If you’ve been following my posts over the last few months, you probably already know about my experiment-gone-wrong with DHEA and the horrible things it did to my hair. Today the saga continues, but with a ray of hope for life after a hair disaster.
To recap, in case I wasn’t clear, DHEA was a disaster for my hair. The DHEA also interfered with my Adrenals and Thyroid medicine. This is not the case for everyone, but I want to share all of my experiences in case it helps someone else.
As I later read, when the body is the crisis it draws nutrients from the hair and nails first. I only tried DHEA for three weeks, but in that short time I lost about half my hair volume (literally my ponytail is the thickness of a pencil now). My already fine hair turned to brittle straw with split ends all the way to the root. The result was dry, super thin, shorter hair, that barely styles. It was DEVASTATING. I was heartbroken. Until this experience I had not realized how important my hair was to me. I was so sad I needed to find a grow-out solution.
Previously I wrote about Evening Primrose, Fish Oil and Iron supplementation to help with dry, brittle, fragile hair. But even with supplements hair takes a long time to grow. At a rate of 1/2 in growth per month, it’s going to take six months of longer to get back to the healthy long hair. Luckily there is an interim solution for long hair.
Buying Hair Extensions for Hypothyroid Hair
Nothing stops me from fixing a problem. Upon hearing about the hair disaster my sister, and accomplice-in-crime for all things beauty, suggested I try clip-in hair extensions. A revelation! Of course, that was the answer. I didn’t realize someone like me could use hair extensions.
Off I went to Sally Beauty Supply to buy a set of hair extensions and hair color. Hair extensions can be colored to look natural. This might mean adding low-lights or highlights. I did some simple low-light coloring at home. I used the basic hair root color I normally use on my hair and applied it to the extensions from the top down then blended in gradient to achieve an Ombre color affect. Good hair extensions are expensive! So only experiment with color if you know what you are doing.
Check out these photos showing my disastrous hair without extensions, compared to happy me with hair extensions. Look at the horror of my before hair. But then like magic, in less than 10 minutes my hair looks and feels normal again (at least good enough).
I have to say, I love my extensions like I’ve never loved anything before. The wonders of modern beauty made it possible to get me through the next year while my hair grows back. For a woman to lose her hair is an incredibly upsetting experience. If you are in this situation, please know there are options to get you through.
Tips for Buying Hair Extensions
- Only buy the real human hair kind, like Remy or Extensions.com
- If you do the color yourself, makes sure to get a product line meant for hair coloring. Test the color first on a small section.
- To put the extensions in, see this tutorial
- Style and integrate with your own hair. A flat iron helps.
- It seems like the clip-in kind is okay for longer term use and won’t cause hair loss, but it’s probably wise to be careful.
