Girlfriend's Got Thin Hair

[mommysboy]

My girlfriend has thin - not thinning hair- by the time it reaches her shoulder it's quite brittle and has lost much of it's colour. It seems worse on top however. She washes it a lot and always seems to be at a salon. It's been permed too. I've put a stop to all that and she seems to understand that it may damage it more. She looks pretty in a bob cut and her hair definitely seems healthier.

Does thin/brittle hair indicate a health issue?, she's 30, in good health as far as blood pressure, etc, but I do notice she looks a little pasty at times.

She eats a lot of fruit but I constantly pester her to eat greens, am I right?

Are there any special teatments that can thicken her hair?

What area of conventional medicine would deal with this problem?

Are there any drugs, eg, rogaine, that might help?

Or specific vitamins to be taken orally?

That's a lot of question marks, but as a middle aged baldie I feel a bit helpless in this matter, and google search just seems to reveal nonsense treatments. Thanks in advance.

[Datsun240Z]

It's not good to wash it so often, the natural build op protection layer of the hair is gone then. You can notice yourself if you don't wash your hair for a few days, it gits greasy. Just wash it, but not so many as she does.

And what she eat is also important. Can you describe?

[AnnieLim]

Avoid the salons. Not sure what chemical they use. Better just do her own washing.

I suppose she goes to salon more for the gossip than the washing.

[Chaimai]

Maybe not the same ballpark but my GF complains of "hair fall" and bring over a Biotin supplement for her.

[mommysboy]

It's not good to wash it so often, the natural build op protection layer of the hair is gone then. You can notice yourself if you don't wash your hair for a few days, it gits greasy. Just wash it, but not so many as she does.

And what she eat is also important. Can you describe?

She eats a fairly balanced diet, but doesn't like vegetables. particularly greens. But she does eat a lot of fruit: you know all the stuff available at street vendors.

She doesn't take vitamin supplements.

Personally, I think she needs more iron.

[Sheryl]

I would suggest a good multivitamin + mineral supplement (Centrum or the like) plus a single dose of albendazole 400 mg (in case of hookworm or other parasites), readily available OTC.

Give it at least a month and see if any difference noted.

[kangeroo]

i am not a doctor but i had a 31 year old thai gf once with the same problem, a mate of mine suggested to take flax seed capsules , she did that and after about six months there was a lot more hair growing and it looked healthy . cheers

[eek]

Great advice about the vitamins, but also, regarding the salons, she could take in her own brand of shampoo and conditioner and ask them to dry and style her hair on a gentle setting. Thing is, as another member mentioned, many will use a generic shampoo and conditioner that may not be good for everyone. Worse, is the heat setting and the brushing/styling technique many use to style hair. Many are quite brutal! Ive seen (and experienced) wet long hair being combed from the root down (which can fracture and brake hair) instead of gently teasing out tangles from the tip up first. Blow drying on the top maximum heat setting, sending out waves of steam..and hair irons being used on the maximum settings too. You are talking about 200 Centigrade /410 Fahrenheit here! (and many of the irons are not top quality so the plates also cause fractures and breaks).

Hair can often take a weekly beating without much damage, but if she is going more regularly then she is likely burning and damaging her hair. If she wants to go several times a week, then best if she gets them to use a more gentle approach.

[mommysboy]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'm working on each one.

My Thai is not so good and I'm passing on all the info. as best I can.

For some strange reason she has this aversion to multi vits, could be bribery time.

But she went out and got some Biotin.

The flax seeds sounds interesting, and good info about soap and brushing. Thanks.

[desi]

Is she drinking those diet teas? I can only imagine what those strip out of your system. And they are awfully popular with the Thai girls out here...

[britmaveric]

rogain?

[julie_f]

The way they dry your hair in the salon is probably to blame as eek said. I used to have it done occasionally when I wanted my hair straight but it feels like your head is in an oven. They don't often use straightners either but pull hard on the hair to dry it straight. They also seem to shampoo it about 3 times which is strange when I only did it myself that morning.

Tell her to let her hair dry naturally and there are lots of leave in conditioners which are quite good too.

