EDIT: This is one of the standout images from Sunday night’s Oscars: Will Smith live slapping Chris Rock after a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair. The latter suffers from alopecia, a health problem that we mentioned in this article, which we suggest you read again.
“People ask me why I wear a turban, it’s because I have problems with hair loss. (…) One day, I was in the shower, and I found my hands full of hair, I was losing handfuls of it. I wondered if I was going to end up bald. It was on the set of her show and moved to tears that actress Jada Pinkett-Smith confided in her alopeciaa problem of significant hair loss that does not spare the fairer sex.
Lose hair by whole handfuls. Draw improbable lines to hide the fall. Put on headbands. If hair loss is dreaded by men, it can turn into a nightmare when it affects women, who see their hair as a symbol of femininity and sensuality. Alopecia, alopecia areata, emotional shock, pregnancy or even menopause, the causes are numerous and regrowth requires appropriate treatment and patience.
“I was losing my hair in handfuls”
“One of the most frequent reasons for consultation concerns post-pregnancy hair loss,” says Dr. Henri Pawin, dermatologist. The hormone level during pregnancy means that women do not lose hair during this period, but it catches up with them in the weeks following childbirth”. It was also “just after the birth of my daughter that I suffered a significant hair loss, despite the food supplements that I had taken during my pregnancy to avoid this, remembers Mandy. I had had hair to die for during pregnancy, and three weeks after the birth, I was losing my hair in handfuls, especially when I washed it, it was excruciating! Each shampoo stressed me out and ended up in tears each time”.
In most cases, “the situation returns to normal on its own,” reassures Dr. Pawin. For Mandy, the road was longer. “I had lost a lot of hair on my temples and forehead. I took tests, but nothing was found. The young woman is then prescribed “a horse treatment! », based on injections, as well as a spray to be applied every day to stimulate regrowth. “After a year of treatment, my hair has grown back even though it is less dense”.
Eléonore, she did not realize right away that she was losing her hair, “but little by little, I started to see my skull while combing my hair in the morning, says the 19-year-old young woman. I had to cut them very short because the length constituted a weight that they could not bear”. Quickly, “hair loss created in me an obsession to grow them back and a loss of self-confidence. The image I had of myself depended on the state of my hair: the more I lost it, the more I lost confidence”. A sentiment shared by Nawell*, prone to alopecia areata since childhood. “I suffer a lot from it, I have never had a moment in my life when I said to myself “I have beautiful hair”. I tie them all the time because I hide the hairless holes well, even in front of my husband”.
Find the cause to find the right treatment
Sometimes hair loss is transient, seasonal, that it “occurs in particular in the spring or in the fall, explains Dr. Pawin. In this case, food supplements based on iron and vitamins will make it possible to obtain fairly effective hair regrowth”. But when the hair loss is continuous, “we are faced with something more complex, and we have to find out why the hair is falling”. For the dermatologist, you have to look at the side of the scalp. “A local inflammation or infection of the scalp can be the cause of hair loss,” he continues. But if there is nothing, a hormonal assessment can shed light on the problem, especially if the patient has hair loss associated with menstruation disorders, acne and hirsutism, heavy hair growth that develops to abnormal areas. In which case it may be hyperandrogenism “.
Because it is sometimes on the side of her gynecologist that a woman will find the cause and the solution to her hair loss problems, which can be of hormonal origin. “I observe three main causes of significant hair loss in my patients: hypothyroidism, hyperandrogenism and iron deficiency in the event of very heavy periods, enumerates Dr Michèle Scheffler, gynecologist endocrinologist. And once the cause has been identified, it must be treated, she announces. If it is a thyroid problem, we treat the disorder, if we are facing hyperandrogenism, we prescribe anti-androgens which will restore the hormonal balance and if it is an iron deficiency, iron supplementation will suffice”.
Preferred natural solutions
If necessary, Minoxidil, a local solution, may be prescribed to stimulate regrowth. “But it is a suspensive treatment, warns Dr. Pawin, dermatologist. It works as long as you apply it, but as soon as you stop it, the hair can fall out”. In case of significant and lasting hair loss, then hair implants could be an option. But in addition to the obstacle of cost, “they are often less effective in women, unless they are carried out early, before the hair loss is too diffuse”, warns the dermatologist.
It is therefore towards natural solutions that many women are turning. “The only thing that helps me grow my hair faster is castor oil,” reveals Manon, prone to alopecia areata since childhood. “It takes time but it works”, confirms Joan, hairdresser, who advises “to apply castor oil in the evening and wash the next day”. Moreover, after her cycle of chemotherapy prescribed to treat her cancer, Anne did everything to regain her pretty brown curls, before opting for this remedy. “I coated my skull with castor oil every day to promote regrowth and today I have small curls,” rejoices the quadra.
Like others, Laura, in her early thirties, “stopped all chemical treatments that gave me horrible side effects,” says the young woman, who has been losing her hair for ten years. Today I lose them especially on the top, I don’t have many left”. To remedy this, the young woman treats herself “with plants” and a good dose of positive thinking, making fun of the eyes of others. “I have holes above my forehead but I don’t care if others don’t like it, I will never wear a wig or hide my skull! At worst, I’ll shave my head and find myself beautiful all the same. After all, my beauty isn’t just about my hair! »
* The first name has been changed