered menopause, we've coveredillness, and we've actually covered some
of the less serious topics like hairbrushing.
(01:36):
We've covered washing your hair.
So there's lots of interesting thingsthere for you to listen to if you have the
time.
But today we're going to talk aboutlooking and feeling good with hair loss,
which is something that I feel verystrongly about.
I feel very strongly about the way that wewomen probably tend to focus a little too
(01:56):
much on our hair loss and about how welook because of it.
And then following the interview in ourDid You Know segment, I'm going to give
you some tips on dying your hair.
Now I get asked this question a lot.
Should I or could I?
Is it okay if I dye my hair if I have hairloss?
So I'm going to talk about that, what youshould use, how you should dye your hair
(02:21):
if that's something that you'd like to do.
But before we get to that, we're actuallygoing to meet a wonderful woman who's done
something many of us have probably thoughtabout or wondered about from time to time.
And that is she's actually embraced herhair loss and shaved her head.
Now,
She says she feels liberated and thatshe's no longer hiding from her hair loss,
(02:45):
which I just think is so wonderful.
So I really enjoyed this conversation withChelsea and I hope you do too.
Chelsea and welcome to the podcast.
Hi, Bambi, Thanks so much for having me.
it's an absolute pleasure.
So tell me about your hair loss.
(03:06):
When did you first notice something waswrong?
I first started to notice my hair losswhen I was a teenager.
I was about 17, 18.
And it was after going on a course ofAccutane and also being on the
contraceptive pill to try to manage acne.
So.
I kind of started off with it, you know,as a transition from dealing with acne and
(03:31):
having that then replaced, you know, withhair loss noticing clumps coming out in
the shower.
initially I actually wasn't too fazed byit because I had such thick hair that I
thought, actually this is quite good to mythin it out a little bit, much more
manageable.
but then it started to become noticeablein my hairline and that's where it became
a little bit worrying.
(03:52):
Right.
And actually I've heard that quite a lotthat,
women who have an awful lot of hair oftenlose hair and then think, this is actually
quite useful because it was so hard tomanage before.
I've heard that quite a few times.
But so tell me you, you went on thecontraceptive pill for acne, which is a
(04:12):
very common occurrence.
It's not unusual either from my readingand from talking to other women for that
to bring on hair loss.
It's because of the hormones that
are being changed, hair loss in females isvery much governed by hormones, not for
everybody, but for some people.
(04:33):
So I guess it's very possible that it wasthe contraceptive pill.
Yeah, I think it's always going to besomething that I'll wonder what seemed to
trigger it.
Was it just a coincidence that it startedup after being on some different
medications?
But I'm still not 100 % sure of mydiagnosis.
(04:54):
I'm
in my mid thirties now.
So it's been, you know, around 15 yearssince I've been dealing with hair loss.
Initially that the diagnosis was femalepatterned hair loss or androgenic
alopecia, possible chronic telogeneffluvium as well as be from stress or
iron deficiency.
(05:15):
That never fully seemed right to mebecause there was different things that
would happen where I'd find, you know, myhair would be regrowing or
something would happen and then I'd have amassive shed.
And it just, I was on medication for quitesome time for androgenic alopecia about 10
years.
And what medication was that?
(05:36):
It was spiroctin.
I can never say the full.
Spironolactone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Of that, monoxidil.
And then it was like a concoction.
It was kind of like a,
pharmacy kind of built the version whereit kind of combined both of those and a
few other things as well vitamins and andwhatnot there.
But over those around 10 years my hairloss just progressed.
(06:00):
Sometimes it was quickly other times itwas very slowly and I kind of sat with
that for quite some time just I guesstrying to accept that diagnosis and doing
well what was possible to do with that butultimately it my hair loss was still very
visible.
It got to the point where I thought, well,I'm taking all this medication.
I'm dealing with all these side effects.
(06:22):
I was getting migraines weekly, which Ididn't actually put down to that
medication at the time.
I was getting a lot of hair growth here Ididn't want it.
So I was dealing with not having enough onmy head or the top of my head and then
having to try to shave like around mychin, cheeks, even my forehead, the back
of my hands.
And I wasn't seeing any result on myactual scalp.
(06:45):
So I ended up getting a biopsy.
taken to see well okay is there possiblysomething else going on is there possibly
another solution for this and the biopsydidn't show androgenic alopecia or telogen
effluvium at all it showed lichenplanopilaris which is like a scarring
(07:06):
alopecia similar to lichen planus whichyou can get in other parts of your body
like inside your mouth more of aninflammatory or autoimmune type alopecia.
And so that was, yeah, it was a bit of asurprise to find that in a biopsy after 10
years of trying to manage it.
Yeah.
With my initial diagnosis.
Yeah.
Right.
(07:26):
Well, it seems like there was certainly alot going on for you.
I'm assuming you must've had some diffusehair loss as well as, so it was generally
thinning.
Then you had some patches as well.
Did you?
No patches.
So I've got, yeah, diffuse hair loss allover.
my scalp.
I've also had times where I've lost hairdiffusely from my eyebrows and eyelashes
(07:49):
as well.
Okay.
And this is where there was definitelysome confusion when my bubsy came back.
So I've lost probably about 80 % of myhair.
So like my ponytail was about thethickness of my pinky, you know, very
small, hard to do anything with it.
Couldn't have it out.
Tying it up was really the only option,but it did get to the point where...
(08:13):
tying it up was quite painful as well,because I think everyone knows that
feeling of having, doing a hair and aponytail and having like a couple of
strands snagging and pulling.
But that was basically the constantfeeling that I'd have because I had such
little hair to tie it up was quitepainful.
So did you have sore follicles?
Were your follicles inflamed or red?
(08:33):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It felt like my head was on fire.
And was that all the way through or didthat happen later?
on and off.
definitely had those kind of, yeah, thatred raw itchiness burning kind of symptoms
on my scalp.
but definitely I say towards the end, it'snot like my hair loss is finished, but up
(08:55):
until a few years ago, obviously I kind ofwas trying to manage it in a certain way
through medications and one up until thatpoint.
I, yeah, it just got more and more severe.
Well, that can be any number of things,but the inflammation.
is part of that or part of the cause ofthat.
But as a young person and you're still ayoung person, so when you were say in your
(09:20):
teenage years, in your early twenties,when looks are so important, how did you
cope with that?
Yeah, I would say up until recently, Ihaven't coped with it particularly well.
Tried to essentially camouflage it, hideit.
Definitely not something I would havespoken to anybody about aside from my
immediate family.
(09:40):
I think, and I hear a lot of other peoplein the hair loss community talk about this
too, just, yeah, kind of camouflage it,avoiding anywhere where it could be
highlighted.
So standing under lights, going swimming,going to the beach, almost convinced
myself that it wasn't happening.
Something would suddenly click and changeand it would all be kind of treated and
(10:00):
better.
