Hair Loss: My Journey Through Hair Restoration
Hair thinning and hair loss is something that many people experience at some point in their life but few talk about it. Hair loss in women is even more of a touchy subject as we all want to have thick, long gorgeous locks but not all of us are blessed with that. We know that most hair loss stems from within us due to hormones from pregnancy or post pregnancy, auto immune issues, PCOS, alopecia, menopause and more. Poor scalp health can be characterized by, dry skin, clogged hair follicles, dead skin cells, and overall lack of circulation. These can be a major contributor to damaged and thinning hair and inhibit the growth of healthy hair. I am here today to talk about my own experience with thinning and hair loss and what new treatments we may be offering at ZONA to help!
For those who do not know me
Hi! I’m Chelsea, the lead esthetician and laser tech here at ZONA Med Spa. A couple of years ago I found out I have both Hashimoto’s (an autoimmune thyroid condition) and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). I have always had thin hair but have been told by various hairstylist that I have a lot of it. Within the recent years I have noticed more and more hair coming out when I wash, brush or style my hair. Not to mention some thinning along my hair line. If you know me, those thinning spots are what I refer to as my “bald spots.” These two spots on either side of my head have sparse baby hairs that never grow. When I pull my hair back, they stand straight up giving me the wispy fly-away look and as always, leaves my scalp exposed. While keeping my auto immune disorders under control helps a little with the hair situation, I am willing to do whatever it takes to feel better about my “bald spots.”
Hair care starts from within
Just like my skin, I am picky about the products I use on my hair. My shampoo, conditioner, hair masks/scrubs and leave in treatments are all sulfate free and ingredients I recognize. I try to only wash my hair 1-2 times per week and not to use any heat. Allowing for maybe one day a week of low heat straightening. I stay as consistent and religious about my hair like I do with my skin. I take many vitamins already, but I also take the Votesse supplement specifically for hair daily (I get these from ZONA). In the most recent years my stylist has starting using permanent color for my roots, as my unruly stubborn white hairs need the more permanent color to last longer. However, Cierra brought to my attention that using the permanent color may be also contributing to my hair loss. Since starting new treatments for my hair journey, I have also switched to a demi permanent color and spacing my root touch ups further apart.
Hydrafacial Keravive Hair Treatment
Yes, your read that right! Hydrafacial now makes a scalp treatment and from experience, It. Is. Glorious! If you have had a hydrafacial on your face you can already imagine what it would be like on your scalp. HydraFacial Keravive is a unique, relaxing treatment designed to cleanse, stimulate, nourish, and hydrate the scalp for fuller and healthier-looking hair. Keravive is a 3-step treatment:
- Cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate the scalp and hair follicles
- Stimulate scalp circulation and nourish scalp and hair follicles with growth factors and skin proteins
- Deliver daily scalp and hair follicle nourishment and stimulation
There is a waste container on the hydrafacial machine where all the solutions and “junk” from your skin is collected and then shown to you as a gross but satisfying aftermath of the hydrafacial experience. My hair #gunkie (hydrafacial’s term for waste container goodness) was the grossest most satisfying thing I have ever seen! How could my scalp be so congested? No wonder my follicles have become so thin and weak. My scalp has never felt so exfoliated, fresh and clean! The keravive treatment also comes with a take home hair spray for daily use for the following month that I am obsessed with! Easy to use and helps to continue nourishing my hair for weeks after a treatment.
PRP Hair Restoration
Although the Hydrafacial Keravive treatment can help with many scalp and hair issues all on its own, adding PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma obtained from your own blood) injections can take things up a notch. PRP has many benefits for hair restoration in not just males but females too! It works by regenerating and repairing blood vessels. This method of action promotes wound healing, collagen production, cell growth and hair follicle growth. The scalp is a sensitive area and the thought of getting a bunch of pokes along my hairline made me cringe a little. Luckily, Cierra made me feel extremely comfortable by topically numbing my hair line and also using a vibration tool to distract me. That tool is amazing! I could only tell where she was injecting because of the vibrations, I felt no needle pokes. I will say there was some small discomfort of the pressure from PRP before it is absorbed by the skin. The best way to describe it is a sore feeling. They recommend taking a hot shower after this treatment to allow blood flow to the area but otherwise no post care or other rules of things to stay away from. That sore feeling lasted the rest of the evening, but the hot shower defiantly helped.
Results
I have just begun my Hair Restoration journey, I had one Keravive treatment and then 2 weeks later had the PRP injections. I have been taking Votesse and using the hydrafacial take home spray for 3 weeks now and am already starting to notice thicker healthier hair. I will be doing another Keravive treatment next week followed by another PRP treatment 2 weeks after. Like most treatments, multiple treatments are required for maximum results. I will be doing a total of 4-6 treatments of both Keravive and PRP in the following months and I can’t wait to show you my before and after. If you follow us on Instagram you may have seen videos of both the Keravive and PRP treatment being done, as well as that satisfying hair #gunkie! If you don’t follow us on Instagram, I highly suggest it as we will be posting more about these treatments, my before and after pictures as well as information on when we will offer these exciting treatments! Stay tuned.
