Dealing With Hair Loss Part 1
The light from the rising sun pierced the window to my bedroom, striking my eyes and waking me up from my night of sleep. I slowly rise out of bed, stretching my arms and looking at my reflection in the mirror. Today was the day, it was the beginning of my senior year for high school. I put on my best looking clothes and topped it off with the senior crown that I had to make. I glanced at myself again in the mirror and noticed how sharp I was looking, ready to begin the first day as a senior. However, there was one thing on my mind that bothered me as I was ready to walk out the door. I walk into the bathroom and grabbed a small mirror, making the back of my head reflect off the small mirror in the bigger mirror. The thin spot on the back of my head was noticeably more visible today, but fortunately I am wearing a crown and no one will be able to see where I am losing hair. However, this was only for today and I had to spend the rest of my senior year with a thin spot that was noticeable to everyone.
My hair started getting thinner when I was 16 years old. I had medium length hair at the time but a friend noticed it appeared somewhat thin at the top. I just assumed it was an error done by the barber after getting my hair trimmed and I told my friend it was nothing to worry about. However, Summer came and the thin spot on the back of my head started to get worse. With senior pictures coming up, my mother recommended me to cut my hair short so the thing spot was less noticeable. Sure enough, after the haircut it seemed as if there was nothing wrong with my hair. Days went by though and I started to lose more hair at the back of my head. I decided to let my hair grow out some, hoping it would conceal that thin spot. Some days the spot looked good, almost like no hair was ever lost. On other days it was clear that I was losing hair in that area. With concern about people noticing my hair loss, I began to wear hats more and more every time I went out and did something with my friends.
When the school year started, I knew that there was no way to hide my spot since the school did not allow kids to wear hats inside of the building. With the exception of the first day of school, I had to walk the hallways everyday with my thin spot visible to the world. I kept my hair cut fairly short to keep the thin spot from being noticeable to people, but there were days when I wished that I still had longer hair. Even though it was occasionally pointed out to me from time to time, most people did not seem to care that was losing hair. However there were those few that would try and get underneath your skin, but I didn’t let it bother me. To be honest, no one really noticed that my hair was thinning until I started using Rogaine. I was using the liquid form back then, and for those who never tried it you squirt about 1ml onto the part that was thin and gently rub it in because otherwise it will run all over your head. Whenever I used Rogaine right before I went to school, it would leave my hair wet and visibly thinner to everyone.
As the hair on my head was getting thinner, the hair itself would feel very dry and coarse. Girls would play with my head and tell me how coarse it felt, saying that I should condition my hair more often and leave the conditioner in my hair for a few minutes rather than washing it out immediately. The coarseness of my hair was very noticeable when it grew some length, leaving my hair looking frizzy and easy to fall out. I started visiting the barber more often to cut off the dried out hair, and it seemed like no matter how hard I took care of my hair it would only grow back dry and coarse again.
