Coping With The Reality of Hair Loss

For many of us, our hair, its health and looks, are tied greatly to our sense of confidence and how we see ourselves. While there is an argument to be made that perhaps we tie up too much value in certain elements of our appearance, that does not make it any easier when we find that it is not going to be around forever. Hair loss can have a profound impact on our self-image, mental health, and more. As such, it’s important to talk about strategies for coping with hair loss, if it’s happening to you.

Caring for your hair now

While hair loss might make it seem like you’re fighting an uphill battle, the truth is that for many people it comes in different stages, especially for those who are experiencing hair loss as a result of their hair care choices, lack of nutrition, and so on. Doing what you can to care for your hair now, to improve its health and luster may be able to help you halt hair loss to some degree. Otherwise, it can at least help you keep it looking healthier for longer. In learning some simple hair care tips, you can at least make sure that you’re not doing more to speed up any existing or ongoing hair loss.

Talk about treatments

There are different hair loss treatments that could make a significant difference in your situation. The physical elements of hair loss, including hormonal changes, side effects from medications, and more may potentially be treated. Even hereditary and long-term causes such as female-pattern baldness have treatment options that can help you mitigate and manage hair loss to slow its progress to some degree, and can even stop it altogether, for as long as you are on the treatment. As such, you should get in touch with your doctor and let them know about your hair loss so that you can begin looking into options as soon as possible. The longer you ignore it, the more noticeable the effects are likely to become.

Wait it out

You should never ignore hair loss and, when you notice it, you should try to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. Not only might you be able to find some solutions with the help of your doctor, but the things that cause hair loss can often also affect your health in some other ways. That said, sometimes the best option is simply to wait. Some causes of hair loss, such as stress and hormonal changes (common in pregnancy, amongst other things) are temporary. As such, while they might be causing you some strife now, in time, you could find that the issue goes away and your hair is able to grow back to its regular strength and luster.

Take care of your stress

Genetics are the single most common cause of hair loss. That said, there are causes that might not be as common but are able to affect a much wider range of people. Not everyone will inherit hair loss, but everyone has the potential and ability to experience severe stress at some point in their life, and this stress can cause a plethora of physical changes and effects. Hair loss is one of them. As such, if you think you might be experiencing stress-related hair loss, coping with that stress should become a number one priority. This might include managing the various stressors in your orbit to improve the quality of your life in general, but you should also look into healthy coping strategies, such as meditation, to be able to better deal with what stressors you can’t immediately eliminate.

Work towards acceptance

There are certain kinds of hair loss that are temporary. However, that doesn’t mean that every kind of hair loss is temporary. When it comes to things like hereditary hair loss, then you may have to acknowledge that the change is irreversible. There is no cure for many types of hair loss. While this doesn’t have to stop you from taking measures to prevent further hair loss or to strengthen your hair, as it is, it does mean that you might want to start thinking about longer-term options as well and start thinking as if you already know the outcome, so that you can better prepare for it.

Look for cosmetic options

It may be the case that treatments aren’t working for you as well as you might like, or you want to prepare for the long-term eventuality that you are going to lose all of your hair anyway when it’s not temporary. When that’s the case, you might want to start looking into and absorbing the idea of utilizing the cosmetic options out there. While you may initially not like the idea of wearing a wig, for instance, once you get into the idea and start trying them on, you might find that they work a lot better than you expected. For more extensive treatments, do your research into things like the cost of hair restoration so that you can better prepare your budget as well as your mindset. The more realistic and natural-looking options out there do tend to require more investment, so be ready for it.

Committing to a change

For some people, hair loss treatments and cosmetic alternatives may not be as viable an option, or they might not have the budget for it. When this happens, you might find yourself stuck in the process of that hair loss, and find yourself hating the gradual nature of it. For a lot of people, committing to make a change in their own appearance and hairstyle can take away some of the pain of watching it change over time without their input. This might include, for instance, opting for a much shorter hairstyle, while others might take the opportunity to shave their head entirely.

Consider a support group

The emotional and mental health impact of losing one’s hair should not be underestimated. Other people around you might not see it as much of a big deal as you do. Indeed, you might get compliments on a shorter hairstyle, wig, or shaved head that are entirely well-meaning and earnest, but if you’re feeling the loss of your own hair, that won’t help as much. Instead, what might help is being able to share your feelings with people who have gone through the same process as you. There are hair loss support groups out there that not only offer an understanding circle of people to talk to but can also give you some practical tips on managing both the physical and emotional side of hair loss on a day-to-day basis.

Be kind to yourself

At some point, you may feel a certain urge to diminish the feelings that you are going through. You might think to yourself at times that it is “silly” to have such strong feelings about your hair. After all, it’s not like it’s going to kill you, right? However, this doesn’t tend to address and process the emotions that can make hair loss so difficult, it just attempts to push them below the surface. Let yourself go through the grieving process for your hair, if that’s what you need, and understand that it’s not just vanity, anyone would be feeling the same in your situation. They might just find other ways to cope with it.

Hair loss affects a lot of people, and it can happen for a wide range of reasons, including stress, hormonal changes, certain medications, and genetics. To know the way ahead, it’s best to talk to a doctor about it.