Let's See How Far I Get...

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A new year is approaching and I wanted to start a thread about my hair journey particularly my hair's growth. I just tweaked my regimen to the point that I am consistently seeing improvement and I am somewhat satisfied with the results but I still want to take my hair further so I will be documenting my progress and any new hair discoveries here. I was prompted to make my own thread because I see a lot of people on this board posting their results and joining hair challenges but I didn't want to do any of that. I wanted to do something focusing solely on me and my hair so here it goes.


Some background on myself:

I started taking care of my hair on my own when I was 17 years old. Previously my mother was the one in charge of taking care of my hair and she determined how I wore it and when it was washed. To her credit she took good care of it and I had decent length but nowhere near down my back, more like permanently stuck at shoulder length. It may have gotten past that but all of that was about to change once I had discovered that I could straighten my hair with the blow dryer on the hottest setting. This is when I began my first bout of heat damage. At that time there weren't any specialized blow dryers such as ceramic and the like to protect and enhance your hair rather than destroy it. Well that and no heat protectant along with my lack of knowledge sent me on a course of disaster and disappointing results with my hair.

So here I am with damaged hair and ends that felt like getting stuck by needles every time I touched it. My hair was very rough and very dry and needed to be cut before I could pass a comb through it so that's what I did, I cut my hair. This will become my fall back method of recovery from damage: cutting my hair. Even now I am temped to cut whatever SSKs that are lurking on the ends of my hair.

 

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Over the next few years I will go back and forth from damaged hair to healthy hair back to damage but not nearly as bad as it was the first time. Fast forward to circa 2003 where I had my biggest hair challenge yet. At this time I am not doing much of anything with my life, highly stressed and perpetually out of cash. All I remember from this time is that I had washed my hair with an old bottle of neutralizing shampoo. In the weeks that followed that wash my scalp started getting dryer. There was a rough patch on it that started to spread until it covered my entire head. The dryness led to flaking which seemed like dandruff and eventually a crust was forming. It started out thin and then it got thicker and thicker until you could really see it rising off the surface of my head.


This crust was hard and rough. It felt like a helmet and no matter what I did it wouldn't budge. At times it would get so tight that it would split my scalp open and my scalp would start bleeding or become infected and run with pus. I had to go to the hospital and receive an IV of antibiotics because of the infection and low grade fever that I was running. It was at this time that the doctor suggested that I see a dermatologist to be properly diagnosed. Since I was a new patient I wouldn't be able to see the dermatologist right away so I had to schedule an appointment two months away.


In that time my mother helped me work on my hair. At the previous dr visit I was diagnosed with having a fungus on my scalp and was prescribed kenokertozole. The medication made me break out in itchy welts all over my body so I had to stop taking that. I tried Lamisil which was supposed to be a anti fungal drug taken internally. This actually helped loosen up the crust but as the crust came off my hair fell out. I mean whole locks at a time were coming out. By the time of my appointment with the dermatologist the crust was gone and I was completely bald. The new doctor determined that I had psoriasis and prescribed medicine to combat the psoriasis that by now had spread to select areas on my entire body as a red smelly rash.

Here is an interesting video that I found years later on what was going on with me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HMuhL2Ccl0

 

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The road to recovery was a lot easier than addressing the problem itself. My hair was gone and the psoriasis was in retreat but I was under the care of a competent physician and had the medicine to get better. Along with my medication I used Sulfur 8 medicated treatment. My hair was growing in slowly looking like baby hair. It took about 2 years to get my whole head from completely bald to having a pony tail (Feb of 2004 to Jan 2006) This is the gauge to which I can estimate how fast my hair naturally grows.


In the last 4 or 5 years my hair has grown out to APL and then I had to cut again because I caused so much damage on my ends. This is before I discovered LHCF which was back in 2009. Once I joined here I haven't looked back. Using the information on this board and trial and error I slowly build up a regimen over the last three years. Here are the things I found were causing the most damage and holding me back which I have since stopped doing:


Blow dryer piks/comb attachments - break off ends of wet hair while drying/causes extreme breakage.

Brushes - pull out hair/break off hair.

Hair bands/ties/rubber bands - metal or no metal breaks off ends.

Combing hair when wet - breakage on ends

Cotton pillowcases - dryness and breakage

Frequent use of heat (weekly) - shedding which leads to thinning.

