Ladies who have recovered from long-term scalp damage: help!

Have any of you ladies ever had long-term scalp damage and were able to get a healthy scalp? Here's some background on my issue:

I've been an extremely slow grower since childhood but I think that is the result of getting my first perm at age 1 . My aunt (who at the time was 16) was an "aspiring cosmetologist" and decided that she couldn't resist perming an available head of hair. My parents said that before she permed my hair, it was full and thick (even at that young age my twa is thicker and longer than my hair has been at most periods in my life!). My mum tried many methods to get my hair to grow but nothing worked well and my hair was always short, fragile and fine. Eventually she just started perming it to make it easier on herself (at around age 8 probably) and that made breakage and scalp burns a problem.

Once I started taking care of my own hair, I put in a series of braids that further damaged my already temperamental scalp, meaning that my edges were (and still sort of are) gone. Finally, I decided back in 2008 that since perms didn't seem to be working out for my hair, why not go natural? And I was for about 8 months before I decided to follow my mother's advice and do a short "Halle Berry" style. This was the worst possible decision I'd ever made for my hair. This short style meant that I permed my hair every month and got it styled every two weeks on the dot to maintain it. I also made the foolish mistake of getting color rinses on the same day as the perms. I never let a permanent color touch my head because I knew that my scalp just couldn't take it and my stylist assured me that a rinse and perm on the same day would be ok (all pre-LHCF) Talk about breakage! I would have probably noticed it more if my stylist wasn't trimming every month to maintain a style. What I did notice was that my scalp was JACKED UP! My edges, which were starting to grow back after the time I was natural, are just about gone and my scalp is still recovering . I had my last perm in Dec. '11 and I'm pretty sure that after joining LHCF, I'm never going back.

I'm trying to be patient because I know that everything takes time but I just don't know what to do now to get my scalp healthy. I'm not even sure I can say "back to normal" because given my scalp's history, I don't think it's ever really been healthy. I'm putting a lot of work into finding some kind of solution because I'm getting married next year and would like to at least be able to wear my own hair in some kind of style instead of the wig I've been using for the past few months. I'm trying twists now under the wig and daily spritzing with a mixture of nettle tea, 6'n1 moisturizer (anyone else used this?), aloe vera gel, and castor oil mixed with some essential oils and sealing with shea butter. I've also been washing with an all natural aloe and vitamin e soap bar to avoid sulfates. I also tried cowashing but I got the worst buildup ever. So far I can't really tell if it's truly helping with the condition of my scalp because it still itches frequently and the hair on my edges sometimes drops out with a white bulb still attached.
Can anyone offer advice? And sorry the post is so long lol . Thanks ladies!
If you need me to post my "regiment" or anything else let me know!

I'm sorry to hear about ur problems...sorry I dont have any advice..Just wanted to say..

Hi I have some serious scalp issue, and have been through them all. You will get better as long as you work on it. I think you just have find what works for you. We all have natural shedding.

I use onion mask to keep my scalp in check. Raw honey mask work as well. Castor oil is good, it thickens. I think aloe vera is good overall, but I hadn't heard about it for follicle stimulation. Let me see what else.
Red peppers increase circulation
Onion stimulate
Garlic reduces shedding
Drinking water strengthens
sulfer stimulates
scalp massage circulation

The most important thing is to keep trying and know that you are successful. I know that you will look beautiful on your wedding day.

Just to say welcome, and check out this thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=419438

There are a lot of women dealing with similar problems on LHCF.

For me massaging with olive oil around 30 mins before shampoo helps
also eucalyptus or cinnamon oil helps but test it first...
I'd say find a very gentle shampoo was a big key for me now Nonie may be able to help and many of the LHCF veterans will prob chime in

Seamonster said:

Hi I have some serious scalp issue, and have been through them all. You will get better as long as you work on it. I think you just have find what works for you. We all have natural shedding.

I use onion mask to keep my scalp in check. Raw honey mask work as well. Castor oil is good, it thickens. I think aloe vera is good overall, but I hadn't heard about it for follicle stimulation. Let me see what else.
Red peppers increase circulation
Onion stimulate
Garlic reduces shedding
Drinking water strengthens
sulfer stimulates
scalp massage circulation

The most important thing is to keep trying and know that you are successful. I know that you will look beautiful on your wedding day.

