About eight weeks ago, one of my daughters started experiencing sudden and dramatic hair loss. After a few days she mentioned it to me so I got her started on some vitamins; I thought it might be a seasonal change or something about the water here, but I wasn’t concerned. When it was continuing a few days after that, I took a look. As soon as I saw her scalp, I got a sick feeling in my stomach because the loss was much more visible than I was expecting to see – in a week and a half she had lost half of her hair – and I immediately made an appointment with a naturopath.
The naturopath made some suggestions for dietary adjustments (not really different from how we were already eating), some suggestions for supplements (that I had already given dd), and some suggestions for relaxation. Hair loss like this is generally connected to stress, and when we got home from our appointment I gave dd some of my relaxation cds to listen to at night. I also got busy online doing more research and looking for answers because I wasn’t confident that the suggestions we received were enough, since I had already been implementing prior to the appointment and the hair loss hadn’t slowed down.
I also took dd to the pediatrician, who didn’t bother looking at her scalp and told her she shouldn’t feel stressed. Then she chastised her for not speaking Hebrew more fluently (though she didn’t even hear her say anything – she only heard me ask dd if she understood a medical term that was being used and that dd said no) and started lecturing her about needing to read books in Hebrew to her younger siblings to improve her Hebrew. Dd and I afterwards were like, was that supposed to be helpful? Whatever. All I needed from her was a recommendation for blood work so we smiled and left once we had that. It’s a good thing I wasn’t relying on her help to resolve the situation, because I would have been shopping for wigs given another couple of weeks of things continuing as they were.
Despite our efforts, the hair loss got worse before it got better. Dd had a great attitude about it and we tried to stay positive and optimistic that her hair would start growing back soon. Dd religiously followed the protocol given to her by the naturopath, along with my additions, and after about a month from when her hair first started falling out,there was a visible change. One day she told me, “Mommy, look at my hairline – all these are new hairs!” All over her head she had new hairs filling in where the scalp had been visible before. When she said that I got a huge lump in my throat and almost started crying; I had been really worried. It was then that I told her I had been afraid she was going to lose all of her hair, and she shared that she had been worried about the same thing.
Obviously I’m not a doctor and not making promises that what worked for us will work for anyone else, but I’ll share what we did. (Those with an asterisk in front were recommended by the naturopath.)
- vitamin D – 2000 IU
- *vitamin C – 1-2000 mg
- *vitamin B complex – 500 mg
- *vitamin B12 – 1200 mg
- *zinc – 60 mg x 2 daily
- cod liver oil – 1 teaspoon
- homeopathic cell salts – silica 6x, 4 pills several times a day
- liquid activated silicon – 10 drops
There were some other things I suggested dd do, like scalp massage, hanging upside down for a few minutes in the evening to stimulate blood flow to the scalp and the use of rosemary oil but she didn’t do any of those.
After seeing dd’s hair growing back, the naturopath told me that in situations like this, it’s not called hair loss but alopecia. I’m really glad I didn’t know that beforehand, because I know only enough about alopecia that hearing the term would have worried me even more. Thankfully this is now a situation that has been resolved!
Avivah
wow, that’s so scary! thank Gd it;s growing back!
Alopecia apparently runs in the family. Cloth hair coverings besides wigs might also help. It’s cooler in the summer than wigs.
We don’t have any family members who have alopecia. And I don’t have any married daughters who cover their hair with wigs.
You mentioned that your naturopath describes your daughter’s condition as alopecia. Alopecia is hereditary. Other hair loss problems are medical or stress and cannot be called alopecia, just medical or stress-related hair loss problem. If it is alopecia, then it’s a hereditary condition.
See this:
“The most common type of hair loss in women occurs in a diffuse pattern. Diffuse hair loss is most often hereditary, but it can also be caused by underlying medical conditions, medications, and other factors.
Common or “hereditary” baldness in women, also called female pattern alopecia, is genetic and can come either the mother’s or father’s side of the family. It is caused by the actions of two enzymes; aromatase (which is found predominantly in women) and 5-a reductase (which is found in both women and men).”
Source: http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/hair-loss/women/causes/
You mentioned “shopping for wigs” if the condition continues. So, I suggested cloth hair covering for the hot summer months.
Try to get some sleep, while the baby is sleeping. Take care of yourself. The Internet can wait.
What abt woman havig weaker thinner hair with age and child bearing … Any good stuff for that ? 🙂
Baruch Hashem story w ur dd ended well :))
Diatomaceous earth is supposed to help with that kind of thing but only have experience with my oldest son with this.
The whole time reading this I thought alopecia, and then you said alopecia! My neice has it and started to lose hair when her mother was in the hospital for 6 weeks. It eventually started to grow back after her mom came home but I don’t think she did anything medically to remedy it. My neice didn’t seem stressed in her behavior and I could tell she was very self conscious and wore bandanas all the time.
My daughter is 7 years old and having this problem. We are on the GAPS diet, so we eat very healthy. Would you recommend the same dosage for a seven year old? Thank you! I am more stressed about this then my daughter.
Not a good thing to hear about, but I’m glad that you have found a solution for it.
Unfortunately, my husband wasn’t that lucky and now he is following a hair restoration treatment at http://www.skinvitality.ca. However, we are pretty sure that the results will be okay, because the doctor knows what he is doing.