My hair is destroyed. This is so depressing.

[issa]

Respectfully... I would follow your 1st instinct and be careful about extensions. It was my solution #1, but it may not be the best for delicate hair. Healing from telogen effluvium, if that's what it is (sudden shock to the system, shock affecting hair follicles) can take from a few weeks to a few months.

If you do decide to braid, I'm pro yarn since it's light, and also recommend doing it yourself or a friend with a light hand.

The wigs were kinda crazy, especially when it's been like 10+ years w/o straight hair, but i found out there's more secret natural ladies hiding under wigs (straight or curly) than I realized! Heck, my next door neighbor was giving me her style & color secrets. It was pretty funny. Maybe she'll be out of the closet next time I see her.

[Napia Mia]

Found a link that you might be interested in.

http://www.oprah.com/blogs/Ask-Val-W...-After-Surgery

[Fuesha]

Im so sorry to hear of this Dee. And this is not new to me as I have heard of this happening to others as well so your not alone. Dont fret and honestly Im not just saying this but your gorgeous Dee! You would look good bald! If it comes to that I say cut it and enjoy the ease of cute little, effortless fro and enjoy watching your hair grow back out! :-)

[coalblacklocs]

Im so sorry to hear of this Dee. And this is not new to me as I have heard of this happening to others as well so your not alone. Dont fret and honestly Im not just saying this but your gorgeous Dee! You would look good bald! If it comes to that I say cut it and enjoy the ease of cute little, effortless fro and enjoy watching your hair grow back out! :-)

Hang in there dee. I had no idea anaesthesia could do that to hair. I'm so sad about your arm, and hair though.

I agree with the quoted. If you are the type who h.ave dreamed of having a fade or a super short cut but was never ready to go for it, I say seize the opportunity now. It will be easy, look completely awesome, and you can learn whether or not a fade is for you. If is not, you can work on growing out your hair so that it's healthy. I wore a fade for about a year after my kid was born, and I loved it. I ultimately decided that I liked my hair better with length, but I wouldn't trade my fade days for anything. I'm glad to have experiencd it.

[Serbbral]

I am so sorry. I did not know of your ordeal. I wish you the best.

[Bella13]

(((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))

[Scribetastic]

If anyone has some words of encouragement or suggestions, or similar experiences and what you did about it, I'd love to hear them about now.

~Dee~

I don't have any similar experiences. I only have words of encouragement (I saw you post about this on FB a few days ago, but I was still on my self-imposed ban from NP.)

I would keep it simple in terms of your hair care. Your hair, scalp and follicles are literally in a state of shock. From what you've shared time and gentle care will fix this.

Think of it as beginning again and we'll be here (or on FB) to support you.

[Shira La Cocolita]

***HUGS***

[uzuri]

Thank you everybody, I have read every single post and I am so grateful to have such a supportive bunch of women around me. Yes my hair has become such a big part of my identity, and to see it like this breaks my heart. But it's not my entire identity... I am learning to deal with it, I haven't made any decisions yet (still dealing with my arm and that's enough to deal with) but I am moving forward every stride.

Hair is in twistrows, I can't do much styling with this arm still not 100%. I'm not a fan of extensions or anything pulling on my scalp. I'm wearing scarves and thinking about getting a natural texture wig. Not sure yet but I know I don't want to cut it all off. Just not ready for that yet.

Love you all

Hey Dee, I am so sorry to read about your problem. I didn´t even know it was you when I opened this thread to read...I never knew that general anesthetic could do that! Let me share my my personal experience to you. I´ve written and talked about it before, but on private messages.

I had a scalp infection like 2½yrs ago. That was one horrible expereince! When you are used to big/long thick hair, all your life, it´s devastating! I always got compliments on my hair as a lyed up chick, and also as a natura,l because my hair was long and thick. But now I had wounds in my head, which had puss, and then, when they healed, my hair would come out, so that I had a totally smooth spot the size of a small coin. Can you imagine that I didn´t realise this until one day my daughter told me that the spot that where I was itchy, and she was removing dandruff, actually was a wound with puss in it! She said something yellow. She had no idea what that was. It didn´t really click until one day, I had this big "pimple" at the front o my head, a little off the hairline. It was very painful. What I did was put honey in it, and it dried up. But when I tried to remove the dried skin, it simply came off with my hair! I was shocked! Then I went to to the mirror, and checked with another mirror. My scalp had at least 6-7 bald spots, if not more, and they were same size, like a small coin!! I should have been more observant.
That was march 2011. I had noticed that my hair seemed less big, and easier to wash, but I just thought that it´s my hair changing.
I didn´t want to go to a doctor. I live in Europe, and I didn´t like the idea of a White doctor checking my hair and scalp. So I researched the matter on line. I saw examples on youtube of people with the same condition, and nobody really seemed to have a clear answer, at least in my opinion. One solution worked for one person, while it didn´t work for another one.
Then I read some info on a link that talked about hair loss. It talked about some esential oils and the some youtube naturals talked about Black Castor hair oil.
So what I did is to buy some essential oils that I read were good to grow back hair. I mixed them together with Jamaican Black castor Oil, and I oiled my scalp, and sometimes massaged the mixture on my scalp. The front part I massaged religiously every day. This was because tone of the bald patches was there. A bald shiny spot there, just a little after my hair line. Then one day I saw some teeny weeny roots showing there! I asked my DH if I was seeing right, and he checked the spot, and agreed with me! My hair was finally sprouting, after several months of thinking that those bald patches will never grow! !! I didn´t have the heart to check the other patches. The patches have since fiiled in, and they are ofcourse shorter, but that´s nothing to me. I was worried I had permanent alopecia. When you have shiny bald patches, it looks like the hair will never grow back! I realised that the hair just needed to be massaged to stimulate the hair follicles.
This experience is actually what prompted me to loc my hair. It was out of discouragment of not seeing my BAA any more. It would take time for the bald patches to reach the same length as the rest of the hair. I always said that one day I would loc my hair, but my horrible experience speeded up my decision.
I just wanted to share this experience with you, so you know that there are other nappturals who have gone through a sort of similar experience.
You cannot avoid being discouraged. But don´t be discouraged too much and lose heart. This too shall pass.
And if you don´t feel like cutting your hair, please don´t . Funny, it never occured to me to cut off mine when I had the scalp issues. I have an Asian head (flat at the back), and that would look hilarious with a twa, and no one would have convinced me otherwise. Even today. I like short hair on others, but not on me. So don´t feel pressured to twa it or cut it shorter. Do what you feel most comfortable with, after all, you are the one who has to live with your choice, and any insecurities you may have...I used curly/kinky wigs at the time, and also braided my hair...I felt like you and didn´t want to deal with it...
I read that head scarves can I imagine wigs as well, can cause the scalp issues that I had....
I believe putting on head scarves too often, and not letting my hair breath could have caused the problem. So when you come home, remove those wigs or head scarves to let your hair breath.
You will ge through this. You will prevail.
Lots and lots of hugs to you.


peace...
Uzuri

[CCmomof5]

I commented on your facebook post about this a while back, but I just want to add that I appreciate your willingness to openly share about this process. I know that the whole ordeal has been very painful and restrictive, and to now be faced with possibly having to make a drastic change with your gorgeous hair that would be forced (by the unfortunate situation) rather than chosen - I know that must be super difficult.

I'm glad that you're able to take some time before making a decision, and like others have already said, either way, you're still gorgeous!! Sending more prayers up for your recovery (recovery of your arm and your hair!), and more {HUGS} your way!