It was definitely something that consumedmy every day.
Starting your day with...
You know, all that hair coming out in theshower and then trying to camouflage it,
you know, get ready for work and the like.
it was definitely something that was on mymind constantly, you know, whether it was
(10:21):
visible to anybody else or, you know, whatwas going to happen in the coming weeks or
months or years, what was going to happenin the future.
Yeah.
It definitely interfered a lot with, yeah,my day to day living.
Yeah.
Right.
Well, which is very understandable.
What about toppers or wigs?
Did you ever try anything like that?
(10:42):
I did once.
So yeah, probably a few years ago, I madethe decision that I wasn't going to be on
medication anymore.
It didn't seem to be doing anything reallyfor me.
It was very visible anyway, my hair loss.
So I didn't really see the point in, Iguess, trying to focus on regrowing it at
that point.
And I was, yeah, faced with the situation.
(11:05):
I thought, okay, well, my options arepretty limited.
Now, my options are really, you know, cutmy hair off and go about my day just
living it as I am or all looking towearing hair, which is really common for
women with hair loss.
I did buy a topper to say, well, you know,I might as well give it a try before
(11:26):
ruling it out.
I found it actually very painful to cliponto my hair and I might have got a one
too small, but at the same time, even theareas where I wasn't, it wasn't clipped
into just.
That pressure on my scalp just, it was thematting of it down.
It just ate.
I bought one and I think I wore it forabout a day and I thought this is
definitely not for me.
(11:48):
And I wondered, well, maybe I could do afull wig.
But again, I think that pressure on myscalp, I definitely worried about whether
it would just slip off as well.
So I ended up deciding to just...
pretty much shaved my head.
I buzzed it to, I think a number threeinitially and now a day to day and it's
(12:12):
just at number two.
So I might shave it or buzz it myself oncea fortnight.
And that's been me for the last threeyears.
Okay.
So there was 10 years on the medication.
Yeah.
Maybe a little bit more.
Yeah.
And by the end of that, you were havingthe side effects.
You weren't finding hair.
(12:33):
growing where you wanted it to.
So you stopped that.
Did you, I know I hear of other women whothink about doing that too.
So what was the thought process for youwith this idea of stopping it?
Did you slow down?
Did you go off it gradually?
Did you just wake up one day and goenough's enough?
I did just go off it in just one moment.
(12:56):
I didn't, I just stopped.
And how did you find that?
Liberating in some ways.
stopping the medication was really good inprobably a couple of different ways.
So firstly, I mean, you have to take thesetablets every single day.
So on top of being reminded of the hairloss every time I had a shower in the
(13:16):
morning, then you're having to, you know,you're having a pill every day.
Like it's just constantly at the front ofthe mind.
So not having to think about it anymore inone sense, but also the cost, cost of the
medication, having to see a dermatologistto,
kind of have the script renewed.
And my experience with dermatologistwasn't amazing.
(13:38):
I think I left almost every appointment intears and anxiety.
So not going in was a great thing for me.
And I'm not sure if anyone else feels thesame, but often I found the wait time to
get in was massive too.
So you'd be sitting in the waiting roomfor an hour and then taking time off work,
(13:59):
stopping medication was great because thatremoved a whole portion.
of dealing with the hair loss.
I have to say that I believe that walkingout of a doctor's surgery in tears is,
dermatologist or any other kind of doctor,when talking about hair loss is really
common.
(14:19):
Anything in particular at your appointmentthat you found traumatic?
Was it the person, the doctor himself, orwas it something they said?
I saw a few different dermatologists overthat.
roughly 10 years.
So I think partly frustration, feelinghopeless.
You know, there's no cure that I cameacross anyway.
(14:41):
Just talking about it at all prior toshaving my hair off was very emotional for
me.
It was something I really struggled totalk about.
Something that did happen, I guess, priorto me deciding that I was just going to be
done with it, I did have, I got referredon to a specific dermatologist who was
meant to be.
really high up in the industry, someonevery well known, like a guru.
(15:02):
If there was going to be any otherdiagnosis or any other solution, they were
going to be the person that would give mesome answers.
And I went in with all this documentationover things that had worked well, things
that didn't, times where I'd had regrowthor like my hair seemed to just stop
shedding, you know, for a few months.
There's all sorts of things that Irecorded and I went in with that and he
(15:26):
was not interested.
at all, he just took a glance at me andsaid, androgenic alopecia.
And I thought, well, I'm not really surewhat I'm paying for here then.
dear.
Yeah.
Well, I think that that's one of thesaddest things for women with hair loss is
that particularly male doctors, but notonly male doctors, female doctors as well,
(15:47):
just use this term androgenic alopecia asa sort of a catchall without trying to
figure out what is the problem.
It.
probably isn't androgens and thereforeprobably isn't androgenic alopecia.
It's probably female pattern hair losswhich has many underlying causes and
triggers.
And it's I guess time consuming, expensiveand you need quite a bit of knowledge to
(16:10):
start digging down to figure out what thecause is.
So this kind of idea of saying well it'sandrogenic alopecia seems to be the
catchall.
The medications are fairly obvious if it'sandrogen related.
And so that sort of ticks the box for adoctor.
That's what's causing it.
This is the solution.
(16:31):
And that's pretty much all they'll say.
But I'm sort of shocked really that a highprofile dermatologist, somebody who had
been built up to be somebody who reallydoes have that knowledge, gave you that
comment or gave you that diagnosis.
That just seems quite...
(16:51):
astounding to me, but it probably isn't tomany other women out there listening to us
talking who have had a very similarexperience.
Yeah, it was really disappointing for me,especially just that the biopsy as well
was just so discounted.
So the biopsy showed the lichenplanopilaris.
And so the dermatologist that I had beenseeing, she was skeptical of that because
(17:14):
of having a diffuse pattern of hair lossand not the kind of receding band or...
the kind of areas of very smooth hairlesskind of spots on my scalp.
And so that kind of triggered the referralonto this other dermatologist to be like,
let's get to the bottom of this.
I did actually try a different treatmentthat was targeted for lichen planipularis.
(17:37):
It was an ointment that I put on my scalp.
And I think for about three or fourmonths, I had no hair loss and I could
start to see my hair thickening up.
So I did actually think, well, maybe thisis correct.
Maybe this is my diagnosis, but then I'mnot sure.
Nothing seemed to change.
or, you know, my life and it just startedto shed again.
And I thought, well, I I've been givensome different diagnosis, but I'm not
(18:00):
fully convinced on any of them.
And I felt like my years of trying to findthe diagnosis and kind of fighting the
condition that I've got, it wasn't healthyfor me, mentally.
And so getting to the point where I juststopped medication.
And chopped my hair off.
(18:20):
For me, it was kind of a moment of, well,no hair, no problem.
It's done.
it's not something I'm going to thinkabout anymore.
And that's been, absolutely the best thingfor me.
