Hi all, just discovered this site and forum. So bear with me on this rather long post.
At 19 I got my first perm (I'm 49 now). All was well, and after it had mostly grown out, my hair was still thick, shiny, healthy and dark, dark brown at this point. This is where the fun begins. I got it cut and permed again. I noticed within a few weeks after, my hair had lightened considerably in color, was brittle and broke easily, tangled easily, split ends galore and came out in large numbers when I would run a comb or pick through it. I figured the perm damaged my hair, but no big deal, in a few months I was going in the Air Force and it was going to get shaved off. Figured it would grow back in normally.
It didn't. It grew back in and was still lighter in color than normal, the hair strands themselves were much thinner in diameter than they were prior to the second perm. Dry, brittle fly-away, you name it. I also noticed it was slightly thinner on top, like typical male pattern baldness, with no body. Over quite a few years it got thinner and thinner, til now it's basically just short hairs that never grow beyond about 1/2" to 1" in length, but oddly, black like my hair used to be. Hair on my head that will grow long (the "horse shoe"), is light in color, dry and brittle, etc. And I should point out, lightly tugging on it causes pain. Sometimes my scalp even feels like the follicles themselves just hurt, without even touching my hair or scalp.
I've tried many things, including Rogaine, with zero results. I will also mention I'm a smoker and my eating habits have always been poor at best; too many animal products, processed sugar, processed grains and sweet beverages. I've never eaten enough veg and fruit. I know the home page here says nutrition isn't a factor, but I have to call shenanigans on that. I've seen poor nutrition affect peoples hair (and skin) and be reversed when they get their act together nutritionally. I've struggled to do this, as well as quit smoking, for many years.
So I figured I would draw on the resources of this forum. My question is, has anybody here experienced this, or know anyone who has? Can a perm cause this type of damage and resultant loss of hair? If so, could it be reversed? I will say, I've mostly given up on growing back any hair or regaining the health of the hair I still have, but hope springs eternal as they say. Thanks for reading, I know it's a long post, but I figured I needed to be as complete in giving info as possible.
At 19 I got my first perm (I'm 49 now). All was well, and after it had mostly grown out, my hair was still thick, shiny, healthy and dark, dark brown at this point. This is where the fun begins. I got it cut and permed again. I noticed within a few weeks after, my hair had lightened considerably in color, was brittle and broke easily, tangled easily, split ends galore and came out in large numbers when I would run a comb or pick through it. I figured the perm damaged my hair, but no big deal, in a few months I was going in the Air Force and it was going to get shaved off. Figured it would grow back in normally.
It didn't. It grew back in and was still lighter in color than normal, the hair strands themselves were much thinner in diameter than they were prior to the second perm. Dry, brittle fly-away, you name it. I also noticed it was slightly thinner on top, like typical male pattern baldness, with no body. Over quite a few years it got thinner and thinner, til now it's basically just short hairs that never grow beyond about 1/2" to 1" in length, but oddly, black like my hair used to be. Hair on my head that will grow long (the "horse shoe"), is light in color, dry and brittle, etc. And I should point out, lightly tugging on it causes pain. Sometimes my scalp even feels like the follicles themselves just hurt, without even touching my hair or scalp.
I've tried many things, including Rogaine, with zero results. I will also mention I'm a smoker and my eating habits have always been poor at best; too many animal products, processed sugar, processed grains and sweet beverages. I've never eaten enough veg and fruit. I know the home page here says nutrition isn't a factor, but I have to call shenanigans on that. I've seen poor nutrition affect peoples hair (and skin) and be reversed when they get their act together nutritionally. I've struggled to do this, as well as quit smoking, for many years.
So I figured I would draw on the resources of this forum. My question is, has anybody here experienced this, or know anyone who has? Can a perm cause this type of damage and resultant loss of hair? If so, could it be reversed? I will say, I've mostly given up on growing back any hair or regaining the health of the hair I still have, but hope springs eternal as they say. Thanks for reading, I know it's a long post, but I figured I needed to be as complete in giving info as possible.
