Why My Hair Started Thinning — And Why I Never Got a Diagnosis

It didn’t happen all at once. The first thing I noticed wasn’t even visible — it was texture. My hair started feeling different under my hands, before I ever saw a reason to worry.

I’d spent Christmas 2020 in Atlanta with family, and on my way home in early January, I was in the airport bathroom when I couldn’t help but check — I actually felt a bald spot under my hands. I took a picture right there, under the fluorescent lights, just so I could actually see what I was feeling. It wasn’t a patch anymore. It was smooth. Bald, in a spot no one styles around easily.

I did what I think most women would do — I found ways to cover it. Different partings, different angles, anything that kept it hidden from a mirror, let alone from anyone else. And underneath the styling, I started experimenting. Eggs. Mayonnaise. An onion rinse, more than once, because someone swears by it every time you ask. I wasn’t looking for a miracle. I was looking for anything.

Then I made the decision that set me back the most: I cut it, and I had it colored. At the time it felt like control — if I couldn’t fix what was happening, at least I could choose what it looked like. It was the worst decision I made through this whole thing. Chemical color on a scalp that was already struggling didn’t help anything. If anything, it took me further from where I needed to be.

I never got a diagnosis for any of it. No clear answer for why it started, why that particular patch, why then. I’m not a doctor, and this isn’t a story about a medical breakthrough — it’s a story about what I actually did once I stopped waiting for an explanation that wasn’t coming.

That’s when the real work began.

Not the eggs, not the onion rinse, not the color. A real routine — consistent, specific, unglamorous, done for months before I saw anything change. I’m just a nail technician and salon owner. I didn’t have special training for this. I had a mirror, a lot of frustration, and eventually, a plan I could actually stick to.

That’s when the real work began — here’s what actually made up my routine.

I’ve written out that full routine — the oils, the rinses, the schedule, exactly as I followed it — in My Hair Grew Back: My Personal Journey. This reflects my personal experience only and isn’t a guarantee of results or medical advice.