It may not be for everybody, but I don'tthink about my hair or my hair loss very
often at all.
Maybe once a month or every couple ofmonths.
(18:44):
it's not something that dominates my daysor my life.
anymore like it used to.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So tell me about the day that you firstshaved your hair off.
What was that like?
I'd kind of built up to it in a way.
I'd kind of sowed the seed a little bitwith some friends and some family that,
you know, it was something I was probablygoing to do at some point in the future.
(19:07):
But I came to kind of this critical pointwhere I was graduating from university and
I
had a couple of job interviews lined upand I thought, well, I don't want to deal
with shaving my head just after acceptinga role or I didn't really want to take
colleagues along kind of the journey withme, I guess.
(19:29):
And I also wanted to be employed as I waswithout hair, without this being a factor
at all.
Yeah, I pretty much graduated and hadthose job interviews lined up the next
week and I was going to cut it myself.
But I didn't have clippers.
I was looking into buy some.
And then my mum actually mentioned thatshe had a, she'd been to a hairdresser who
(19:51):
worked from home.
And she said, why don't you call this,this woman?
She'll be able to do it for you.
Called her up, had a bit of a chat aboutwhat was going on.
And I think the next day I just booked in.
Turns up, you know, did my makeup, putsome massive earrings on so that I'd, I
don't know, try to boost myself up for it.
Yeah.
(20:11):
And I mean, it didn't take long to cut itoff.
There wasn't very much, wasn't very muchleft.
We were just having a chat while it wascoming away.
I wasn't sure what I would do if I wouldcry or anything.
Honestly, the emotions just dropped away.
I think I was a bit nervous before it.
And as it was coming off, it was just likeshedding all the problems I've had to deal
(20:34):
with, all the stress, all the hiding wascleansed away, I guess, in that moment.
Wow.
That's such a great description.
And I just laughed at the end because Ihadn't gone to a hairdresser for some
time.
I was just trimming my hair myself at homebecause there wasn't much of it there.
And I think like a lot of us with hairloss going to a hairdresser's isn't the
most pleasant experience because you lookaround at everyone else's beautiful hair.
(20:57):
And it was $10 and I looked at my walletand I had coins.
So I just paid $10 in coins and it washonestly one of the best days of my life.
that's fantastic.
It sounds like it was very liberating.
a very liberating act to do.
It was, I think, the thing with hair lossfor me that I most struggled with, aside
(21:21):
from the appearance and wanting to meetthe beauty standards, it was trying to
hide it.
The fear of people finding out or it justbeing noticed, not wanting it to be
noticed, that was the biggest thing.
So to be able to just be like,
Well, here it is.
You know, this is what's happening.
You know, be so open about it.
That's allowed me to move on, I guess, asbest as I can, because, you know,
(21:46):
sometimes I do think, gosh, you know, Iwonder what my life would be if I didn't
have, you know, the hair loss.
But for the most part, it's something thatI've been able to just be at peace with.
After that day when you shaved your hairoff, how did you feel walking out in
public?
I definitely felt a mix of emotions.
So,
(22:06):
In some ways I felt like a completebadass.
I felt like, you know, hey, I'm abovebeauty standards.
I'm not part of that rat race anymore.
Like that felt really liberating.
I did feel like, gosh, everyone's,everyone's looking at me.
You know, everyone's noticing me now,which was something that was very
different because I spent so long justtrying to hide into the background.
(22:29):
And here I am looking.
pretty non -traditional with my shorthair, so definitely attracting more
attention, definitely notice people doinga bit of a double take.
But initially I kind of just owned it.
I was like, this is me, felt really good.
There's been times where I did noticesomeone, just have a little glance up to
(22:49):
my hair or my scalp and I felt, gosh, itwould be nice not to have hair loss.
But then at the same time, I've definitelyfelt well.
Maybe that's the first time someone hasseen this and the next time they see a
woman with hair loss, they're not going tobe looking so closely or it won't catch
their eye.
I think as women, we've all gone down thepath of trying to hide it and we do a
(23:12):
really good job largely at hiding it, butit's so common.
And I do hope that if there are more womenout there that are just allowing their
hair loss to be viewed, either with longhair or shaved hair like mine.
that it just becomes normalized, just likeit is for men.
It's not such a big deal, you know, formen, if they don't feel like their hair
(23:33):
looks good, they just, everyone says, justshave it off, no big deal.
But for women, it does seem to be a biggerdeal and it doesn't have to be, I think
that's what I feel.
Thank you.
Yeah.
No, I totally hear you and thank you formaking that point.
And it's become something that's notreally emotional anymore.
It's just a fact, just like any medicalcondition.
It's just a fact that I've got this.
(23:54):
It's not something I really tie emotionsto.
like I used to.
Well, and you're not searching forsolutions every day and worried about what
people think and all the mental load ofcarrying that sounds like it's gone for
you.
And apart from, as you said, the odd time,it's not something that needs to fill up
(24:14):
your day.
And there's so much that you can be.
And, you know, frankly, you look great.
Thank you so much.
And I know there are lots of women outthere who would be worried about how they
would look.
But of course, the
The happiness in your face and the reliefshows through as well.
It's amazing.
So what would you say to other women?
So especially women who might be youngeror might be thinking about shaving off
(24:38):
their hair and owning their hair loss.
What advice would you offer?
I guess firstly that you are more thanyour hair.
Absolutely.
Your value doesn't come from your hair.
Your femininity doesn't come from yourhair.
Of course, hair is beautiful.
You know, if I could have long lasheshair, I would, but I'm still feminine
(24:59):
without hair.
absolutely.
You are.
There's a lot of benefits to come fromcutting your hair.
If that's something that you're lookinginto, it is so quick to get ready in the
morning.
You know, the, driving in the car with thewindows down.
Amazing.
If it rains, it's like that used to behorrendous, you know, if it rained, it,
(25:22):
cause it would show up, you know,everything.
I think the day I actually had my haircut,I had to run down to the shops and it
rained and I kind of rushed through butthen I realized it wasn't a big deal.
I just used my sleeve and just wiped thetop of my head.
It was great.
It is going to be confronting for thepeople that know you well to see you in a
(25:44):
different way.
I ended up, I think it was a week after Icut it, I...
Took a photo and I put on Instagram andbasically you just announced it that you
know last week I did this thing that was abit scary but really liberating and I have
this condition that I can't cure But I'mnot gonna spend my days being miserable
(26:04):
about it and I was moving on from and thatI was really happy about it as well And I
think that really helped Just showingpeople that you will yeah if I could
choose I would have something differentbut
I'm fine.
And then that meant that the people aroundme for the most part, we're just totally
(26:24):
on board with it.
yeah, had a lot of support from friendsand family.
Well, that's great.
That's really good.
And I think other women will be so glad tohear that because that might be something
worrying them and thinking about takingtheir hair off and worrying.
