Hair Is A Woman’s Crowning Glory: So What Happens Her Crown Gets Lost?
Aging and your hair
Hair’s the place
I came into this world with hair aplenty.
My mom said she had terrible heartburn because I was born with a head full of hair (more than old wife’s tales).
I come from a long line of women with bountiful hair. On both sides of the gene pool.
As a young woman, my hair and skin were some of my best assets.
Beautiful, jet black, soft and supple hair down my back.
Thick eyebrows and long and labile lashes and a hairline that caressed my face in all the right places.
Lush and bountiful in my youth, it was the envy of many.
So how did I honor my crown you ask?
I cut it,
Permed it,
Shaved it,
Burnt it,
Had it torn out
…and
plain abused it.
Because it always grew lush, thick, and bountiful, I thought it always would.
Just about the time the “fire” of the middle ages made its debut, my hair seemed to die.
Past whispers of future problems
Each time I gave birth (3 times) my hair fell out of my head.
I came to realize that my hair was extremely sensitive to my hormones.
And upon each regrowth, the texture seemed somehow different.
In my early forties, I looked up one day and in horror discovered I was bald-ing in the middle of my head.
I was horrified!
Though at the time I did not make the connection.
It was shortly after I had my last child, menopause had not entered my thoughts.
In acute distress, I used castor oil, which purported to have antifungal and antibacterial properties. It did not help much.
I tried the onion juice and other at-home treatments such as coconut oil, avocado oil, and others.
I massaged it, cared for it, left it alone but yet nothing seemed to help.
The outer areas would grow, but the crown was dry, brittle, short, and broke off at the slightest tension applied to it.
Whenever I combed or just pulled at my hair, my hand would come away with so much hair.
I realized this was more than normal daily shedding and desperation became a friend.
In despair, I sought the care of a dermatologist.
She did her assessment and declared it a fungal problem and I left with antifungal and steroid creams.
I went about applying them as usual and finally gave up, they did not work.
The dermatologist was an expensive foray, a complete waste of my cash.
Nothing had changed.
My hair looked like a bowl, I kept cutting the outer corners waiting for the middle to catch up, but sadly it never did.
Tough road ahead
After the “fire” of the middle pause occurred a few times, it dawned on me that this could be the peri-menopausal era.
The light dawned as to what was happening with my hair. Specifically my crown area.
I knew that on my mother’s side the men suffered from balding at the crown and receding frontal hairline.
I began looking closely at my mother and my aunts and all but one was greatly afflicted with hair loss patterns.
I decided I was not going along quietly into that good night.
I would put up a good fight.
Things I tried
Rogaine — It seemed to work for a time, but the side effects were awful. If Rogaine touched your face hair grew there.
One of my biggest complaints with Rogaine was the inflammatory process it ignited for me. When I was conscious (which is a lot, lol) my crown would feel like it was on fire. My head burned and itched and I was in misery.
Though the Rogaine worked to a moderate degree, the hair it regrew was shorter and brittle and the texture and strength were a far cry from when my hair grew naturally.
I combed it ever so gently otherwise it broke off.
I made the sad decision to quit using it knowing I would lose all the hair I had grown.
And in preparation for the loss, I cut it all off.
Viviscal — This is a supplement, that comes in the form of tablets you take 2 x a day. It is touted to have Aminomar marine complex, an aquatic supplement containing shark cartilage and other aquatic complexes.
It appeared to work the best for me and for several years I used it and was satisfied.
I cannot recall why I stopped using it. I suspect money played into that decision, but I moved on to oral meds.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) — Around the time I began using HRT I spoke to my doctor about using Finasteride and Spironolactone. My research showed that these two medications used together had greater efficacy in hair regrowth.
These meds work by preventing the uptake of free testosterone via certain receptors.
With my doctor’s approval, I began using these two medications and have seen good results.
My crown has since recovered and boasts more density, strength, and length than it did before.
My hairline, though not returned to its former glory, is pleasing enough that I do not worry or cover it up by artificial means.
Recap
They say youth is wasted on the young.
If we knew in advance what secrets tomorrow held, would we spend our youth in complete abandon? As we should.
I think not.
I spent my younger days abusing my crown.
With the callousness of youth, I thought it would always be there.
One day I realized this was not the case.
So I began to take care of it in ways I never had before.
My touch is gentler now.
I water it with care and polish it with blessings of gratitude.
I look upon it with reverence, because I know the pain its absence wroth.
I nourish it with healthy food choices and wash and condition it with love, and care.
Hair is an important part of a woman’s psyche and I for one finally learned to appreciate mine.
Take care of your crown, be mindful, gentle, and grateful for it because someday you may look up and find the space it once occupied has become vacant.
Disclaimer: The references to medications in this article are intended to speak on my use of them as a reference only.
This is in no way meant to offer medical advice.
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Thank you all for reading and for your support.
Pene Hodge is a mom, a nurse, a writer. She writes because she must. She loves people and is committed to sharing and gleaning knowledge for the betterment of all.
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