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Thanks for the advice! How do you incorporate the bolded items into your regiment? Do you blend them together to make a mask or something similar?

As far as sulfer is concerned: is there any way I can mix a powder into my daily spritz? I've heard people used powder but I'm not sure which other forms it comes in.

silenttullip said:

For me massaging with olive oil around 30 mins before shampoo helps
also eucalyptus or cinnamon oil helps but test it first...
I'd say find a very gentle shampoo was a big key for me now @Nonie may be able to help and many of the LHCF veterans will prob chime in

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My hairdressers (I tried 2 different ones for while) both used to use some eucalyptus shampoo and conditioner on me (I assume it was eucalyptus because whatever she used gave me the best scalp tingles lol). Is cinnamon oil tingly and is the eucalyptus drying? Also, what should I look for when testing them?

Bumping!

Sent from my LS670 using LS670

I just bought some eucalyptus oil for something other than hair, and I found out that it can be good for stimulating growth and strengthening the hair/improving elasticity! I just co washed my hair and added some eucalyptus oil on to my itchy scalp and it was immediately soothed!

Bumping! I'm reading through the alopecia thread right now but thought I'd include some pics in case you have any more suggestions. The ones I took in May are from when I had a sew-in. I've since abandoned that in favor of a wig because I think it hurt more than helped with thinning. It seems like since I've stopped relaxing, my hair growth is even slower and my hair is thinning more.

Thanks so much. I've recently cut out sulfate shampoos and have been wanting to get some eucalyptus oil since everyone's recommended it but it's a bit pricey in my area (like $20 for one small bottle!) But I'm going out to get it now.

[USER=316389 said:

sheanu[/USER];14325039]Thanks so much. I've recently cut out sulfate shampoos and have been wanting to get some eucalyptus oil since everyone's recommended it but it's a bit pricey in my area (like $20 for one small bottle!) But I'm going out to get it now.

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I can't say that I have recovered but I am recovering. The biggest thing I have found for me is really focusing on my scalp more. I know people have a certain affinity to oils and EOs and there may be some that work better than others. But I have found that taking a mix of carrier oils with a good blend of EOs and focusing on increasing the circulation in the scalp, through better products, more frequent scalp massages and keeping the scalp moisturized and oiled has been more important than the actual products used.

I suggest focusing on the scalp massages and anything that improves the health of your scalp. And if your scalp is itching, burning, irritated don't ignore it. Cleanse it gently and soothe it.

The ladies that have posted already have given awesome advice! Unfortunately, my scalp is still a work in progress. I suffer from a scalp condition known as seborrheic dermatitis. Since I have stopped using sulfate based shampoos my scalp has improved tremendously(I see that you have done this already and that's wonderful). I massage my scalp daily for 5-10 minutes and will begin shampooing daily on Monday( I workout 5 days a week and my scalp gets irritated from the sweat). I also suffer from low porosity and having fine hair coupled with being an extremely slow grower makes reaching my hair goals an uphill battle. Currently, I am trying to find staple hair care products and a regimen that will work for both growth & retention. This is proving to be such a challenge for me because my scalp can be somewhat temperamental at times and due to financial constraints I am unable to purchase higher quality products that my persnickety hair seems to insist upon. Thus, I am making due with the product stash that I have at the moment and will purchase new products as my current stash runs out. IMHO, a great place to order essentials oils from is: http://www.anandaapothecary.com. They have amazing customer service and if you email them for assistance with making an essential oil blend that targets your hair concerns/condition they will be more than willing to assist you. Congrats on your upcoming nuptials sweetie.

Thanks ladies. Morehairplease it looks like we have similar struggles: I'm also a fine and highly porous haired individual and it's definitely difficult. I'll check out that website when I get home (at school now). Scalp massages definitely seem to help relieve itchiness when I spritz with water mixed with an oil blend first so I'm trying to do those daily.