So it's been absolutely a joy talking toyou just to hear your story and your
(26:45):
lovely attitude and, and your.
beautiful personality which shows throughin the way you talk and in your beautiful
smile.
And just want to say thank you for sharingyour story with me and with all those
other women out there who will be verygrateful to you as well.
So thank you.
Thank you so much, Bambi.
It's been amazing.
Wow.
To hear Chelsea's confidence grow likethat.
(27:08):
Isn't that amazing?
And it's a real reminder that sometimesit's more about our attitude and how we
view ourselves.
that really matters.
But now, let's move on to a topic aroundsomething that most women do at one stage
or other of their life, and that is dyeingour hair.
(27:29):
Today's Did You Know?
is all about hair dye and hair dyeing.
So I want to start by addressing aquestion I get asked so often.
Does hair dye cause hair loss?
Well, like most things to do with femalehair loss,
The answer isn't straightforward, so let'stake a closer look.
(27:51):
Firstly, most of the time hair dye doesn'tcause female hair loss, so that's good to
know.
I'll get to why it may cause it in somecases in a minute, but let's start by
looking at why it often isn't the sourceof the problem.
So once your hair reaches the surface ofthe skin, it's actually already dead.
(28:12):
So as you know, hair grows from thefollicle.
The follicle reaches deep down into theskin and it's nourished by the
bloodstream, which runs throughunderneath.
The hair follicle is alive, of course, butthe hair, the strands that you see coming
out of your head, well, not so much.
(28:33):
For most people, the hair dye is justaffecting the hair and that's hair that's
already dead and so it doesn't contributeto hair loss.
But for some people, and this is rare,
But for some hair dyes can, it's thought,perhaps penetrate the hair follicle
itself, causing the follicle to dye or tostop working properly.
(28:56):
I've done quite a bit of reading up onthis and the general thinking is that
there is some sort of allergy to some ofthe chemicals in hair dye.
Now that the chemical known as PPD,
which stands for para -phenylenediamine,is known to cause dermatitis in some
(29:19):
individuals, which then can lead to hairloss.
And I've actually seen some examples ofwomen with the most incredibly terrible
dermatitis following using a hair dye.
So if that's what's happening to you,well, it's not really known why this
happens to some people and not others, butobviously it's got something to do with
(29:42):
allergies,
or a chemical reaction within anindividual.
So it is hard to know.
But you'll of course know if you've had anallergic reaction and that is the most
common.
So obviously if you have an allergicreaction, you need to stop using that
product.
And then if you want to continue dyeingyour hair, then you'll need to check the
ingredients list of the products that youreacted to and then find an alternative
(30:07):
that doesn't have some of those harsherchemicals, for example, like PPD.
But
That really is rare.
However, there are more common issues tothink about if you dye your hair and have
hair loss.
Like what's the best color to dye yourhair?
Well, if you lighten your hair, your haircan actually look thinner and it may break
(30:30):
more easily because to lighten your hair,you have to strip some of the pigment and
nutrient out of the hair and that can makeeach strand slightly thinner and
definitely can make it more brittle.
So obviously if your hair is breaking off,it will contribute to the overall
reduction of hair, even if that follicleis still working well.
(30:52):
So the answer might be to darken yourhair.
Well, that actually adds pigment to thehair shaft and that can actually make your
hair look thicker.
So I've continued to dye my hair.
I've had hair loss now for over 15 yearsand I've had various types from alopecia
areata.
to TE of various causes and it's alwaysgrown back and I've always continued to
(31:16):
dye my hair.
Now in those years, I've used acombination of hair salon dyes and my
salon of choice has actually changedbrands three times.
So, and each time I've prayed that Ididn't have any allergic reaction to the
new type and I didn't.
But more commonly these days, I just usethe box dyes from the supermarket.
(31:38):
I find that
the box dyes work just as well for me andmaking my hair darker does make it look
fuller.
So, but of course there are two sides toevery story and it must be said that if
you have fair skin and you decide to dyeyour hair darker, it can make thinning
hair more visibly noticeable because ofthe contrast of colors between your hair
(32:03):
color and your scalp.
So this is especially true if you'relosing your hair in patches.
and if you've got a wider part, but thisis actually where cotton hair fibers come
in really handy.
So boost and blend can really make a bigdifference to hide that loss at the scalp
so that you can't see the scalp through atall.
Now, if you think that you might besomeone who is affected by hair dyes,
(32:27):
well, there are some options rather thannot dyeing your hair altogether.
You may want to find a salon that usesnatural dyes, for example.
This can be really good actually if you'vegot sensitive skin too.
Another way to minimise the impact of hairdyeing is to start your hair dye away from
the scalp.
It's called off scalp hair dyeing.
So foils are a great example of off scalphair dyeing really because the hair dye
(32:51):
doesn't have to come into contact with thescalp.
Some people choose to dye their whole headof hair slightly away from the scalp.
Of course, that'll inevitably mean thatyou might need to dye your hair more often
because regrowth will be more visible morequickly, but it does help keep.
those harsh chemicals away from the hairfollicle.
I should still say that if you're one ofthose rare people who is allergic to hair
(33:16):
dye, then this may not be the best optionfor you.
You might have to just embrace the gray aswe say.
I often get asked by women who as a resultof having hair loss have decided to stop
dying their hair.
So maybe they haven't dyed their hair fora year or so and then they'd like to start
dying their hair again and they're worriedthat
should they?
(33:37):
Is that the right thing to do if they'vegot hair loss?
Would perhaps starting to dye your hairagain cause further hair loss?
What I'd say to that is firstly, you mustdo an allergic reaction test, especially
for the box dyes.
You must follow the instructions on thebox, which is to do a test of the product
(34:00):
on your arm or on the inside of your armor somewhere 24 hours before you dye your
hair.
You do know that you'd
you don't have an allergic reaction.
So that's the first thing.
And secondly, you can, you can embracethat.
You can dye your hair if you want to,particularly if maybe you've got a special
occasion coming up and you think you'dreally like to have your hair dyed for
that.
(34:20):
I think in general, yes, it is okay.
And the general thinking is that hair dyedoes not cause hair loss.
But as I say, you know, you have to useyour own knowledge of your own body and
you have to do things that are right foryou, but follow the instructions.
So there you have it, the ins and outs ofhair dyeing for women with hair loss.
That brings us to the end of anotherepisode.
(34:42):
As always, please remember any advicegiven is general in nature and you should
consult with your own health professionalsfor personal advice.
I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.
Don't forget to leave a review if youhave.
I'll see you next time and until then,kindness is beautiful.
So wear it every day.
(35:04):
Thanks for joining me on the Hair Loss inWomen podcast.
And a big thank you to the women who sharetheir stories 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.
And if you like what you heard, why notleave a review?
(35:27):
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 Pen
Productions.
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 and 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.
(01:15):
Hi and welcome back.
If this is the first time you're listeningto this podcast, you can listen back to
previous episodes if there's somethingthere that you're keen to learn about.
