lilikoi
Well-Known Member
I am upset beyond words.
Short version:
My 14 year old used Wen for the FIRST AND ONLY time about 2 weeks ago and now he has huge bald spots and is still shedding hair! I am ashamed to confess I was skeptical about the Wen-caused hair loss claims (I know I posted on that thread) because I had used the product years ago and I was fine. I feel so guilty that I used this on my child's hair.
I'm humbly asking for moral support, and practical advice to help him recover.
P.S. I used it once last week too. I have'n noticed any ill effects for myself (yet).
My long rant (sorry, I need to vent, writing this to help myself make sense of this ):
My son has a nice fro (about 5 inches of a mix of 3b, 3c, and some silky 4a hair) that he's quite proud of (he calls it his "lion's mane"). It tangles/mats easily and I try to remind him to finger detangle frequently. I've been noticing a lot of shedding (hairs on sink and hairbrush) for the last couple of weeks but didn't think much of it because (1) he's not gentle with his hair and (2) he's growing a lot and dealing with typical hormonal changes for his age.
Then yesterday morning he said "mom, I've been having a lot of shed hairs" and I dismissed it and told him not to worry about it. Then, later last nigh I noticed a thin spot around his temple (kind of like male-baldness pattern) and upon inspection discovered the spot is almost bald, and the hair around the nape has bald spots too! And as I examined his head, his hair kept coming out in clumps! My heart sank!
I could then tell he's been worrying about if because he had noticed the missing hair and spots but didn't say anything about it directly (fear? denial?). I tried to reassure him before bedtime that we would deal with this and aggressively - seek medical assistance, home remedies, etc. , to figure out the cause and seek a solution and kissed him goodnight.
Once everyone went to bed I gave myself permission to cry. I wished this was happening to me and not to him, but that's not how things turned out. Then I prayed for healing, for wisdom dealing with this, and for acceptance. Went to bed and that's when I had my epiphany and remembered that only new thing in his routing was that he had used Wen for the first time and ONLY ONCE about 2 weeks ago. I had detangled his hair right after and it looked perfectly normal, no bald spots or thinness.
I got the Wen (lavender) from a thrift store. It was properly factory sealed. I had used Wen almond mint with no adverse effect. Stopped using it because of the cost, plus it was not doing anything noticeably positive for my hair. It was more of a "Meh" experience. So I was excited to find it cheap and bought 2 bottles because I remembered it had nice slip which would help my boy with detangling.
Short version:
My 14 year old used Wen for the FIRST AND ONLY time about 2 weeks ago and now he has huge bald spots and is still shedding hair! I am ashamed to confess I was skeptical about the Wen-caused hair loss claims (I know I posted on that thread) because I had used the product years ago and I was fine. I feel so guilty that I used this on my child's hair.
I'm humbly asking for moral support, and practical advice to help him recover.
P.S. I used it once last week too. I have'n noticed any ill effects for myself (yet).
My long rant (sorry, I need to vent, writing this to help myself make sense of this ):
My son has a nice fro (about 5 inches of a mix of 3b, 3c, and some silky 4a hair) that he's quite proud of (he calls it his "lion's mane"). It tangles/mats easily and I try to remind him to finger detangle frequently. I've been noticing a lot of shedding (hairs on sink and hairbrush) for the last couple of weeks but didn't think much of it because (1) he's not gentle with his hair and (2) he's growing a lot and dealing with typical hormonal changes for his age.
Then yesterday morning he said "mom, I've been having a lot of shed hairs" and I dismissed it and told him not to worry about it. Then, later last nigh I noticed a thin spot around his temple (kind of like male-baldness pattern) and upon inspection discovered the spot is almost bald, and the hair around the nape has bald spots too! And as I examined his head, his hair kept coming out in clumps! My heart sank!
I could then tell he's been worrying about if because he had noticed the missing hair and spots but didn't say anything about it directly (fear? denial?). I tried to reassure him before bedtime that we would deal with this and aggressively - seek medical assistance, home remedies, etc. , to figure out the cause and seek a solution and kissed him goodnight.
Once everyone went to bed I gave myself permission to cry. I wished this was happening to me and not to him, but that's not how things turned out. Then I prayed for healing, for wisdom dealing with this, and for acceptance. Went to bed and that's when I had my epiphany and remembered that only new thing in his routing was that he had used Wen for the first time and ONLY ONCE about 2 weeks ago. I had detangled his hair right after and it looked perfectly normal, no bald spots or thinness.
I got the Wen (lavender) from a thrift store. It was properly factory sealed. I had used Wen almond mint with no adverse effect. Stopped using it because of the cost, plus it was not doing anything noticeably positive for my hair. It was more of a "Meh" experience. So I was excited to find it cheap and bought 2 bottles because I remembered it had nice slip which would help my boy with detangling.