Sent from my LS670 using LS670

I have posted a reply in a similar thread last week. I have been a lurker for about one and half years and gleaned the information to restore my scalp from lhcf. I decided to join last week just to answer a similar question so I will add my experience here also. My hair is dense, fine and very soft. I had temple damage from relaxers and later my hairline was damaged (very similar to yours) from a Hawaiian Silky "dry curl" and later post-partum damage. Like you, I still had hair but my scalp was damaged - it was tight, tender, dry, flaky and itchy and the chemical damage had actually changed the texture of my hair in two spots making it dry and brittle in those two areas. My hair was weak. I found lchf accidentally while googling protein powders. I later found a thread on MN (miconazole nitrate). I think that had I not found this thread first, what I did later would not have resulted in as much significant improvement. I used the MN for about 7 weeks. First solo and later I mixed it with drug store castor oil. Extremely thin and slick bald in some spots temple areas began to sprout fine fuzz. I then read about JBCO (jamaican black castor oil) and began to use this and noticed that the hairline continued to improve - the hairs became less fine and a little thicker. Next read about sulfur and mixed the powder with olive oil and jbco and used it daily and noticed that the hairs grew longer. Three months ago I added megatek. This mixture caused the exact results that I had read about. The weak areas began to shed and were replaced with hairs that were thicker and darker and stronger. My hair is now closer to the hair that I had before the damage than it has ever been. This all began last year. My hairline is no longer embarrassing. I am so happy that I joined lhcf just so that I could say thank you and spread the word. The reason that I think that the MN was crucial is because I believe that the MN cured any bacterial or fungal issues present on the scalp and seemed to regenerate dormant and weak follicles. The jbco is a natural antifungal and antibacterial. I believe that the sulfur and the megatek fertilized and nourished the follicles to encourage the growth of stronger hair. I hope this helps. You still have hair so their is hope. I had short broken hairs like yours as well as slick spots that were hairless but now have healthy hair. And my hair had been this way for YEARS.

i meant there is hope . . .

Wow Kab. Thanks for posting and that's really inspiring. I'm going to look up MN. Although I've heard of it, I'm not exactly sure what it does.

kab you are great!! I hope this helps my mother. She has been struggling with a similar problem.

You are very welcome. Just wanted to share the hope.

Going to see a doctor today to get my scalp tested.

Sent from my LS670 using LS670

kab this right on point. I finished washing my hair yesterday and looked at it in horror. I've had an issue with my edges for a while now, but they seem to be picking out even faster over the last 3 months or so. It's never looked this bad so quickly. I noticed you said that things seemed to get worse before they got better. And that you're hair shed and then grew in?
I'm hoping this will be my case because i'm not sure what's going on. I have a mix of castor oil and some other EO's that i've been applying to my edges for the last month. I will also have some MN and megatek that i will be mixing together and applying in the morning. I also will switch to a non-sulfate shampoo. Maybe CON argan oil

kab

could you explain how your scalp was initially. My mother's scalp is smooth like a bald man.

BrownSugar and @ beloved

the damage was similar to beloved's and sheanu's. the difference is that the hair that remained was more baby fine. however, like sheanu's, on the left side the damage went farther back (from hairline to ear like sheanu's last pic). i also had a small patch in the temple area that was clean - no hair. all of my little baby hairs along the hairline were gone for years. i always had kiss curls in front of my ears, hair that i could twirl on my fingers and it would loopy curl. that was gone. now that and the baby hairs are back, the clean spot has filled in and the hairline is darker, thicker and longer. yes, it gets worse first. i noticed this with the jbco but def with the megatek. with the megatek the shedding began almost immediately, within a few days. but it grows back in so quickly that it is only traumatic if you pay attention to all of the shed hairs. just remember that it will be replaced quickly. get that megatek and mn quickly. as mom always says, nothing beats a failure but a try. try it and see - i just believe it will work for you because mine was so bad for SO long.

First, OP congratulations on your engagement! Secondly, I'm not sure that my experience is similar to yours because of how young your scalp issues started, but I did have severe scalp damage in 2009, just a month after my HHJ began. A stylist improperly neutralized my scalp and I was left with severe burns throughout. I was so scared that I would end up with scarring or that my hair wouldn't grow back either at all or the same as I had before. I've attached some pictures for you to see how badly my scalp was damaged. I wore wigs for 7 months as you stated you do, and kept up with my regimen. My hair did not grow lengthwise very quickly (well still doesn't seem to be in my opinion) but it did recover. In addition to my daily moisturizing, weekly washes and deep conditions, I applied a growth aid and did regular scalp massages. I also went to a dermatologists' office because he had to prescribe an antibiotic ointment for my scalp burns. I didn't read through the whole thread but have you seen a doctor? Perhaps you could try a topical minoxidil type of cream? In any event, to answer your original question - yes, I have had severe scalp damage (that may not qualify as long term) but yes, I was able to recover and I truly believe you can also.