We've covered so many topics.
We've covered menopause, we've coveredillness, and we've actually covered some
of the less serious topics like hairbrushing.
(01:36):
We've covered washing your hair.
So there's lots of interesting thingsthere for you to listen to if you have the
time.
But today we're going to talk aboutlooking and feeling good with hair loss,
which is something that I feel verystrongly about.
I feel very strongly about the way that wewomen probably tend to focus a little too
(01:56):
much on our hair loss and about how welook because of it.
And then following the interview in ourDid You Know segment, I'm going to give
you some tips on dying your hair.
Now I get asked this question a lot.
Should I or could I?
Is it okay if I dye my hair if I have hairloss?
So I'm going to talk about that, what youshould use, how you should dye your hair
(02:21):
if that's something that you'd like to do.
But before we get to that, we're actuallygoing to meet a wonderful woman who's done
something many of us have probably thoughtabout or wondered about from time to time.
And that is she's actually embraced herhair loss and shaved her head.
Now,
She says she feels liberated and thatshe's no longer hiding from her hair loss,
(02:45):
which I just think is so wonderful.
So I really enjoyed this conversation withChelsea and I hope you do too.
Chelsea and welcome to the podcast.
Hi, Bambi, Thanks so much for having me.
it's an absolute pleasure.
So tell me about your hair loss.
(03:06):
When did you first notice something waswrong?
I first started to notice my hair losswhen I was a teenager.
I was about 17, 18.
And it was after going on a course ofAccutane and also being on the
contraceptive pill to try to manage acne.
So.
I kind of started off with it, you know,as a transition from dealing with acne and
(03:31):
having that then replaced, you know, withhair loss noticing clumps coming out in
the shower.
initially I actually wasn't too fazed byit because I had such thick hair that I
thought, actually this is quite good to mythin it out a little bit, much more
manageable.
but then it started to become noticeablein my hairline and that's where it became
a little bit worrying.
(03:52):
Right.
And actually I've heard that quite a lotthat,
women who have an awful lot of hair oftenlose hair and then think, this is actually
quite useful because it was so hard tomanage before.
I've heard that quite a few times.
But so tell me you, you went on thecontraceptive pill for acne, which is a
(04:12):
very common occurrence.
It's not unusual either from my readingand from talking to other women for that
to bring on hair loss.
It's because of the hormones that
are being changed, hair loss in females isvery much governed by hormones, not for
everybody, but for some people.
(04:33):
So I guess it's very possible that it wasthe contraceptive pill.
Yeah, I think it's always going to besomething that I'll wonder what seemed to
trigger it.
Was it just a coincidence that it startedup after being on some different
medications?
But I'm still not 100 % sure of mydiagnosis.
(04:54):
I'm
in my mid thirties now.
So it's been, you know, around 15 yearssince I've been dealing with hair loss.
Initially that the diagnosis was femalepatterned hair loss or androgenic
alopecia, possible chronic telogeneffluvium as well as be from stress or
iron deficiency.
(05:15):
That never fully seemed right to mebecause there was different things that
would happen where I'd find, you know, myhair would be regrowing or
something would happen and then I'd have amassive shed.
And it just, I was on medication for quitesome time for androgenic alopecia about 10
years.
And what medication was that?
(05:36):
It was spiroctin.
I can never say the full.
Spironolactone.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Of that, monoxidil.
And then it was like a concoction.
It was kind of like a,
pharmacy kind of built the version whereit kind of combined both of those and a
few other things as well vitamins and andwhatnot there.
But over those around 10 years my hairloss just progressed.
(06:00):
Sometimes it was quickly other times itwas very slowly and I kind of sat with
that for quite some time just I guesstrying to accept that diagnosis and doing
well what was possible to do with that butultimately it my hair loss was still very
visible.
It got to the point where I thought, well,I'm taking all this medication.
I'm dealing with all these side effects.
(06:22):
I was getting migraines weekly, which Ididn't actually put down to that
medication at the time.
I was getting a lot of hair growth here Ididn't want it.
So I was dealing with not having enough onmy head or the top of my head and then
having to try to shave like around mychin, cheeks, even my forehead, the back
of my hands.
And I wasn't seeing any result on myactual scalp.
(06:45):
So I ended up getting a biopsy.
taken to see well okay is there possiblysomething else going on is there possibly
another solution for this and the biopsydidn't show androgenic alopecia or telogen
effluvium at all it showed lichenplanopilaris which is like a scarring
(07:06):
alopecia similar to lichen planus whichyou can get in other parts of your body
like inside your mouth more of aninflammatory or autoimmune type alopecia.
And so that was, yeah, it was a bit of asurprise to find that in a biopsy after 10
years of trying to manage it.
Yeah.
With my initial diagnosis.
Yeah.
Right.
(07:26):
Well, it seems like there was certainly alot going on for you.
I'm assuming you must've had some diffusehair loss as well as, so it was generally
thinning.
Then you had some patches as well.
Did you?
No patches.
So I've got, yeah, diffuse hair loss allover.
my scalp.
I've also had times where I've lost hairdiffusely from my eyebrows and eyelashes
(07:49):
as well.
Okay.
And this is where there was definitelysome confusion when my bubsy came back.
So I've lost probably about 80 % of myhair.
So like my ponytail was about thethickness of my pinky, you know, very
small, hard to do anything with it.
Couldn't have it out.
Tying it up was really the only option,but it did get to the point where...
(08:13):
tying it up was quite painful as well,because I think everyone knows that
feeling of having, doing a hair and aponytail and having like a couple of
strands snagging and pulling.
But that was basically the constantfeeling that I'd have because I had such
little hair to tie it up was quitepainful.
So did you have sore follicles?
Were your follicles inflamed or red?
(08:33):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It felt like my head was on fire.
And was that all the way through or didthat happen later?
on and off.
definitely had those kind of, yeah, thatred raw itchiness burning kind of symptoms
on my scalp.
but definitely I say towards the end, it'snot like my hair loss is finished, but up
(08:55):
until a few years ago, obviously I kind ofwas trying to manage it in a certain way
through medications and one up until thatpoint.
I, yeah, it just got more and more severe.
Well, that can be any number of things,but the inflammation.
is part of that or part of the cause ofthat.
But as a young person and you're still ayoung person, so when you were say in your
(09:20):
teenage years, in your early twenties,when looks are so important, how did you
cope with that?
Yeah, I would say up until recently, Ihaven't coped with it particularly well.
Tried to essentially camouflage it, hideit.
Definitely not something I would havespoken to anybody about aside from my
immediate family.
(09:40):
I think, and I hear a lot of other peoplein the hair loss community talk about this
too, just, yeah, kind of camouflage it,avoiding anywhere where it could be
highlighted.
So standing under lights, going swimming,going to the beach, almost convinced
myself that it wasn't happening.
