I felt like my world was ending when I started losing my hair at 21, after a year of treatment it’s so much thicker
A STUDENT has shared her despair after she started to lose her hair when she was just 21.
She was devastated and felt like her world was ending when her locks started to disappear.
But she has given hope to many suffering a similar trauma.
After a year of treatment, she was able to report that her mane was so much thicker.
Sofiadsevilla’s (@sofiadsevilla) relief was palpable in her post.
A bad hair day was nothing like her hair loss day and it affected her in many ways.
“I was at university and I was 21 and I had no idea why I started losing my hair,” she recalled.
“I would spend ages just looking at my hair in the mirror trying to figure out what was going on.”
She soon discovered what was behind this hair trauma. She was suffering from androgenetic alopecia.
It is a common hair loss condition that affects both men and women.
It distressed Sofia so much, that she started to isolate herself.
“It led me to push away a lot of my friends and spend a lot of nights just locked in my room researching online and going into black holes of how to fix it.”
She quickly identified that losing hair had a dramatic effect, and not just on appearance.
“The thing that surprised me the most was how much it hurt emotionally to be losing hair.”
This young lady, however, found a solution that worked for her, and today she has a mane of hair to be proud of.
“But this is me exactly one year after a year of treatment on Minoxidil and my hair is looking a lot better,” she said flicking locks down to her waist.
The trauma is still there for Sofia, but she has found a way of living with it.
“I’m 22 at this point and I’ve sort of managed to get over the fact that I have alopecia because I’ve managed to learn to live with it,” she wrote.
“But that doesn’t mean that it’s gone, it’s just better. No one can even tell I have alopecia,” she said, a mixture of relief and delight.
“And every day on minoxidil my hair gets a little better.”
She hoped her experience would help others suffering from hair loss.
“So there’s definitely hope for all of you out there who are losing your hair for the first time and feel like the world is ending.
“Finding a treatment plan that works for you is absolutely essential and completely possible.”
Commenters agreed hair loss ravaged one’s confidence.
“Even for men it is devastating losing the hair,” said one guy.
This person vouched for the same product: “I use the Kirkland brand of Minoxidil, 5 %, it really has made my hair grow back and thicker too.”
And there was gratitude for Sofia’s openness around hair loss.
“Thanks you for posting this. I always thought it was stress but I’ve realized it’s not. Thank you for being so open.”
Clarissa Yang, MD, a dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston spoke to Everyday Health.
She said Minoxidil was effective for both men and women in the treatment of hair loss.
“Minoxidil is the only drug which is FDA-approved to treat female pattern baldness,” she said.
“It works by prolonging the growth phase of the hair follicles. It’s recommended that women use minoxidil 2%, while men can use the 5% formula.”