According to the Department of Research Writing at Quick Hair Loss Treatment Centre in Atlanta, studies are showing that swimming in chlorinated pools can result in hair discoloration and hair loss. OK this doesn’t seem like entirely big news to me. When I was a kid we all knew someone who once had blonde hair that turned green – because they swam everyday. I hadn’t heard about it in awhile, but I guess that has really never gone away. There are hair care products that can prevent your hair color from turning – and if it does, there is always a quick fix.

Now the hair loss part is tricky. I know that chlorinated water can damage your hair. I have spent enough time in pools to know that after a while, my own hair feels like straw -and I wished that I was brave enough to shave it off, and start again. But I didn’t know that you could actually lose it. I guess it makes sense. Chemicals cause damage. If you spend a lot of time in a pool, you might want to consider wearing a swim cap, or make sure you are using hair products specifically designed for hair that spends a lot of time in chemically treated water.

To know more about this development, go here.

**Picture Source – flickr

Post from: Blisstree

Swimming Can Cause Baldness

Awareness to end Breast Cancer is a cause that I support (among others). When one has a close friend or relative that is touched by such a disease, it is hard to not want to throw all of your support behind a cause, such as this.

So, with a little prompting from Alicia, who writes Mental Health Notes for b5media, I have decided to participate in this years CIBC Run for the Cure. A walk/run which raises funds to end breast cancer.

Funny how little whims turn into such ideas. It started by stating that I wanted to wear a pink wig. And then the fantasy of feather boas appeared….and so on. And by talking it over with a coworker yesterday, a decision to enter had been made.

The distance isn’t a far one, only 5km. But the people who live with breast cancer, have a long road – and if there is something that I can do, to lessen the burden, then I am going to do it.

I am going to sign up this week, and start increasing my exercise.

If you want to know more, go here.

**Picture Source – flickr

Post from: Blisstree

Come Run With Me

I have just found out (well technically I would have known for almost 2 weeks, if I read my email regularly) that there is a really great support group in the Montreal area.

Meetings for the Quebec Alopecia Areata Foundation are held at:

The Montreal Children’s Hospital
2300 Tupper Ave., Montreal, QC
Room C461 – from 2-4 PM

Meetings are held on Saturdays.

The next 3 meetings are scheduled on:

Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008

If you want more information on this group, please click here. Or you can contact me directly at laura@b5media.com and I can put you in touch with the people involved.

Post from: Blisstree

Quebec Baldies – Are You Out There?

First of all, not everyone has a problem with their baldness. Promotions like this are designed to make us feel bad about the amount of hair we have (or don’t have) on our heads. I don’t need a tremendous amount of hair, to feel good about myself – and that is just what this company thinks I need. More hair!

Second of all, on this coupon there is a before and after picture of a man. The before picture is of a man in his mid 40’s (I am guessing)- not at all unattractive, balding (although not yet completely bald), has pasty skin, is very tired looking, and is frowning. In the after picture, the man looks 15 years younger, is sporting a tan, is abut 15 pounds lighter, appears to be well rested, and looks like a member of the Kennedy family. They do not look like the same person, at all.

Thirdly, why is this company only advertising to men? In one of the coupons which actually folds out, the before and after pictures are only men. Not one picture of a woman. Do they believe that women don’t lose their hair?

I went on their website, to see if they treat women. They do – however, on their before and after pictures of their clients (in which there are 77 of them) only one picture (client #39) is a woman.

If I ever decide to enhance my head with a hair transplant, I will be looking at companies that do not plaster their ads on the cover of the yellow pages phone book!

OK my rant is over!

Post from: Blisstree

What Burns Me Up

Happy New Year everyone!

Now that 2007 has officially passed (and for the record, it was a bad year for me), I am ready to meet the new year with optimism and a really big hello. HELLO 2008!

I thought I would share some of the things that I plan to work on this year

• Blog at both Baldiness and CFS Squared with a whole lot more frequency. If you ever want to read something a bit different (but still me) come hang out at CFS2 and find out what sleepy people do for fun!
• Drink a lot more water – which is good for people who are fatigued, and good for people who have hair, skin and nail issues.
• Get more fresh air. Since I have bronchial issues most of the year, the outdoors is a good place for me to hang out
• To eat better – which means more fruit and vegetables (both of which are good for hair growth) and maybe have a few more glasses of milk.

• Get out to see more movies – there is a samurai movie festival that starts this month in my home town, and I am so excited about it – and these dudes have serious hair issues. And my favorite baldy, John Malkovich has a ton of new movies coming out, so I will be one very happy audience member.

There will be more resolutions in the coming days, but for now I think this is a good start.

I would love it if you would share some of your New Years projects that you are working on.

Cheers!

**Picture Source www.fitnessmatters.com

Post from: Blisstree

A New Year…A New Outlook

Like I said before, this type of hair loss is very temporary, so don`t worry.  Stressing over it, will only prolong the problem.