Something would suddenly click and changeand it would all be kind of treated and
(10:00):
better.
It was definitely something that consumedmy every day.
Starting your day with...
You know, all that hair coming out in theshower and then trying to camouflage it,
you know, get ready for work and the like.
it was definitely something that was on mymind constantly, you know, whether it was
(10:21):
visible to anybody else or, you know, whatwas going to happen in the coming weeks or
months or years, what was going to happenin the future.
Yeah.
It definitely interfered a lot with, yeah,my day to day living.
Yeah.
Right.
Well, which is very understandable.
What about toppers or wigs?
Did you ever try anything like that?
(10:42):
I did once.
So yeah, probably a few years ago, I madethe decision that I wasn't going to be on
medication anymore.
It didn't seem to be doing anything reallyfor me.
It was very visible anyway, my hair loss.
So I didn't really see the point in, Iguess, trying to focus on regrowing it at
that point.
And I was, yeah, faced with the situation.
(11:05):
I thought, okay, well, my options arepretty limited.
Now, my options are really, you know, cutmy hair off and go about my day just
living it as I am or all looking towearing hair, which is really common for
women with hair loss.
I did buy a topper to say, well, you know,I might as well give it a try before
(11:26):
ruling it out.
I found it actually very painful to cliponto my hair and I might have got a one
too small, but at the same time, even theareas where I wasn't, it wasn't clipped
into just.
That pressure on my scalp just, it was thematting of it down.
It just ate.
I bought one and I think I wore it forabout a day and I thought this is
definitely not for me.
(11:48):
And I wondered, well, maybe I could do afull wig.
But again, I think that pressure on myscalp, I definitely worried about whether
it would just slip off as well.
So I ended up deciding to just...
pretty much shaved my head.
I buzzed it to, I think a number threeinitially and now a day to day and it's
(12:12):
just at number two.
So I might shave it or buzz it myself oncea fortnight.
And that's been me for the last threeyears.
Okay.
So there was 10 years on the medication.
Yeah.
Maybe a little bit more.
Yeah.
And by the end of that, you were havingthe side effects.
You weren't finding hair.
(12:33):
growing where you wanted it to.
So you stopped that.
Did you, I know I hear of other women whothink about doing that too.
So what was the thought process for youwith this idea of stopping it?
Did you slow down?
Did you go off it gradually?
Did you just wake up one day and goenough's enough?
I did just go off it in just one moment.
(12:56):
I didn't, I just stopped.
And how did you find that?
Liberating in some ways.
stopping the medication was really good inprobably a couple of different ways.
So firstly, I mean, you have to take thesetablets every single day.
So on top of being reminded of the hairloss every time I had a shower in the
(13:16):
morning, then you're having to, you know,you're having a pill every day.
Like it's just constantly at the front ofthe mind.
So not having to think about it anymore inone sense, but also the cost, cost of the
medication, having to see a dermatologistto,
kind of have the script renewed.
And my experience with dermatologistwasn't amazing.
(13:38):
I think I left almost every appointment intears and anxiety.
So not going in was a great thing for me.
And I'm not sure if anyone else feels thesame, but often I found the wait time to
get in was massive too.
So you'd be sitting in the waiting roomfor an hour and then taking time off work,
(13:59):
stopping medication was great because thatremoved a whole portion.
of dealing with the hair loss.
I have to say that I believe that walkingout of a doctor's surgery in tears is,
dermatologist or any other kind of doctor,when talking about hair loss is really
common.
(14:19):
Anything in particular at your appointmentthat you found traumatic?
Was it the person, the doctor himself, orwas it something they said?
I saw a few different dermatologists overthat.
roughly 10 years.
So I think partly frustration, feelinghopeless.
You know, there's no cure that I cameacross anyway.
(14:41):
Just talking about it at all prior toshaving my hair off was very emotional for
me.
It was something I really struggled totalk about.
Something that did happen, I guess, priorto me deciding that I was just going to be
done with it, I did have, I got referredon to a specific dermatologist who was
meant to be.
really high up in the industry, someonevery well known, like a guru.
(15:02):
If there was going to be any otherdiagnosis or any other solution, they were
going to be the person that would give mesome answers.
And I went in with all this documentationover things that had worked well, things
that didn't, times where I'd had regrowthor like my hair seemed to just stop
shedding, you know, for a few months.
There's all sorts of things that Irecorded and I went in with that and he
(15:26):
was not interested.
at all, he just took a glance at me andsaid, androgenic alopecia.
And I thought, well, I'm not really surewhat I'm paying for here then.
dear.
Yeah.
Well, I think that that's one of thesaddest things for women with hair loss is
that particularly male doctors, but notonly male doctors, female doctors as well,
(15:47):
just use this term androgenic alopecia asa sort of a catchall without trying to
figure out what is the problem.
It.
probably isn't androgens and thereforeprobably isn't androgenic alopecia.
It's probably female pattern hair losswhich has many underlying causes and
triggers.
And it's I guess time consuming, expensiveand you need quite a bit of knowledge to
(16:10):
start digging down to figure out what thecause is.
So this kind of idea of saying well it'sandrogenic alopecia seems to be the
catchall.
The medications are fairly obvious if it'sandrogen related.
And so that sort of ticks the box for adoctor.
That's what's causing it.
This is the solution.
(16:31):
And that's pretty much all they'll say.
But I'm sort of shocked really that a highprofile dermatologist, somebody who had
been built up to be somebody who reallydoes have that knowledge, gave you that
comment or gave you that diagnosis.
That just seems quite...
(16:51):
astounding to me, but it probably isn't tomany other women out there listening to us
talking who have had a very similarexperience.
Yeah, it was really disappointing for me,especially just that the biopsy as well
was just so discounted.
So the biopsy showed the lichenplanopilaris.
And so the dermatologist that I had beenseeing, she was skeptical of that because
(17:14):
of having a diffuse pattern of hair lossand not the kind of receding band or...
the kind of areas of very smooth hairlesskind of spots on my scalp.
And so that kind of triggered the referralonto this other dermatologist to be like,
let's get to the bottom of this.
I did actually try a different treatmentthat was targeted for lichen planipularis.
(17:37):
It was an ointment that I put on my scalp.
And I think for about three or fourmonths, I had no hair loss and I could
start to see my hair thickening up.
So I did actually think, well, maybe thisis correct.
Maybe this is my diagnosis, but then I'mnot sure.
Nothing seemed to change.
or, you know, my life and it just startedto shed again.
And I thought, well, I I've been givensome different diagnosis, but I'm not
(18:00):
fully convinced on any of them.
And I felt like my years of trying to findthe diagnosis and kind of fighting the
condition that I've got, it wasn't healthyfor me, mentally.
And so getting to the point where I juststopped medication.
And chopped my hair off.
(18:20):
For me, it was kind of a moment of, well,no hair, no problem.
It's done.
it's not something I'm going to thinkabout anymore.