Since I stopped doing these things I noticed my hair (seemingly) growing faster and had less breakage.

 

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Now on to the hair discoveries. These are the things that I noticed help me keep my hair healthy and facilitate growth.



Washing my hair twice a week - my scalp likes to be kept clean.

Washing my hair in sections - easier to get to my scalp = cleaner scalp, less tangling

Use of oils - I have seen really good results using them particularly with growth since I started.

Scalp massages - grew in my thin edges from stiff brush use and wearing high ponytails.

Prepoo with coconut oil - stops dry stripped hair in its tracks. Leads to supple, shiny hair.

LOCO - modified LOC method for moisturizing and sealing: liquid, oil, cream, then oil (will describe later).

Deep Conditioning - once every 10-14 days alternating between moisture or protein DC.

Pinning up my hair/covering hair at night - lifesaver from breakage and dryness and prevents acne on my face.

Good combs - don't have to be seamless but shouldn't pull at my hair either.

Big scrunchies - replaced regular thin hair ties, don't cause breakage.

Sticking to a limited number of products - gives me consistent results with the products that my hair agrees with - reigns in my inner product junkie.

Use of a leave in conditioner/heat protectant - really helps with moisture/curbing heat damage.

Limiting heat use - blow drying no more than twice a week, flat ironing only when I'm getting a trim.

Getting hair trims - by a professional every 2-3 months for dusting my ends, trims when necessary.

 

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Here it is all put together.


My Regimen:

Wash Day -Monday and Thursday
Overnight treatment with Jamaican Mango and Lime Black Castor Oil with Rosemary.

Prepoo with Parachute brand coconut oil - add a plastic cap and let sit ~ 2hr

Wash - Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo diluted
.5oz poo to 4 oz water in a color applicator bottle for easier access to my roots and scalp.

First I rinse my hair with warm water then I divide it into 4 sections. I wash each section rinse then wash again. When I rinse I don't use the shower head but an cup or bottle and I rinse one side of my head at a time to prevent tangles.


Condition - I use Shea moisture Restorative Conditioner except when I am deep conditioning I will either use Aubry Organics GPB Conditioner or Mixed Chicks Deep conditioner. I like the Shea Moisture conditioner because it contains enough protein to prevent over moisturizing. For that reason I can only leave it on a maximum of 2 minutes or else my hair will become hard. When deep conditioning I will leave te conditioner on for a max of 45 minutes under a shower cap without heat.


Leave-ins - It's a 10 Leave in Conditioner and Tresseme Heat Tamer Spray. I add these before towel drying.

Dry - I wrap my hair in a towel and let it absorb the excess water for a few minutes before I allow my hair to dry. I may try T-shirt Drying if I can find enough T-shirts.

Blow Dry - I usually blow dry my hair right after washing. I divide my hair into 5 sections with clips and then divide each section in 2 and then by 2 again until I have broken my entire head down into 20 sections. I use the tension method of holding my hair taught while drying. Once my hair is half dry I detangle with a wide tooth comb then dry the section again until it is almost completely dry. After drying the section I pin it into a mini bun and start on the next section.


After I am done drying my hair I do the LOCO Method.

1. I moisturize my hair with African Pride Moisturizing Growth Lotion. I use a small amount per section because a little goes a long way.

2. I let my hair soak up the moisturizer and then I massage my scalp with oil. I use the oil mix I got from LHDCTv. She has since removed her video but all I do is mix 3oz of extra virgin coconut oil (liquid) with 4oz of extra virgin olive oil. Here is my method of applying oil to my hair that I got from farahdhuki. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iV0yzEDKUk

3.Next I add Keracare Buttercreme to my hair. This really helped keep my hair moisturized for days after I first apply it but my ends would start feeling dry by the next day so...

4. Lastly I seal my hair with jojoba oil. This had my hair feeling so soft afterwards. I use just a little on my hair and it keeps the moisture in until washday.

That is usually it for the wash day. I usually wash my hair either when I don't have anyplace to go or at the end of the day so I can keep my hair pinned up until it is time to go to bed.


Nighttime Routine

Instead of braiding or wrapping my hair I pin it in five mini buns and wrap my hair in a silk (polyester) scarf.

 

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Starting pic 12/29/2013.

 

[HairPleezeGrow]

Congrats on your journey and finding what works for you. I'm glad you went to the Dr. to get seen and the help needed. Keep going in the right direction girly!