Today's Women of Age

I never knew menopause could affect my hair. No one tells you. And it just seems unfair with all the other changes women have to deal with during that weird, hormonal season of life. It’s one more blasted, negative thing.

Here’s the deal with me–over the last 15 years my hair has gotten equally curlier, duller, thinner (I’m shedding hair all the time) and the color has faded, which is typical with red hair. I feel like my good-hair days are getting few and far between as I’ve struggled with how to style my “new” hair. One minute it feels like straw, the next it’s oily and I resort to pulling it back into a pony tail too often.

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Here I am with my cousins, circa 1991, when my hair was vibrant, thick, shiny, and easy to manage!

This is a 2024 pic taken after I’d ironed the heck of my thinner, often recalcitrant faded hair.

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Then last night I was looking in the mirror after washing my face and I realized I was seeing more scalp on my crown. Way more. And I was alarmed. “Good grief. Am I going bald?” And once you see it you can’t unsee it. So I went to bed fretting and woke up fretting.

And the more I thought about the more I knew I would start to feel self-conscious if this thin area continued to get worse which it was likely to with time. (I’m already annoyed with my menopause hair without adding bald patches in the mix.)

So I decided to do some research on hair-loss products for women. I started and ended with a Forbes Health article that rated the top 10 products. I decided to go with their top-rated product, Hers. It’s minoxidil product with added vitamins and herbs. I filled out an online questionnaire and my results were given to a doctor to review my information for suitability. My prescription was just approved and I’m looking forward to my first shipment. The downside is that it takes three to six months to start seeing results! So maybe by Christmas I’ll see a scintilla of improvement?? And you basically need to take the product forever to maintain the continued growth. Oh and it could cause the growth of facial hair!! Something I currently don’t have.

Still. Still all that considered I figured it was worth a try if it meant maintaining a smidge of hair confidence. But this hair episode is just one more aging thing I hadn’t anticipated in a long list of indignities, like crepey skin.

So I’m ending this blog post both annoyed and hopeful. I’ll keep you posted.