And that's been, absolutely the best thingfor me.
It may not be for everybody, but I don'tthink about my hair or my hair loss very
often at all.
Maybe once a month or every couple ofmonths.
(18:44):
it's not something that dominates my daysor my life.
anymore like it used to.
Yeah, that's amazing.
So tell me about the day that you firstshaved your hair off.
What was that like?
I'd kind of built up to it in a way.
I'd kind of sowed the seed a little bitwith some friends and some family that,
you know, it was something I was probablygoing to do at some point in the future.
(19:07):
But I came to kind of this critical pointwhere I was graduating from university and
I
had a couple of job interviews lined upand I thought, well, I don't want to deal
with shaving my head just after acceptinga role or I didn't really want to take
colleagues along kind of the journey withme, I guess.
(19:29):
And I also wanted to be employed as I waswithout hair, without this being a factor
at all.
Yeah, I pretty much graduated and hadthose job interviews lined up the next
week and I was going to cut it myself.
But I didn't have clippers.
I was looking into buy some.
And then my mum actually mentioned thatshe had a, she'd been to a hairdresser who
(19:51):
worked from home.
And she said, why don't you call this,this woman?
She'll be able to do it for you.
Called her up, had a bit of a chat aboutwhat was going on.
And I think the next day I just booked in.
Turns up, you know, did my makeup, putsome massive earrings on so that I'd, I
don't know, try to boost myself up for it.
Yeah.
(20:11):
And I mean, it didn't take long to cut itoff.
There wasn't very much, wasn't very muchleft.
We were just having a chat while it wascoming away.
I wasn't sure what I would do if I wouldcry or anything.
Honestly, the emotions just dropped away.
I think I was a bit nervous before it.
And as it was coming off, it was just likeshedding all the problems I've had to deal
(20:34):
with, all the stress, all the hiding wascleansed away, I guess, in that moment.
Wow.
That's such a great description.
And I just laughed at the end because Ihadn't gone to a hairdresser for some
time.
I was just trimming my hair myself at homebecause there wasn't much of it there.
And I think like a lot of us with hairloss going to a hairdresser's isn't the
most pleasant experience because you lookaround at everyone else's beautiful hair.
(20:57):
And it was $10 and I looked at my walletand I had coins.
So I just paid $10 in coins and it washonestly one of the best days of my life.
that's fantastic.
It sounds like it was very liberating.
a very liberating act to do.
It was, I think, the thing with hair lossfor me that I most struggled with, aside
(21:21):
from the appearance and wanting to meetthe beauty standards, it was trying to
hide it.
The fear of people finding out or it justbeing noticed, not wanting it to be
noticed, that was the biggest thing.
So to be able to just be like,
Well, here it is.
You know, this is what's happening.
You know, be so open about it.
That's allowed me to move on, I guess, asbest as I can, because, you know,
(21:46):
sometimes I do think, gosh, you know, Iwonder what my life would be if I didn't
have, you know, the hair loss.
But for the most part, it's something thatI've been able to just be at peace with.
After that day when you shaved your hairoff, how did you feel walking out in
public?
I definitely felt a mix of emotions.
So,
(22:06):
In some ways I felt like a completebadass.
I felt like, you know, hey, I'm abovebeauty standards.
I'm not part of that rat race anymore.
Like that felt really liberating.
I did feel like, gosh, everyone's,everyone's looking at me.
You know, everyone's noticing me now,which was something that was very
different because I spent so long justtrying to hide into the background.
(22:29):
And here I am looking.
pretty non -traditional with my shorthair, so definitely attracting more
attention, definitely notice people doinga bit of a double take.
But initially I kind of just owned it.
I was like, this is me, felt really good.
There's been times where I did noticesomeone, just have a little glance up to
(22:49):
my hair or my scalp and I felt, gosh, itwould be nice not to have hair loss.
But then at the same time, I've definitelyfelt well.
Maybe that's the first time someone hasseen this and the next time they see a
woman with hair loss, they're not going tobe looking so closely or it won't catch
their eye.
I think as women, we've all gone down thepath of trying to hide it and we do a
(23:12):
really good job largely at hiding it, butit's so common.
And I do hope that if there are more womenout there that are just allowing their
hair loss to be viewed, either with longhair or shaved hair like mine.
that it just becomes normalized, just likeit is for men.
It's not such a big deal, you know, formen, if they don't feel like their hair
(23:33):
looks good, they just, everyone says, justshave it off, no big deal.
But for women, it does seem to be a biggerdeal and it doesn't have to be, I think
that's what I feel.
Thank you.
Yeah.
No, I totally hear you and thank you formaking that point.
And it's become something that's notreally emotional anymore.
It's just a fact, just like any medicalcondition.
It's just a fact that I've got this.
(23:54):
It's not something I really tie emotionsto.
like I used to.
Well, and you're not searching forsolutions every day and worried about what
people think and all the mental load ofcarrying that sounds like it's gone for
you.
And apart from, as you said, the odd time,it's not something that needs to fill up
(24:14):
your day.
And there's so much that you can be.
And, you know, frankly, you look great.
Thank you so much.
And I know there are lots of women outthere who would be worried about how they
would look.
But of course, the
The happiness in your face and the reliefshows through as well.
It's amazing.
So what would you say to other women?
So especially women who might be youngeror might be thinking about shaving off
(24:38):
their hair and owning their hair loss.
What advice would you offer?
I guess firstly that you are more thanyour hair.
Absolutely.
Your value doesn't come from your hair.
Your femininity doesn't come from yourhair.
Of course, hair is beautiful.
You know, if I could have long lasheshair, I would, but I'm still feminine
(24:59):
without hair.
absolutely.
You are.
There's a lot of benefits to come fromcutting your hair.
If that's something that you're lookinginto, it is so quick to get ready in the
morning.
You know, the, driving in the car with thewindows down.
Amazing.
If it rains, it's like that used to behorrendous, you know, if it rained, it,
(25:22):
cause it would show up, you know,everything.
I think the day I actually had my haircut,I had to run down to the shops and it
rained and I kind of rushed through butthen I realized it wasn't a big deal.
I just used my sleeve and just wiped thetop of my head.
It was great.
It is going to be confronting for thepeople that know you well to see you in a
(25:44):
different way.
I ended up, I think it was a week after Icut it, I...
Took a photo and I put on Instagram andbasically you just announced it that you
know last week I did this thing that was abit scary but really liberating and I have
this condition that I can't cure But I'mnot gonna spend my days being miserable
(26:04):
about it and I was moving on from and thatI was really happy about it as well And I
think that really helped Just showingpeople that you will yeah if I could
choose I would have something differentbut
I'm fine.
And then that meant that the people aroundme for the most part, we're just totally
(26:24):
on board with it.
yeah, had a lot of support from friendsand family.
Well, that's great.
That's really good.
