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Hi, Person I See Regularly, But Do Not Know Very Well:
Thanks for Googling me, because there's something I need to tell you.
I know you've noticed that my hair is really thin. And that you've noticed my scalp is quite visible from certain angles, particularly if I'm standing in front of you, looking down.
I get that it's weird, especially because I'm female and still of childbearing age. I also get that it's distracting, particularly if I'm nattering on about something and haven't figured out that it's time for me to shut up, and especially if I'm under fluorescent lighting. I've seen you look at my hairline quickly, and try not to look at my hairline, and I have a fairly good idea of what you are thinking. Holy shit, does she know how thin her hair really is? That anyone could imagine her bald? What the hell is up with that, anyway?
I do know how thin it really is. I imagine myself bald all the time. And yes, I know exactly what the hell is up with that. I'm going to explain here, because obviously it's really awkward for you to ask, and even more awkward for me to offer the information seemingly out of nowhere.
First: My hair has never been particularly lush to begin with. My sister got whatever Lush Hair Genes there are in our family. I did do a fair amount of dyeing and processing when I was your age, but so did she. I've concluded that the genetic lottery rules that roost, not a history of abuse.
So, I started off with not a lot of hair to begin with, and then two largely unrelated things happened earlier this year:
1. My appendix ruptured, and I spent eight days in the hospital after emergency surgery.
2. I changed my diet very dramatically, and have lost a lot of weight.
These things can both result in what's called telogen effluvium, which in this case I'll allow you to read about on Wikipedia. If you look through the causes of telogen effluvium, you'll see that "major surgery" and "crash diets" are both there. I didn't adopt what I would call a crash diet, but it was a dramatic enough change from my previous way of eating that I'm certain it contributed to the telogen effluvium. I had the surgery at the very end of April, and my hair started falling out at the end of June...right on schedule.
By the time you met me, I was past the shedding phase. (And be glad, because that really sucked. I had hair all over my clothes all the time, which is even creepier than the current situation.) If you look very closely the next time we talk, you'll see that I have a very subtle layer of fine hair that is crewcut length. It's particularly noticeable where my part and my hairline meet.
It's probably going to take at least six months to a year for regrowth (also known as the anagen phase) to make any sort of difference in the overall volume of my hair. But in the meantime, I'm less fat and most important, I'm not dead. Those were the alternatives, and I am absolutely not using hyperbole.
I don't tell you any of this to shame you, or make you feel bad about your surreptitious glances. I'm explaining because I'm not really embarrassed by what happened, but we're never in a position where it's right for me to say something. But thanks to the Internet, you've now read this and now know what the deal is. You can even say to me "Hey, I was looking up the World Cup on Google and happened across your blog, and saw the thing about your hair." and I'll go along with that, no problem. Maybe it'll be a little less distracting. And maybe other people's weird things will be a little less distracting, too.
Now, get back to work!
EF
