Alopecia update

The good news is I still have enough hair to cover my head. Silky, healthy, beautiful, thin, hair. And the bad news is that I have developed an age-related genetic pattern of hair loss, and it has continued to grow thinner, which is why I've cut my long hair into a short bob. So far, the top layer is holding onto enough hair so that I don't have a wide part. But the underneath layer on both sides of my head and in the back have experienced extreme thinning. In some places it is thin as corn silk with my healthy scalp taking center stage. Which is why last year in April 2025 I experimented with a short pixie cut. It sounded like a great idea, but it didn't work. Turns out that with short layered hair too much of my scalp was exposed. So, I spent the past year letting it grow back into a short one length bob. 

 

Not sure what I will do when it gets too thin for a bob. Head scarves, hats, fabulous earrings. Already I've begun to collect head scarves. I'm still searching to find the styles I like best that feel comfortable, bold and carefree. Alas, I want to be prepared should a day arrive when I'm getting ready to go somewhere important and my hair turns up missing. I don't want to be caught off guard the way I was a couple of years ago when I suddenly noticed that most of my eyebrows were gone. 

 

Fact is my hair has her own personality, and her own agenda. For decades I tried to control her. Now she humbles me, and I'm making peace with her, most of the time. When I get ahead of myself and worry about my hair future there is nothing better than fresh cut lavender, sage, peppermint or sweet basil to restore me. I walk to Farmers Market, take in the harvest and breathe deep fragrance all around. All the while thankful for my legs that are still strong enough to carry me. 

"The body is a sacred garment. It's your first and last garment; it is what you enter life with, and it should be treated with honor." —Martha Graham (1894—1991) Dancer, choreographer, and American modern dance creator

Alopecia update

The good news is I don’t have anything newsworthy to report. The thinning has slowed down. Upon close inspection (which I hardly ever do anymore) the sparse sections of hair still growing on the sides of my head are holding. The person who cuts my hair says it’s not thinner than it was a year ago. And, I still have plenty of hair on the top of my head. It has become thinner, but not too thin. All of the tension and worries I was carrying when alopecia was first diagnosed, has dropped away. Bald or with hair, doesn’t matter anymore nearly as much as I first thought it would matter. I’ve bought a few new pair of great earrings. Let the focus be on my ears, not my head. 

Although nothing is guaranteed, the type of alopecia I appear to have developed means that my hair won’t likely grow back in the already thinning areas, but I also do not have a variety that usually leads to complete balding. My once thick hair is thinner, and it's beautiful thin hair. The top layer is plentiful enough and my talented hair stylist knows how to cut it in a way that covers the sparse sides. And, I’ve discovered that I love having short hair. I would not go back to long hair even if I could. I also love the fact that I no longer need to shave my legs or armpits. But I do miss my eyebrows!

All is well in the valley

On Friday I got a second haircut from a kind, talented person recommended by a close friend. She worked her magic and gave me a much shorter cut.  She said if my hair continues to thin out due to alopecia we can adjust the cut and find a good path through the hair thinning process. 

I don't have the kind of alopecia that causes total baldness. The type I have usually only causes sections of hair loss. I scheduled another haircut appointment in 8 weeks, and my best guess is that I will be getting frequent haircuts for the rest of my hair life, which I hope is a very long time!

 

Thank you to everyone who is holding space for me. I'm feeling well, saddled up and ready to ride into the land of change. 

"Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts." —Salman Rushdie

What Comes Next and How to Like It?

Alopecia. There, now that I’ve said it, it feels better, just get it out of the way. But I did not plan to do a reveal right now. Not yet, it seemed too soon, since I still have plenty of hair.  I figured later, if, or when, it became obvious I’d stand up in sisterhood with all women with Alopecia, and share my experience openly. As an essayist and memoirist, that’s what I do. I write about crucial stretches within my life. 

What I have appear to have going on is Ophiasis Alopecia, affecting the sides above my ears, with a snake like pattern of hair loss across the back of my head. Currently I still have plenty of hair. But who knows what the future holds.

 

It’s been coming on slowly for a while now, and until recently wasn’t all that noticeable.

 

What Comes Next and How to Like It? 

What to do? Get a couple of inches trimmed off. We decide on shoulder length. This way I can gradually deal with my hair loss. But she got my shoulders mixed up with my chin, and without saying anything to me, no warning, gave me a chin length bob. Which would be perfectly fine, if I wanted to get a bob. And if I wasn’t dealing with Alopecia, which is the only reason I wanted to go shorter in the first place. 

The unexpected hair cut would also be fine if she had given me a great cut. But she did not. Mid-cutting, she admitted to having trouble with the cut. She could not get the left side to match the right. And right now I have crooked hair that I can’t pull back and get it off my face. I will need to find someone to fix it. Shape it. And the length is awkward, I want to go shorter. 

In some ways I’m glad this unfortunate haircut has forced me to be open about Alopecia and  hair loss. Most likely I would have needed to go short within the next year, and I would have shared openly then. Instead, I’ve been invited to take the journey now.

Meanwhile, peaceful redwoods are holding me.