Every1 please read. Ladies, I need your help!!!

[classiecutie]

Hello everyone,

My lil sis is 15 years old and almost all of her hair is gone. She had a sew in weave for 3 and a half months. As she was taking down her braid circle her hair started falling out. She didn't use anything in her hair while she had the weave. No moisture or anything. No perm in about 2 years, she's not on any meds, she doesn't use anything so I don't know why this would happen. It's summer and she won't even go outside, (not even to church). I want to get her hair growing before she starts back school in September. This is really hard for her because my mom is getting over breast cancer and she was going thru her hair coming out really bad. The chemo made my mom hair bold. My lil sis was stressed seeing my mom going thru that. And now her hair is coming out. I'm going to buy her some nioxin and biotin vitamins today. I really need yall help. What can I do to help her hair? What should I use? what treatment, which products? After I treat her hair, which growth aids should I use mtg, Mt, Oct, homemade sulfur mix etc. Should I try henna? I don't know what to do! Please help me come up with a reggie for her. I really need yall detailed suggestions. I can't think straight right now. Thank you everyone in Advance and God bless!

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

I'd go with individual braids to grow out the hair and keep the hair moisturized with a braid spray (see the Crowm and Glory method). She might wann steer clear of weaves for awhile. It's very important to keep your hair moisturized even with weaves. It seems that Nioxin vitamins are working well for some.

 

[AmyRose92]

I'm really sorry this happened to her.

If she hasn't relaxed her hair in such a long amount of time, then her hair was probably breaking off at the demarcation line. Three months under a weave without at least refreshing the hair is just a recipe for disaster. I'd suggest a BC but if this is not what she wants, then you can braid her hair up for school.

For now, she needs to start getting into a good healthy hair regimen:
1. Assuming the majority of her hair is new growth (and that the relaxed ends have not been cut off), she needs to start taking care of the natural part of her hair, which is includes LOTS of MOISTURE
2. She should be regularly strengthening her hair with some form of protein treatment
3. No more going months at a time without doing anything to the hair. That's just inviting breakage! If she'll be in braids, make sure her scalp stays clean and her hair moisturized.

I'm sure more experienced ladies will come in with more info

 

[silenttullip]

I agree individual braids... Also a good balanced shampoo, deep conditioning, and water based leave in should do well. As for growth aids many have had success with megatek. I personally like msm. For Vitamins Nioxin seems good I personally use CountryLife Msxi.
Also you can grab her some cute wigs if you don't want to do individuals.
As for why it happened. The stress of your moms ordeal may have worried her more than you both realize resulting in this happening to her hair. Also if I went 3 months without putting anything in my hair I would have real hair issues so that may be it too.
I wish ya'll all the best. Nonie has a recipe for bald spots that may work too. Don't know it off the top of my head but maybe someone will chime in with it

bump

 

[Christa438]

Im so sorry to hear what your family has been going through. That type of cancer has been found in my family on both my mom and dad sides so I understand. I wonder if somethin else couldve caused that besides stress.... I would definitely do a dc to start off. I agree with adding sulfur to a KISS hair regimen. And exercise and plenty of water, I do believe this helps a lot. HTH and HHG!

 

[WyrdWay]

i would try and get your sis in to see a doctor

 

[mech]

moisture, moisture, moisture! lots of conditioning, sulfate-free shampoos so it won't dry out her hair, deep conditioning, no heat, increase her water intake, more green veggies, scalp massages. as for style, i'd honestly just rock a wig.

 

[JJamiah]

Sounds like stress could be it. Even young people stress, no need to cut all her hair off A light trim, keep her hair moisturized, Treated and deep conditioned, maybe you can plait her hair or braid it every 2 weeks so you can continue to break it down and Deep condition and treat her hair. It also allows for you to re-evaluate her circumstance.

Deep conditioning of the heart, soul, hair and mind.

Also she needs a way to let out this stress so it doesn't cause her internal damage. My dad died when I was 15 from CANCER that is a FRIGGIN MONSTER, I watched him fade away, I am 33 and it was the worst time of my life. I stressed big time!
Be there for her, I didn't have anyone there for me. God Bless and I will keep your family in my prayers!

 

[belldandy]

I am so sorry this happened to her. bumping for more responses for you. ::hug::

 

[WellnessVerandah]

Hey Classiecutie, I am sorry to hear about you mom and your little sis. I wish nothing but blessings your way.

Occam's razor (when you have more than one competing principles/explanations the simpliest most obvious one is likely the correct one) would dictate that what most people have said so far is correct i.e. It is probably a combination of the weave and lack of moisture. This makes a lot of sense and could be the reason, and people gave great suggestions.

I do want you to keep in the back of your mind a little known condition that present the same way (as JJamia suggested) called Telogen Effluvium. In this condition, emotional or physical stress pushes large numbers of growing hairs into a resting phase. Within a few months, the affected hairs may fall out suddenly when simply combing or washing the hair or as in this case, pulling out the weave. I mention it because it is often seen in youngsters who are going through stress such as from bullying, divorce, new school, or as in this case, a mom going through breast cancer. The last kid I saw with it was being bullied and said nothing to her parents and she was brought in because her hair was falling out (loads of it)...she then broke down and admitted what she was going through. Some people don't even realize they are stressed, they say they are dealing with things fine but the hair keeps falling out.

Certainly do what people have suggested because I think they are good ideas but I wanted you to know that there is such a condition and it presents exactly as you described especially in light of the obvious stressor. I would consider seeing a derm if things haven't yet resolved.

