Hair and It's Shedding Season

**My blogs are directed for anyone with any form of hair loss or thin hair. I live with the hair disorder of monilethrix, so this will specifically help hair that is beaded and prone to breakage. **

If you have monilethrix you probably have experienced seasonal shedding. Normally it happens for me about a month after winter starts and about a month after summer starts. Its pretty devistating considering that it took me probably a year to grow the hair that is "shedding" for really no reason. I'm not sure what causes the sudden breakage, possibly the change in the humitity?
It is very hard to control the hair from falling out, but here are a couple of things that I do to minimize the amount of hair loss.
(I'm not a doctor, these are things that I have figured out from trial and error. But dermatologists do recomend that people with monilethrix use Rogaine.)

Things I do year round:
- use a humidifier every night in my bedroom.
- take GNC's Hair, Nails and Skin vitamin.
- use a shampoo and conditioner with kertin in it, I use the shampoo and conditioner from the Joicio reconstuctor line.
- use some kind of leave in conditoner spray also with kertin in it (one that specializes on repairing damaged hair strands) I recomend the Enjoy Reconstructing leave in conditioner spray (white bottle) or It's a Ten leave in conditioner.
- If your a female it may benefit you to take some form of birth control recomemened by your doctor. This is the only proven (by experts) thing that shows improvement in the cosmetic look of patients with monilethrix.
- use a Wide Tooth Comb if you need to detangle your hair.

Things I do when I need a bit of extra help (like during the "shedding season":
- get a reconstructing mask that I can use in the shower. I use the Joicio K-pak Reconstuctor.
- I use an oil treatment that has been proven to help hair grow faster. I use Castor Oil this can be found at any healthy food marts, like Trader Joes. I normally leave this treatment in for a couple of hours, i've even slept with it using a shower cap. It leaves your hair very mosturized.
- if my hair has gotten pretty bad I use Rogaine, or the generic verson called Minoxidil. This promotes hair growth, but it also can make your hair fall out when you begin to use it because it gets rid of the non-active hair shafts so there is room for more healthy, growing ones. But if you use it for at least a month you will see an improvement.

Things NOT to do ever:
- don't dye your hair. specifically don't dye it lighter.
- don't blow dry your hair using heat (if you can, don't use one at all. also don't use straightening irons, or curling irons)
- don't brush your hair when it is wet
- don't wash your hair every day (try to wash it every two days)
- don't brush it too much
- don't put it in the same hair style every day, example: don't put your hair in a ponytail every single day because your hair will break off where the ponytail is.
- don't use rubber ponytail hair holders



I hope that people with monilethrix will find this blog because i've learned lots of things about my hair as i've gotten older. I wish I could of known these things, it would have helped me a lot. My goal in life is to help other people, in college I am going to study to become a dermatologist/ hair specialist.

I wish I could share some of my experiences with you, like humilating moments, the search to make my hair better, my daily hair routine, and things that people have said to me. I want moms to know how to help their kids, and growing children or teens to know how to help themselves and have confidence in their hair. It is a lot of work to upkeep this kind of hair, and I want to talk to pople about it and even share pictures.
Please email me if you have monilethrix or looking to help someone you know with it. If you have questions or requests about things I should write about, please email me as well. I would love to answer questions and just talk with you! :) daniellekling93@gmail.com

<3 Danielle

P.S. I will be posting more to my blog, mostly tips and explaining things. But eventually I want to share experiences and pictures.

Monilethrix Tips

Hey whoever is reading this,
So I was born with a rare condition called monilethrix, it is a condition that has to do with brittle hair that breaks off easily because of beaded hair shafts. Most of the blog sites on monilethrix that I have seen are sort of depressing. This doesn't have to be a bad feature, I make it work.

In this blog I would like to talk about products that I have used & are still using. My mom also has monilethrix and so does my brother. My younger sister has the most beautiful thick hair I've ever seen. I am 16 years old and I have used products to make my hair presentable and I don't wear a wig. I am very social at school and my hair doesn't hold me back at all.

When I lived in a humid place, my hair wasn't as dry and as prone to breaking off. Then when I 13 my family moved to a dry place... and a lot of my hair fell out. That is a problem to a competitive cheerleader in middle school, so I resorted to wearing a hair piece (a clip in ponytail.) So EVERYDAY I wore this, I felt so limited. I was always scared it would fall out, it was uncomfortable, and I was nervous to have sleepovers. At the end of my sophomore year I got so tired of it and wanted to do pole vaulting. I expanded my options.

I looked at the option of just taking it out and getting a short hair cut, but as a girl in high school I wanted long hair. I decided that wasn't the way to go and I went online. As a child I was told from the get-go that I would never be able to wear hair extensions. But after talking to a lady a local beauty shop, I thought I would try it. I was directed to go to this one hair salon and I talked with a lady, Lisa, who is certified with Great Lengths Hair Extensions. You might say, woah not gonna work, they're just going to fall out. WRONG. That's what my mom told me and I thought the same way. Weeks later I had these hair extensions ordered and put in.

Basically, they are small amounts of hair mounted on keratin bonds, no bigger than a pinky nail. The certified stylists used a "wand" that is heated on one side to melt the bond around a small amount of stranded hair. For more information: www.greatlengths.net

I have been wearing them since January, and they do damage my hair...minimally. They are totally worth every penny. They are expensive, $200 per bundle. The average person needs 5 to 6 bundles, but I only use about 2 because it matches the thinness of my hair and helps coverage.

I would also love to discuss other products that work for me, but i don't even know if people are interested. So if you are interested in what I have to say, and want me to keep blogging, let me know :) I'd love to share all my tips with you, because they really do help.


Danielle