**picture source www.avert.org

Post from: Blisstree

Oral Contraceptives Can Cause Baldness

It’s theme day over at the Science and Health Channel for b5media. Today’s theme is a top 10 list of my choice. So my choice is….why I will be bald by the age of 40.

So let’s get started…Here is the list

1. A really bad day at work – ok a somewhat mediocre day at work, has me pulling my strands of hair.
2. I have no immune system – I am frequently battling viruses and other infections -so I get fevers for long periods at a time -fevers are a known cause for hair loss.
3. Poor Nutrition – A balanced diet may help prevent hair loss – I definitely need to reexamine my diet
4. I can not stand head massages -a scalp massage, can increase blood flow to the head. I can not have my head touched. I know it sounds weird – I can’t quite explain it
5. My father is follicle challenged – hair loss is hereditary – and it doesn’t just come from the maternal side
6. I don’t own any chickens
7. I wear my hair in a ponytail almost everyday – hair styles where you pull the hair back and secure in elastics (such as braids or ponytails) can cause baldness
8. I am iron deficient (not exactly anemic – but low on iron, just the same) – deficiency of protein and iron can cause hair loss
9. Hair loss occurs for most people between the ages of 20 and 50 – I am between those ages
10. I occasionally colour treat my hair – hair that has been treated chemically can react – and fall out

Are you destined for hair loss, because of how you live?
image source - Legal Juice

Post from: Blisstree

Ten Reasons Why I May Be Bald By the Age of 40

When I was a kid, I had really long hair….I was the Cher (of Sonny and Cher fame) of my kindergarten class. It was that long, and that beautiful. When I would go to the hair salon, and they would ask – how I would like it cut -I would always say “please cut it long”. I couldn’t imagine anything worse, than having short hair. Of course that phase didn’t last long, one year later, all of my hair was cut off, and I ended up with a very fashionable albeit very short Dorothy Hamill wedge cut (this was the late 70s after all).

Eventually, I got over the trauma…but for the better part of my life I have always been jealous of “good hair” – I would try everything to get it….but it never failed, my hair always looked better when it was up and out of the way.

When my hair started falling out (after the initial shock), I started not caring so much about what my hair looked like. I now had a reason, to have short “cute” hair styles….but more than that – I started getting annoyed at people who defined themselves by their hair. I no longer had patience, for my friends who would spend 20 minutes in the bathroom, when we would go out – because they were fixing their hair. Really, if it still looks bad after running a comb through it and some product, its just not going to be a good hair day. So get over yourself, and put on a headband, or a ball cap.

I know that my days of having “hair like Cher’s” are long over….and if I had to tell the truth; I am really glad that the battle of the comb is over (pun intentional)…combing out tangles can be torturous. I am now in the “meh” state of hair issues. Perhaps I am able to say this, because my hair has mostly grown back- and while I have “issues” I am not exactly bald.

But I am definitely able to tell you, that the minute I stopped obsessing over what my hair looked like – I became a much happier person.

Was Cher’s hair even real in the 70’s?

Post from: Blisstree

Are you defined by your hair?

Did you know, that more than 30 million females in the United States have problems regarding baldness. 30 million!!! While that is still much less than the male statistic, it is quite significant.

For most women hair loss causes a huge emotional issue (which causes more stress = more hair problems).

Women tend to be vain about their hair. We are always fussing, brushing, and grooming it. We get upset when the men in our lives don’t notice our new hairstyles….and most of us are suckers for any kind of hair accessory: such as a hairband, barrette, or some kind of clip. We spend way too much money on good shampoos, conditioners, and styling products. Why are we like this? Because we are obsessive creatures.

So when we start to lose our hair – we start questioning other things. Will my boyfriend notice, and will he have a problem with me – am I losing my feminine wiles? Even the most secure women out there, are going to be thrown for a loop. It’s just not something that is talked about. OK I talk about it – but not many others do.

According to Fox News, there are some things that you can do to stop (and possibly reverse) the baldness. Here is a brief run down of the options available to you.

• Monoxidal -better known as Rogaine. It’s a topical liquid that you apply directly onto the thinning area of your scalp. It needs to be applied twice a day. Statistics show that it has stopped hair from thinning in about 70% of its cases ~ and shows regrowth by 50%.
• Low Level Laser Light Therapy – try saying that 3 x fast! Laser light is used to stimulate blood flow in the skin layer, where the hair follicles are. The treatment converts 70% of hair that’s in the resting stage of the hair growth cycle back into the growth stage.
• Hair Restoration Surgery – Skin grafts from the donor area (usually the sides and back of the head) are transplanted to areas that are bald. The new hair follicles will take, and start growing – this is not affected by female pattern baldness. The transplanted hair can be coloured, curled, and cut. This is because it is our own!

Of course there are non invasive options…start working on your accessory collection. Head scarves, hats, even fun wigs. I once had a roommate who has beautiful hair, who insisted on wearing a mauve wig a few times a month, because -well I am not exactly sure why – but she was (and am sure still is) a really fun girl.

Post from: Blisstree

Baldness – Not Just for the Men

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.

Post from: Blisstree

Trendy Hairstyles Can Cause Baldness