Again the attached pics are showing my scalp burns back in 09.

EbonyCPrincess said:

First, OP congratulations on your engagement! Secondly, I'm not sure that my experience is similar to yours because of how young your scalp issues started, but I did have severe scalp damage in 2009, just a month after my HHJ began. A stylist improperly neutralized my scalp and I was left with severe burns throughout. I was so scared that I would end up with scarring or that my hair wouldn't grow back either at all or the same as I had before. I've attached some pictures for you to see how badly my scalp was damaged. I wore wigs for 7 months as you stated you do, and kept up with my regimen. My hair did not grow lengthwise very quickly (well still doesn't seem to be in my opinion) but it did recover. In addition to my daily moisturizing, weekly washes and deep conditions, I applied a growth aid and did regular scalp massages. I also went to a dermatologists' office because he had to prescribe an antibiotic ointment for my scalp burns. I didn't read through the whole thread but have you seen a doctor? Perhaps you could try a topical minoxidil type of cream? In any event, to answer your original question - yes, I have had severe scalp damage (that may not qualify as long term) but yes, I was able to recover and I truly believe you can also.

Again the attached pics are showing my scalp burns back in 09.

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Wow I'm sorry you went through that but I'm glad it's coming back for you
I did go to the doctor on friday but he only gave me a referral to a specialist because the doctor wasn't sure what it could've been. He thought seb. derm automatically because I have terrible acne accompanying it but my mum (an ARNP) thinks it's a scalp infection that's traveled down to my face (I know I have a lot of issues ). I want to do the MN first like @kab suggested but I'm starting out w/ Nizoral until I can see the dr just to avoid anymore issues because my skin and scalp are ULTRA sensitive. Until I know what really dealing with I'm just saving my money for the MN and MegaTek.

kab said:

I have posted a reply in a similar thread last week. I have been a lurker for about one and half years and gleaned the information to restore my scalp from lhcf. I decided to join last week just to answer a similar question so I will add my experience here also. My hair is dense, fine and very soft. I had temple damage from relaxers and later my hairline was damaged (very similar to yours) from a Hawaiian Silky "dry curl" and later post-partum damage. Like you, I still had hair but my scalp was damaged - it was tight, tender, dry, flaky and itchy and the chemical damage had actually changed the texture of my hair in two spots making it dry and brittle in those two areas. My hair was weak. I found lchf accidentally while googling protein powders. I later found a thread on MN (miconazole nitrate). I think that had I not found this thread first, what I did later would not have resulted in as much significant improvement. I used the MN for about 7 weeks. First solo and later I mixed it with drug store castor oil. Extremely thin and slick bald in some spots temple areas began to sprout fine fuzz. I then read about JBCO (jamaican black castor oil) and began to use this and noticed that the hairline continued to improve - the hairs became less fine and a little thicker. Next read about sulfur and mixed the powder with olive oil and jbco and used it daily and noticed that the hairs grew longer. Three months ago I added megatek. This mixture caused the exact results that I had read about. The weak areas began to shed and were replaced with hairs that were thicker and darker and stronger. My hair is now closer to the hair that I had before the damage than it has ever been. This all began last year. My hairline is no longer embarrassing. I am so happy that I joined lhcf just so that I could say thank you and spread the word. The reason that I think that the MN was crucial is because I believe that the MN cured any bacterial or fungal issues present on the scalp and seemed to regenerate dormant and weak follicles. The jbco is a natural antifungal and antibacterial. I believe that the sulfur and the megatek fertilized and nourished the follicles to encourage the growth of stronger hair. I hope this helps. You still have hair so their is hope. I had short broken hairs like yours as well as slick spots that were hairless but now have healthy hair. And my hair had been this way for YEARS.

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kab, thank you so much for this post. I've recently started my HHJ and now my mom is joining me! She has similar scalp issues to what you described and we're experimenting with a couple of things to try to rejuvenate her scalp/follicles, including scalp massages with essential oils and Nioxin vitamins. We'll now be adding MN to our regimen, too! Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

I had my first perm when I was 9. I had sores every relaxer til I was about 16. Relaxers at the salon were always the WORST. Edges fell out twice. Psoriasis on the scalp. Eczema from my face down to my knees. Turrble...

