Anyone a hairdresser or equivalent?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This may end up being some weird genetics question, but let’s see if anyone has an answer.

Some background (just in case it becomes relevant):
[ul]
[li]my heritage is Irish/Cherokee, I have the very pale Irish skin and the very coarse, straight (but tends towards red more than black/brown) hair[/li][li]I have had gastric bypass surgery (2 years ago) but my bloodwork always comes back just fine, no deficiencies[/li][li]I get enough protein, vitamins and fat in my diet – I am not malnourished[/li][li]I do have a hypothyroid, but it is controlled and my levels are checked regularly and are just fine[/li][li]I am 35 years old and in excellent health[/li][li]I do use hair dyes, and have done so since I was about 13[/li][li]I do not use hairspray, gell, mousse, hair dryers, curling irons or hot rollers[/li][/ul]

Hopefully, that covers all the relevant questions. Now, to my question. I have always had very straight hair. Like, you could use my hair as a level. Even as straight as it was, it always took a curl easily. If I got a perm, they had to shorten the time on it to keep the curls “natural” looking. Using curlers (the heated or traditional variety) would make my hair very curly, very easily – although the curls wouldn’t last very long.

For about 2 years now (coinciding with my gastric bypass surgery, actually a few months afterward), I have been noticing avery strange trend. My hair is growing in kinky. I am talking pubic hair kinky. When I noticed the first few hairs, I thought “weird” and ignored them, but now I have a whole section of my head that is kinky. Right on top. Most of my hair is wavy now, which I attribute to it being thinner than it was before and sleeping on it or pulling it back into ponytails affecting it more. This one spot – right on top of my head – is kinky-curly, though. I have tried every product I have found to try to get it to stop being so kinky. nothing works. It is growing in that way. It is not affected by weather, it is always kinky – well, except when it is wet.

I talked to my sister about this odd phenom a while back and she said that she had noticed her hair was growing in curly. Not quite kinky, but definitely curly. Like, she now doesn’t need to get perms anymore.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any insight? Could it just be some weird genetic thing? Other than ironing my hair, is there any cure for it? I look very strange with one puff of kinky hair in the middle of my head!

2

Not a hairdresser here and don’t have an as to why that has happened. Same thing happened to a friend after the birth of her first baby. She had very straight hair before, now its really wavey. My cousin who is 14 had straight hair until he turned 14. Gradually his hair is getting very kinky, curly and he hates it. No one else in the family has curly hair. I would say these two cases have to do with hormonel changes.

3

My hair was poker straight until I had my first kid, and then it turned wavy. Second pregnancy, it was damn near curly in spots, especially the shorter hairs near my hairline in front. After she was born, it went back to just wavy with one persistent corkscrew curl right in front that never grows longer than 3 inches. Damned if I know.

My one hairdresser friend days that the wavier the hair, the flatter the hair is in cross-section. She also notes that hair often gets curlier as people age, even before it goes grey. WAGged that extra weight gain somehow mechanically pulls on the scalp, making the follicle put out flatter hairs - like smooshing down on a play-doh extruder will give you an oval tube instead of a perfectly round one. Did your wave/curl coincide with your weight gain? Could the follicle stay that way, even after weight loss? I don’t know. Huge WAG, as I said.

4

A woman I knew had straight hair, then she was diagnosed with cancer and it all fell out during chemo. When it grew back, her hair was curly.

Not applicable to you, just another story of changing hair textures.

5

My mom’s curly hair went straight after a fever-type illness in childhood.

Had a friend (a guy) that got a perm in the 7th grade that NEVER grew out. Bummer that it was a fugly poodle-doo.

6

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. It seems that although this is a fairly common happening, no one really has an idea why.

Mirror Image egamI rorriM, I have heard that from a couple of people I know who have gone through chemo. Curly, though – not kinky/nappy. Mine (at least in the one spot) is seriously kinky/nappy.

WhyNot, your hairdresser is right – curly hair is flatter. Easy enough to do an experiment to see – take a normal, straight hair and pinch it in your fingers, use your nails to flatten it – it will go curly. I knew that from years ago. While your theory is an interesting one, it doesn’t work – the curly has happened only since I have been losing my weight post-WLS. Interestingly enough, my sister has been gaining weight and her hair has turned curly on her.

goldenmean1975, I think that is the only explanation that makes any sense – hormones. What I wonder, though; is what hormone? Like I said, I know my thyroid is normal, and one would assume that if any other hormones were whacked, I would have some other clue, right? I mean, crap, when your thyroid is out of whack it throws everything else out of whack – your iron, your b12, your blood pressure, your mood – everything. I am having a full work-up this week, though, so we will see.

Anyways…thanks everyone for the reassurance that I am not alone in my hair-weirdness!