Many women are affected by hair loss, including me. Today I am 29 years old and I am proud to be bald.
During puberty I noticed that my hair was falling out more frequently. I told my mother about it - but she said it was normal for hair to fall out when I shower. As a child I had a lot of really thick hair - but that was soon to be over. When I was 16 it was really noticeable - my scalp started to show through here and there and my hair was getting thinner and thinner.
The doctor visits began. Family doctor, endocrinologist, gynecologist, dermatologist... blood tests, tablets, hair samples, etc. - nobody found anything and so in the end they said "You are suffering from hereditary hair loss." Wow! What a nasty blow for a young girl!
At first it was OK, but eventually my hair started to get thinner and thinner. The doctors gave me some advice on which medicines and pills I should get - nothing helped or stopped the hair loss. In 2017 - before my 25th birthday - I had a really great hairdresser advise me on hair replacement. I decided on Microlines - a real hair replacement that was attached to my head using my remaining hair. It was really great - I had full hair and didn't have to worry about all the stares people were giving me! However, this meant constant visits to the hairdresser (every 4 weeks, 2 days of headaches) and a lot of money. Of course, the health insurance covers one thing or another - but not everything.
I did this for almost 2 years and then I had no more desire or patience. So it came off and I had my hair cut short. There are options here too - I used one that covers the scalp and fixes it with hairspray. It looked pretty good, but wasn't that practical for everyday life - it didn't hold properly in the rain, and when I was romping around with my junior it was spread everywhere and the hairstyle no longer sat. In the morning I had to lay each strand down so that you couldn't see much of the scalp - I put myself under psychological pressure. In June 2020 the time had come, I just didn't feel like it anymore - my husband took the razor and shaved off the rest of my pitiful hair - then a wet shave and then I stood in the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror and was - RELIEVED. I laughed, I wasn't shocked, not sad, just happy. Crazy, right? I looked at myself, with my bald head - ran my hand over this incredibly soft and sensitive skin and felt free! All the stress, all the thoughts that you always have about other people - gone!
The first stop was my parents - my father was in love (he has 1mm of hair himself and I must have inherited his head shape). My mother had a hard time, I can understand that... I am her little girl. She was simply taken by surprise - but that was completely fine with me! It didn't take long for her to get used to it and she just thought it was great - she sees how happy and relieved I am. At first I wore scarves and got a hairpiece - but that wasn't me and I didn't want to hide. After a short time I went out in public with my bald head as normal.
I'm very open about it. Lots of people ask me what's wrong, whether I'm ill - then I tell them and I get so much encouragement and support! Of course people look at me - I'm different! But it used to bother me, they looked at me because I had bald patches on my head and couldn't deal with it confidently, and now they look at me and stare at me because I'm bald - which I wear with great "proud"! I can say that it has made me strong and confident!
Even women without hair can feel comfortable and don’t have to hide.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who know me and are by my side and also to all the strangers who talk to me and give me positive feedback - that gives me strength! Thank you to all the women who know/don't know me and have the courage to talk to me so they can share in my experience and also muster the courage to deal with their hair loss! I'm not sick - I just have hair loss!
Best regards
Vanessa