And I think other women will be so glad tohear that because that might be something
worrying them and thinking about takingtheir hair off and worrying.
So it's been absolutely a joy talking toyou just to hear your story and your
(26:45):
lovely attitude and, and your.
beautiful personality which shows throughin the way you talk and in your beautiful
smile.
And just want to say thank you for sharingyour story with me and with all those
other women out there who will be verygrateful to you as well.
So thank you.
Thank you so much, Bambi.
It's been amazing.
Wow.
To hear Chelsea's confidence grow likethat.
(27:08):
Isn't that amazing?
And it's a real reminder that sometimesit's more about our attitude and how we
view ourselves.
that really matters.
But now, let's move on to a topic aroundsomething that most women do at one stage
or other of their life, and that is dyeingour hair.
(27:29):
Today's Did You Know?
is all about hair dye and hair dyeing.
So I want to start by addressing aquestion I get asked so often.
Does hair dye cause hair loss?
Well, like most things to do with femalehair loss,
The answer isn't straightforward, so let'stake a closer look.
(27:51):
Firstly, most of the time hair dye doesn'tcause female hair loss, so that's good to
know.
I'll get to why it may cause it in somecases in a minute, but let's start by
looking at why it often isn't the sourceof the problem.
So once your hair reaches the surface ofthe skin, it's actually already dead.
(28:12):
So as you know, hair grows from thefollicle.
The follicle reaches deep down into theskin and it's nourished by the
bloodstream, which runs throughunderneath.
The hair follicle is alive, of course, butthe hair, the strands that you see coming
out of your head, well, not so much.
(28:33):
For most people, the hair dye is justaffecting the hair and that's hair that's
already dead and so it doesn't contributeto hair loss.
But for some people, and this is rare,
But for some hair dyes can, it's thought,perhaps penetrate the hair follicle
itself, causing the follicle to dye or tostop working properly.
(28:56):
I've done quite a bit of reading up onthis and the general thinking is that
there is some sort of allergy to some ofthe chemicals in hair dye.
Now that the chemical known as PPD,
which stands for para -phenylenediamine,is known to cause dermatitis in some
(29:19):
individuals, which then can lead to hairloss.
And I've actually seen some examples ofwomen with the most incredibly terrible
dermatitis following using a hair dye.
So if that's what's happening to you,well, it's not really known why this
happens to some people and not others, butobviously it's got something to do with
(29:42):
allergies,
or a chemical reaction within anindividual.
So it is hard to know.
But you'll of course know if you've had anallergic reaction and that is the most
common.
So obviously if you have an allergicreaction, you need to stop using that
product.
And then if you want to continue dyeingyour hair, then you'll need to check the
ingredients list of the products that youreacted to and then find an alternative
(30:07):
that doesn't have some of those harsherchemicals, for example, like PPD.
But
That really is rare.
However, there are more common issues tothink about if you dye your hair and have
hair loss.
Like what's the best color to dye yourhair?
Well, if you lighten your hair, your haircan actually look thinner and it may break
(30:30):
more easily because to lighten your hair,you have to strip some of the pigment and
nutrient out of the hair and that can makeeach strand slightly thinner and
definitely can make it more brittle.
So obviously if your hair is breaking off,it will contribute to the overall
reduction of hair, even if that follicleis still working well.
(30:52):
So the answer might be to darken yourhair.
Well, that actually adds pigment to thehair shaft and that can actually make your
hair look thicker.
So I've continued to dye my hair.
I've had hair loss now for over 15 yearsand I've had various types from alopecia
areata.
to TE of various causes and it's alwaysgrown back and I've always continued to
(31:16):
dye my hair.
Now in those years, I've used acombination of hair salon dyes and my
salon of choice has actually changedbrands three times.
So, and each time I've prayed that Ididn't have any allergic reaction to the
new type and I didn't.
But more commonly these days, I just usethe box dyes from the supermarket.
(31:38):
I find that
the box dyes work just as well for me andmaking my hair darker does make it look
fuller.
So, but of course there are two sides toevery story and it must be said that if
you have fair skin and you decide to dyeyour hair darker, it can make thinning
hair more visibly noticeable because ofthe contrast of colors between your hair
(32:03):
color and your scalp.
So this is especially true if you'relosing your hair in patches.
and if you've got a wider part, but thisis actually where cotton hair fibers come
in really handy.
So boost and blend can really make a bigdifference to hide that loss at the scalp
so that you can't see the scalp through atall.
Now, if you think that you might besomeone who is affected by hair dyes,
(32:27):
well, there are some options rather thannot dyeing your hair altogether.
You may want to find a salon that usesnatural dyes, for example.
This can be really good actually if you'vegot sensitive skin too.
Another way to minimise the impact of hairdyeing is to start your hair dye away from
the scalp.
It's called off scalp hair dyeing.
So foils are a great example of off scalphair dyeing really because the hair dye
(32:51):
doesn't have to come into contact with thescalp.
Some people choose to dye their whole headof hair slightly away from the scalp.
Of course, that'll inevitably mean thatyou might need to dye your hair more often
because regrowth will be more visible morequickly, but it does help keep.
those harsh chemicals away from the hairfollicle.
I should still say that if you're one ofthose rare people who is allergic to hair
(33:16):
dye, then this may not be the best optionfor you.
You might have to just embrace the gray aswe say.
I often get asked by women who as a resultof having hair loss have decided to stop
dying their hair.
So maybe they haven't dyed their hair fora year or so and then they'd like to start
dying their hair again and they're worriedthat
should they?
(33:37):
Is that the right thing to do if they'vegot hair loss?
Would perhaps starting to dye your hairagain cause further hair loss?
What I'd say to that is firstly, you mustdo an allergic reaction test, especially
for the box dyes.
You must follow the instructions on thebox, which is to do a test of the product
(34:00):
on your arm or on the inside of your armor somewhere 24 hours before you dye your
hair.
You do know that you'd
you don't have an allergic reaction.
So that's the first thing.
And secondly, you can, you can embracethat.
You can dye your hair if you want to,particularly if maybe you've got a special
occasion coming up and you think you'dreally like to have your hair dyed for
that.
(34:20):
I think in general, yes, it is okay.
And the general thinking is that hair dyedoes not cause hair loss.
But as I say, you know, you have to useyour own knowledge of your own body and
you have to do things that are right foryou, but follow the instructions.
So there you have it, the ins and outs ofhair dyeing for women with hair loss.
That brings us to the end of anotherepisode.
(34:42):
As always, please remember any advicegiven is general in nature and you should
consult with your own health professionalsfor personal advice.
I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.
Don't forget to leave a review if youhave.
I'll see you next time and until then,kindness is beautiful.
So wear it every day.
(35:04):
Thanks for joining me on the Hair Loss inWomen podcast.
And a big thank you to the women who sharetheir stories 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.
And if you like what you heard, why notleave a review?
(35:27):
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 Pen
Productions.
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