Hey all — I’m hoping for some advice for my mom.
She recently turned 74 and has been dealing with hair loss for about 15 years, but it has become much worse lately. She’s always worn her hair long, and since going grey around 40 she’s dyed it very dark brown/almost black for decades.
At this point she has visible bald patches and recently cut her hair to shoulder length. Over the past 5 years I’ve taken her to our GP and to a professional trichologist multiple times. Bloodwork is consistently normal except for occasional vitamin D deficiency, which we correct with supplements. Thyroid and hormones are normal too. The overall conclusion seems to be that this is likely age-related and/or genetic hair loss.
She was prescribed topical minoxidil, but the initial shedding phase really frightened her. Even though she had been warned about it by her doctor and the pharmacist, and I spoke about it too - seeing the extra shedding made her panic and she stopped using it. I don’t see her coming back to it
Now she seems partly resigned to it, but it’s obvious that this is really affecting her emotionally. She’s started avoiding going out and I can tell her confidence has taken a huge hit.
I’d really appreciate advice from people who have been through this themselves or with a parent:
- Would stopping the dark dye and transitioning to grey help hair look fuller or healthier?
- Are there hairstyles/cuts that work especially well for thinning hair at her age?
- Would shorter hair actually help, or just make the thinning more noticeable?
- How do you gently introduce options like toppers or wigs without making someone feel worse?
More than anything, I just want to help her feel like herself again.