Teen hair loss has been a popular topic of conversation in my life lately. Two girls that I know (who are in the 14-16 year range), have been experiencing some hair-loss issues. Both really healthy girls – they took my advice and saw their doctors. The cause of their hair loss- is just their lives. Both girls have extremely busy lives. They go to private school, and one is on the swim team, and the other the rowing team – they do tons of other activities- and take guitar lessons from me.

Now their hair loss is barely noticeable. In fact, until one of them said something to me, I didn’t notice. But there are things that they can do to have healthy hair.

Things like:

*Talk your stress out. Teenagers have stressful lives. If they don’t talk, then they internalize it – and that is never good.
*Eat as healthy as you can. It is something we all need to work on. Especially busy people. Hard to find the time…but you just have to try. So curb the fries.
*Take a time out. Make sure you have a day, where there are no scheduled activities. Teenagers need rest and time to chill out, just like the rest of us.
*Do not wear your hair in a braid or ponytail everyday – this just causes more damage- and encourages hair breakage.
*Oh yea, and there is no reason to colour your hair, all the time. Enjoy the natural colour – because its so pretty, when you are young.

Hope the tips help!

**Picture Source – flickr

Post from: Blisstree

Quick Hair Tips for Girls

Fitzpatrick states in the New Zealand Herald,

When I was at school people thought they could catch it.  Ten years ago, people weren’t talking about it.

Ms. Fitzpatrick also models for design houses such as Karen Walker, and Christian Dior.

**Picture source – 62models.com

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The Bald and The Beautiful – One and the Same

Would you be interested in spending your hard earned money to see this movie. Early buzz says its going to be great.

**picture source – www.FT.com

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Harold – A Movie for a Bald Audience

It’s theme day at the b5media Science and Health Channel.  Today’s theme is Back to School -please check out all of the interesting perspectives on this topic by our writers.  The round up can be found on Kristina’s blog Autism Vox. 

This topic got me thinking about all of the crazy things that schools (especially elementary schools) do to get students to actively participate in school culture.  Usually kids get a really big kick out of stuff like this.  You know what I am talking about.  Things like wear your clothes backwards day, or trade your lunch day…or whatever kooky thing teachers and advisory councils come up with.

I am here to promote my idea for a wacky theme day.  Wear knitted hair to school day.  I am not all crafty, so I have no idea how difficult it is to make knitted hair.  Maybe its not hard at all, and it could be an art project.  Or maybe, knitted hair day could follow a segment on tolerance, and how we should be celebrating our differences – and how we should be respecting others and ourselves.  My idea is not at all fully formed – I just think its an interesting idea that should be developed.

And if “Wear Knitted Hair Day” doesn’t catch on, well you can always incorporate your new knitted hair into a Halloween costume, or winter is coming soon – this “hair” could take place of your functional (but not nearly as cute) tuque.

If you are at all interested.  The pattern can be found here.

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Wear Knitted Hair Day – Could This Take Off?

Grace James, a six year old girl, had her hair cut for the very first time on August 17.  The ponytail that the stylist removed from Grace’s head was 15″ long, and believes that she could have cut another inch or two.  Grace donated her hair to Locks of Love.  Grace has stated that she wanted to donate her hair, because her mother and her cousins have done so in the past.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

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Girl Donates a Lot of Hair

There was a study done involving 2000 adults and children from South Africa, where it was found that 1 in 7 schoolgirls, and 1/3 of all women were suffering from traction alopecia – which is caused by excessive pulling of the hair.

Statistics became worse when they looked at school children who had chemically relaxed hair, and discovered that 1 in 5 kids had traction alopecia, from that.

Andrew McDonagh, a consultant at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, stated that the findings of this study has confirmed previous evidence that traction alopecia could be caused by elaborate hairstyles.

Dr McDonagh states,

We see a number of black patients with traction alopecia each year and it’s recognised to be a major problem, especially in the US where there is a large black population. But you see other patients with the condition, who may have treated their hair or worn it pulled back from the scalp.

I am definitely at a stage in my life, where I would never risk losing all (or large portions) of my hair – just because the hairstyle du jour is cool. OK maybe once or twice, when I was in high school I had a perm – so I guess there was a time, when I was a somewhat interested party. But not any more.

It is interesting to note, that when my own hair was falling out, I would pull my remaining hair back into a ponytail, or a bun. I thought that was the easiest way to conceal my bald patches. Turns out, I was just adding fuel to the fire. I am definitely going to have to keep that in mind, the next time this happens for me.

If you want to read more about the study and the corresponding article -which also covers acne keloidalis nuchae, please click here.

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Trendy Hairstyles Can Cause Baldness

How about this story about Woodville Elementary and their fund raiser for Angel Hair for Kids? The sixth grade class put on a dramatic skit, they held a $2 raffle of sorts to help shave a teachers head, and willing students could get their own head shaved for a $5 donation. In all, the school raised $1300 for Angel Hair for Kids.

But wait! Let’s back up to the start and meet Sydney Steele, a second grader who earlier in the year had decided to donate her hair to help other children who had lost theirs. It seems her story of charity spread through the ranks like wildfire, and it turned into a school-wide event.

“A child shall lead them…” I think I’ve read that somewhere.

Angel Hair for Kids is a part of A Child’s Voice Foundation, a charitable organization in Canada “dedicated to support and enhance the physical and emotional well being of less fortunate children in Canada.”

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Woodville Elementary Help Angel Hair for Kids

Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Now, we move to the Johns Creek “Cut-In” details courtesy of 11Alive News. Yesterday 80 women and girls came into Joseph & Friends Lifestyle Salon and Spa to receive a major haircut. Those aren’t just trims, but 10″ ponytails… minimum.

Let’s see… no… no… can’t say that I’ve ever had hair 10″ long, and it doesn’t look likely that I ever will.

Bottom line: Those 80 women gave enough hair to make a dozen or so wigs.

Well done all!

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Mega-Trims for Locks of Love

Meet Sharod Gandy. He plays basketball up in New Jersey… All-Bergen County for Englewood, which means he’s pretty good.

Now meet Ariel Williams. She’s seven. She’s Sharod’s little sister. And she’s got alopecia.

“She ignores it. She takes it pretty good for a little kid,” Gandy said. “Most little kids would see it and start crying and stuff. But she’s taking it. She doesn’t cry anymore. She used to. But not anymore.

Big brother’s going one step further. He’s organized a fund-raiser at his high school in honor of his little sis. Proceeds benefit the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

Ariel Fights Alopecia is this 1pm Saturday at Englewood High School in New Jersey. The card includes:

Some of North Jersey’s best high school players, including Hackensack’s Keon Williams and Ridgefield Park’s John Tello, will face a team formed by former Englewood All-State guard Donald Hennie. There also will be a three-point contest, a slam dunk contest and an AAU basketball game.

Three cheers for Ariel and Sharod!

source | image

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Big Brother Looking out for Little Sister with Alopecia

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The Tortoise & Hair 5K