[verydumbubba]

Male perspective -all of my babes have good healthy, mostly very long, unbleached hair - they also have a balanced diet, and take all the vitamins I offer them. They eat everything. No booze, no cigarettes. Prime stock.

My one buddy has a babe with thinning hair and suspect teeth - unheard of in LOS - she drinks, smokes, and is very

picky about everything she eats - now mainly processed everything.

I told him to get rid of her then - she wont listen to reason, and would be unmanageable in a couple years - which he did not do - she has by now been in hospital several times and is an alcoholic. He regrets not heeding my advice now, as she is playing the guilt card. It might be worth a real hard look. They ladies are all early 20's

Bubba

[JonLee]

Have you tried hair tonic from the chemist? Boots is a good place to start.

[Lazy Sod]

I would suggest a good multivitamin + mineral supplement (Centrum or the like).

Give it at least a month and see if any difference noted.

Sheryl is spot on again. My (Thai) wife had a similar problem for years, she tried lots of topical treatments which are quite expensive, along with hair extensions which are even more expensive. Finally I bought her some Boots multivitamins and minerals with iron and made sure she got into the habit of taking one a day, that was about 10 months ago and her hair is now normal thickness and healthy, she's so happy with it.

[Bonobojt]

Be careful about the multi vitamin tablets, certain vitamins can have negative effects in pill form like calcium and vitamin A. A healthier idea would be to do research on foods high in iron or certain nutrients you think your girlfriend is lacking and get her to eat it. Make sure she has a healthy gut, no parasites and stuff so she absorbs the nutrition from her food. Definitely need to stop that salon stuff, all the chemicals and cleaning not good for hair health 

 

here’s an article from New York Times best seller Dr Michael Greger on women’s health 

https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/womens-health/

 

 

[uhuh]

Don't wash the hair more than once every 2 days.

Use baby shampoo.

No chemicals for the hair (conditioner, bonding and so on).

 

Have a stool examination (worm eggs? parasites?)

Have a blood test (anemia? iron deficiency? thyroid?)

Have a doctor or nurse examine her scalp for abnormalities, health center should do it.

 

If she eats a lot of fruit she will have enough vitamins but minerals might be supplemented, especially Zn and Se. 

 

Wait a few months.  If no improvement see a dermatologist.

[Sheryl]

The perming and over frequent washing and salon treatments (likely involving use of hot irons and the like) may be the culprit. If you can persuade her to stop all that and leave her hair natural, wash just when necessary etc it may help.

 

In terms of health problems, hypothyroidism causes hair loss which will result in thinner hair. If she is also sluggish in the mornings may be worth getting a thyroid panel done.

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

I have a niece that had brittle hair by her scalp and one day some years ago we were at Samitivej in BKK for her grandma to be looked at and I said for her to go and see the doctor about her hair problem...we got my MiL's business over with quickly but the niece with the hair problem stayed for awhile, seems like the docs couldn't figure out if it was a hair or a scalp problem...they prescribed a ton of stuff and wanted her to come back but we never bought the stuff and never went back...

 

I've seen her recently and I said lets have a look and now she has a healthy mane that delightfully sets off her other attributes (full flavored 20 something T&A) and then I wondered if the problem was a hormonal thing attached to her age that the docs at the hosp didn't pick up on at the time...

 

'nice hair, babe...' 'nice hair yerself, uncle tutsi...' unappreciative little vixen...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sneufeld]

she should let that wash a lot of hair. In addition, she should pay attention to a healthy diet and only take products with natural ingredient.

[BritManToo]

This topic was started in 2009, she's probably bald by now ....... 10 years later.

[CGW]

Just got a couple of bottles of these for the wife a she has thin hair, will they work? cheap enough to give a go. At least these are reasonable quality supplements unlike Centrum brand which are basically a chemical cocktail with few if any natural ingredients that the body can assimilate, Centrum are good at PR though! 

 

[CGW]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

This topic was started in 2009, she's probably bald by now ....... 10 years later.

Wish I had read this before posting, made me laugh though ???? 

His last post was about "where to buy a wig"

Edited June 13, 2019 by CGW