I often hear from people who are very upset these days when they look in the mirror in an attempt to do their hair. This is because there have been weeks or months of severe shedding due to telogen effluvium. When this process is finally done, you can have a completely different head of hair (and much thinner) than what you had to begin with.
I often get comments like, “I’ve been suffering from Telogen Effluvium for almost five months. The shedding has started to improve a bit, but the appearance of my hair hasn’t. It’s so thin and stringy. And while it’s stringy, it’s also it’s dry and brittle. Part of me just wants to cut it all off. But honestly, the length is the only thing that helps me hide how thin it really is. How can I make it look better? I know my hair will probably come back grow up. But until then, how do I make it look decent?”
I can tell you what helped me. I can’t promise that these tips will work for every hair type and every case. But I do think these things helped me make the most of the hair I had while I was waiting for it to grow back.
Be sure to wash and condition regularly: When you’re losing tons of hair and notice more coming out after you shampoo, it becomes very tempting to skip shampooing. However, this will make your hair look greasy and stringy. I used to be so paranoid about washing my hair with products that could have made shedding worse, that I used to use baby shampoo. Needless to say, this made my already dry and loose hair look like the ends of a broom. That is why it is very important to condition. Since I realized that conditioning used to lead to a lot of additional hair loss, I used to use conditioner spray with some success. It is really important to keep your follicles free of debris and build up so that you are supporting healthy and normal new growth.
Gently lift at the root: When my hair was very fine, it soon became apparent that some lift needed to be created. However, teasing or blow-drying was never a good idea with my hair. So I would literally wash my hair backwards some days. And, when I was done shampooing, I would gently comb my hair downward towards the top of my head. I would then secure it with a dry towel. And I would let it dry like that as long as possible. This created lift at the roots and made my hair look fuller. I was paranoid about using a chemical on my hair, so I used clear, natural aloe vera gel. This worked well because it nourished and soothed my scalp at the same time.
Consider a blunt cut, at least at the ends: I was also hesitant to cut the length of my hair when it was falling out. I felt that short hair would look thinner. I eventually found that a blunt cut like a longer bob can look fuller than a long tapered cut. You don’t need a severe or short bob, but any cut where the hair is blunt-cut at the bottom can give the appearance of more volume. It also helps a lot to keep your hair from looking so stringy.
Use oils sparingly: You probably already know that when you have this condition, your hair can look very dry and fly away. But, at the same time, when you over-condition your hair, it can look stringy or greasy. I used to address this by spraying a light mist of moroccan oil on dry hair only. And I’m talking about an extremely light mist, mostly just on the ends (you don’t want to get it at the root).
I know this may seem like a lot of work. But know that usually you just have to work a little harder until the hair grows back.