Get some wasabi and make a thin paste for a scalp stimulant. This is gonna feel like a relaxer on steroids, but the circulation will help TREMENDOUSLY

Go to the doctor and have you Ferritin Serum checked. 13-200 is considered normal. You want yours at about 100. I checked mine last year and it was 13. This year, it's 31 and my hair is growing like mad. My hair used to take 3 mos to grow one stankin' inch. Now, I'm getting at least 3/4 inch per mo.

Dandruff is never good. I don't care what anyone says. Dandruff inhibits sebum from making it as far down the ends as possible and it inhibits circulation. For example, I have a ball python. Snakes shed monthly even over the eyes. If the shed doesn't come off, they go blind. Wash your hair at the first sign of dandruff. Fungus, bacteria, allergies and auto-immune problems all cause dandruff and none of them are good reasons.

Also, if you have a tight scalp, that is also a reason for thin hair. Hair needs fat. Notice that most bald men have a shiny scalp because the skins is so taught. Add pumpkin seed oil to your diet. Vegetable fats are very good at nourishing the skin from the inside.

Do niacin flushes. NOT NIACINAMIDE!! 500 mg of niacin will open your capillaries and allow healing blood to rush through and deliver oxygen to places it couldn't previously get. I suggest you treat this one like a bad laxative and stay home. Trust me.

Exercise, water, vitamins, diet... yada yada... heard that before.... yeah, yeah, yeah...

Unfortunately, what's good for your scalp isn't necessarily good for your hair. I stopped wearing protective styles and wore my hair out EVERY DAY. I did not put any stress on my scalp. I washed every other day and stopped using grease, mineral oil, or any oil on my scalp and massaged until my natural sebum showed on my fingers. (Do some jumping jacks or sump'n)

It took YEARS to get my scalp healthy. My suggestion is to start with getting your ferritin up and doing the niacin flushing. Niacin also gets your cholesterol under control. My triglycerides are at 35 and I'm 190 lbs. Oh! and check your TSH levels for your thyroid, too. The ideal is 1.0.

Best of luck, as well!!! And...

Hi ladies!
I was actually just coming back to post an update when I saw that two people had posted. Since I started using the Nizoral last week I noticed that my hair was falling out by the bulb a lot less. Today was my first wash day since last week and I had less than half my usual amount of shed hairs per wash (and I used to have to wash once a week because my hair would have so many white specks in it from the bulbs and would itch like crazy). Now I'm pretty sure MN would work wonders for my hair because the main ingredient in Nizoral, Ketoconazole, is an anti-fungal similar to MN. I'm a little nervous about using Monistat on my head so I've decided to wait until I see the doctor next week because they have the prescription Nizoral with twice the Ketoconazole as well as MN creams that are prescription strength.

Perhaps those of you with similar issues or your mothers can give Nizoral a try as well.

sheanu said:

Hi ladies!
I was actually just coming back to post an update when I saw that two people had posted. Since I started using the Nizoral last week I noticed that my hair was falling out by the bulb a lot less. Today was my first wash day since last week and I had less than half my usual amount of shed hairs per wash (and I used to have to wash once a week because my hair would have so many white specks in it from the bulbs and would itch like crazy). Now I'm pretty sure MN would work wonders for my hair because the main ingredient in Nizoral, Ketoconazole, is an anti-fungal similar to MN. I'm a little nervous about using Monistat on my head so I've decided to wait until I see the doctor next week because they have the prescription Nizoral with twice the Ketoconazole as well as MN creams that are prescription strength.

Perhaps those of you with similar issues or your mothers can give Nizoral a try as well.

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Nizoral is extremely harsh on the hair. I had a prescription when I was 11. My hair sounded like rice crispy treats basking in warm milk.

I know the doctor prescribed it. I know I'm not a doctor, but I would NOT. I use Miconazole Nitrate with no irritation.

"Ketoconazole,29 sulconazole and oxiconazole30 require only once-daily application because of their long durability in the superficial layers of the skin. Clotrimazole, miconazole, and econazole require twice-daily application."

Ketoconazole is also available in cream form. I would ask the doc about that because that shampoo is like turpentine.