All the best.

 

[ms-gg]

She had a sew in weave for 3 and a half months.....She didn't use anything in her hair while she had the weave. No moisture or anything.

That was the problem. Especially since she had it in for 3.5 months. She just needs to moisturize her hair to get it back into shape because it is probably as dry as tumbleweeds right now. Deep condition, deep condition and more deep conditioning. And when she thinks she has deep conditioned enough, deep condition some more to save the hair that she has left on her head.

From here on out, she needs to lay off of heat, relaxers, and anything else that will put more stress on her hair strands if she wants to restore the health of her already fragile and moisture starved hair. But that is the decision that she has to make: does she want her healthy hair back, or hair that is even more damaged. And that includes not getting another sew in or braid extensions as well. If need be, she might have to eventually cut off the rest of the hair after she has allowed enough time to grow out a few more healthy inches of hair.

I wish her the best.

 

[hothair]

Ok first I would try to identify the problem. Have you been to a doctor? With the pix etc?

How long/ what condition was her hair before the weave?
How does her hair feel now? Brittle? Dry?
Is the hair still coming out?
Is it mostly shed hair (with bulb from the roots) or broken hairs?
When you have identified those then it would make putting a regimen easier

I would keep things very simple but products etc would depend on what the answers above are.

 

[DeepBluSea]

It's hard to tell from the pics, but how much hair does she have left?

It looks pretty bad and broken off from what I can make from the pics. Honestly if it is about ear length, I would cut down to a twa and start over. You will be amazed at the growth and health you get when you let go of bad hair. I would keep it simple and hold off on growth aids, chemicals, and henna.

 

[Nonie]

I agree with ms-gg, no braids. I personally think she should pretend she had a TWA and use moisture (I recommend S Curl) and just braid her hair at night and baggy, then undo and comb out and pat it down in the longer parts so it looks uniform, and just wear an afro. If OP you are good at flat twists or cornrowing, you could cornrow the front of her hair with the gentleness of braiding a baby and then single plait the back and put on a phony pony so she has a do like this:

Otherwise she could just use a hair growth blend like the one I used on my hair and just do square plaits and baggy and wear a head wrap or hats and caps. By keeping her hair out of sight, it'll grow unbothered. She would shampoo it and DC once or twice a week then apply that concoction to her scalp after towel drying and braid her hair and let it airdry then baggy and just forget about it. Night massages will help as will cutting out junk food and eating food that is well balanced and wholesome. The health forum has ideas on healthy eating so that she's providing only the best for her follicles. So every night, she'd just massage a bit more of that. If she finds it too greasy, she could wash her hair in the AM...but I didn't. If she's baggying, that may not matter. By the time school reopens her hair will have filled in and she could then get braid singles for school--and it'd be nice OP if you did them or had someone who gets hair and is gentle enough to braid a baby do her hair.

There are YT vids on beautiful headwrapping so she can keep her sexy while bringing her hair back to health.

 

[ms-gg]

Nonie, you got me thinking-from the looks of it, it looks like all of the relaxed hair broke off and what she has left is around 4 months (or two inches) of natural hair (the new growth she had from wearing the weave).

 

[Nonie]

Nonie, you got me thinking-from the looks of it, it looks like all of the relaxed hair broke off and what she has left is around 4 months (or two inches) of natural hair (the new growth she had from wearing the weave).

ms-gg That would make sense. I did suspect that her hair broke off from the matting at the point where it was braided. Still, giving herself a break from any strain I think is a good move.

OP perhaps the threads on how people wore their hair when it was too short to do much else might give you ideas of what to do.

 

[danniegirl]

I just wanted to add if you still have the broken off hair it might visual put your sister at ease if the two of you can kind of go through it separate it to see what is shed hairs and what amount of hair is her relaxed hairs and how much was just broken off.


The last time i took out my braids i wasn't gentle like i normally am and it looked like i lost a lot of hair, my hair was all over i ended up scooping up all of it and actually examining every bit of it and realized about 75% was shed hair that made me feel much better but it also made me aware i was still to rough talking out my hair and i came up with another method for making it easier this time.

 

[SherylsTresses]

So sorry to hear this...!!! erplexed

Here's my suggestion:
1. Trim her ends
2. Clarity, protein treatment, DC overnight
3. Moisturize in the morning and seal with oil
4. Begin curly girl method without any type of heat
5. She may wear wigs (not weave) until her hair has gained some length

I personally would not do braids b/c her hair may need rest from the stress of braids. Once her hair regain health and length, she should decide on a relaxer or staying natural. Again, this just my suggestion and I wish her all the best.

 

[SuchaLady]

I dont have anything to add except for yall to remain consistent. I know there is a lot going on in your lives right now but you must baby her hair for it to grow. Deep conditioning will have to be your friend right now.

 

[Southern Belle]

i would try and get your sis in to see a doctor

^^^This.

If all that's her hair in the last pic, I'd be really worried.

Is it nerves? Anemia? Plain ole breakage?

At this point, growing the hair back before school is sorta besides the point. I'd be concerned with what's going on with her physically to have made that happen.

 

[reeko43]

I don't have anything to add. You have received some great suggestions. And, I agree about not doing braids right now because her remaining hair may be in a fragile state. Maybe after a month or two of all out pampering. I also agree that she should see a doctor so that stress and medical issues can be ruled out. Maybe you can show your sister some before and after pictures of people who had hair issues whose hair is now flourishing. That may give her hope that her situation can and will get better. My heart goes out to you and your family. I pray your mom has a full and sustained recovery.