We’ve had the pleasure of helping a lot of people with hair loss over the years. One thing we’ve learned in that time is that the hardest part of dealing with losing your hair is the sense that you’ve lost control over such a visible and socially important part of your body. That loss of control, more than anything, can make moving forward difficult and slow. A good wig can be part of a strategy for taking back control, but it’s not the only option. Here are some more:
Own Your Hair Loss – Bjork, Sinead O’Connor, Solange, and even Willow Smith all took a razor to their hair, and looked absolutely beautiful afterwards. We know that it’s two very different things, choosing to shave your head and losing your hair, but they don’t have to be nearly as far apart as they may seem. Choosing to own your hair loss and looking at these inspirational celebrities who created their own idea of beauty can be a great first step back on the road of feeling like yourself again. It helps when you consider what a clean-shaven or bald head say in our society – strength, domination, power. Accepting and embracing this aspect of the way you look can help you feel strong and powerful in other parts of life as well, and can be a strong force for positive change.
Add A Personal Touch With A Tattoo – Scalp tattoos are generally seen as pretty far out there, even in the tattoo community. For someone experiencing irreversible hair loss, on the other hand, they can be a strong symbol of personal empowerment. “I may be losing my hair”, they say, “but I am not losing who I am or my ability to express myself”. Tattoos with deep, personal meanings can help reconnect you with who you really are; tattoos focusing around visual beauty can help you put aside social concepts of beauty and focus on how beautiful you are inside; tattoos that symbolize power can help you find the inner strength to fight past your hair loss. Whatever you choose, this can be a powerful way to embrace who you truly are, with or without hair.
Make A Big Change – Sometimes, it takes a big change for us to make a big change. Losing your hair can be the driving impetus to make those changes in your life that you’ve wanted to make for a long time but have been putting off. Losing your hair can seem pretty scary at first, but once you get to grips with it, it can make other scary prospects – changing careers, moving to a new city or country, ending or starting a relationship, improving your health – seem a lot more manageable and a lot less terrifying. Throwing yourself into a new project can let you change the way you see your hair loss, from something unfortunate that happened to you to a harbinger of positive change in your life, and that can make all the difference in how you look at yourself and your hair loss.
Get Involved – Maybe the most powerful way to take back control after hair loss is to get involved and help others who are going through the same things that you did. This can be anything from structured activities like volunteering with a group or organization, to more personal projects like telling your story online and in person. Either way, helping others is a tremendous way to reassert yourself and your control over your life and the person you are. It’s also a deeply satisfying feeling to help others.
