A popular beauty blogger has opened up about her experience with female hair loss and hair thinning.
Melbourne-based Kimberly Nissen, 31, editor of The Plastic Diaries, explained in a blog post that her poor diet – following an episode of ‘blogger’s burnout’ she experienced – was to blame.
‘When I had my mental breakdown I stopped eating appropriately. Actually, I stopped eating all-together for long periods of time,’ she wrote.
‘The result was my anemia coming back and I ignored it.’
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Melbourne-based Kimberly Nissen, 31, (pictured) explained in a blog post that it was her diet that caused her hair loss.
Originally Kimberly had no idea what could have caused her hair loss and thought it could be due to self-inflicted hair loss
Kimberly had started losing her hair following a distressing episode which she labelled ‘blogger’s burnout’ – something she likened to a ‘mental breakdown’.
‘It is an overflowing issue in the online influencer industry. It’s when you spend so much emotional and physical time on your job, which is your blog, you shut down,’ she said.
But originally the beauty blogger had no idea the ‘burnout’ she was experiencing could have caused her hair loss and thought it could be self-inflicted.
‘I blamed my tight braids, hair irons and chemical damage. However, the fact remains that the leading causes for female hair loss are health related,’ she said.
‘I blamed my tight braids, hair irons and chemical damage. However, the fact remains that the leading causes for female hair loss are health related,’ she said
‘When my normal amount of hair fall dramatically increased, with noticeable receding of my hairline, I panicked.
‘I didn’t know where to begin with treating it but I couldn’t understand why it was happening.’
To try and fix the problem she was facing, Kimberly said she stopped styling her hair in tight hairstyles, avoided using heat on her hair and hadn’t dyed it in almost two years.
When this didn’t change anything she ruled out that her hair loss was self-inflicted and went to her doctor.
‘There are dozens of reasons female hair loss occurs but the three most common health related causes are pregnancy, thyroid disorders and anemia,’ she said.
To try and fix the problem she was facing Kimberly said she stopped styling her hair in tight hairstyles, avoided using heat on her hair and hadn’t dyed it in almost two years
‘Ruling out pregnancy was instant, and I had already been investigating a thyroid issue recently and that was ruled out, so my doctor and I looked into anemia.’
She explained that most of her life she had an iron deficiency but going vegan actually balanced her iron levels.
‘There is a lot of miseducation out there about meat and animal-foods providing us with essential nutrients,’ she said.
Kimberly explained that the three main reasons female hair loss occurs is due to pregnancy, thyroid disorders and anemia
‘I found reducing my animal-foods intake and switch[ing] them with a wider range of foods that contained a greater variety of vitamins and minerals did good things for my body and my appearance.’
‘My GP suggested that before we go down the expensive path of seeing any number of specialists and dermatologists we should try simply adding an iron supplement to my diet.
‘I was prepared to try all the prescription hair tonics, laser and any other treatment that was recommended but ideally, a $15 bottle of vitamins would be a dream solution for me.’
‘I was prepared to try all the prescription hair tonics, laser and any other treatment that was recommended but ideally, a $15 bottle of vitamins would be a dream solution for me,’ she said
For 30 days Kimberly took an Iron Plus supplement each day and she said that her hair line filled out to where it had been three years earlier.
‘I have very thin hair so my hair has never provided full coverage of my scalp, but as you will see from the before and after photos, the results are noticeable,’ she said.
‘I used topical hair volumising products while I waited for the regrowth to look sufficient.
‘I’m working on getting my diet back to how it used to be but until then I will continue to use a nutritional supplement.’