Ichvala, I really identify with your daughter, though I've had my frizz since I was very little. There is one cute photo of me when I was maybe 3, sitting on my mom's lap in the morning before either of us had combed our hair, and it looked wild! Her hair was going every which way and mine looked like it was having a party without me. I look at that photo and laugh and laugh now.
I also have come to the conclusion that the way to live with my hair is to straighten it. If it would fall in curly waves -- Julia Roberts' hair does this, for example -- I would love it. But it's tight, kinky and very very frizzy, and any bit of humidity in the air just sends it flying. I also have thin hair, which exacerbates the problem. (I have a lot of hair, but each hair is thin.)
I wonder if your daughter's hair changed around the time of her period starting? You didn't say so, but that's about the age that hormones kick in and they can affect nearly everything about us. Clearly you suspect this since you had your daughter's thyroid checked, but there are other hormones at play in her system as well. There are changes that occur in our hair during pregnancy and during menopause; it makes sense that changes happen in puberty as well.
Did anything else change when her hair changed? Could be something as simple as the conditioner she was using or a new medication (even an acne medicine) she's taking, or something as complicated as her diet?
I couldn't find a medical explanation, though I'm continuing to look (I'm curious myself!). Our bodies go through so many changes at puberty -- physical changes, the onset of menstruation, acne, hair growth in new places, etc -- that you might just have to chalk it up to hormones and watch and wait to see if anything else changes. (I assume you've asked your daughter's pediatrician about this as well.)
In terms of coping with the actual frizz, if she ever grows it out curly again, I always got the most help from hair products made for African-American hair, especially the clear gel-type products. They did a lot to eliminate frizz and make my hair look shiny again. But overall, I just got tired of messing with it constantly and opted for straightening, like your daughter has. It's much easier to be able to just wash and go.
While these aren't medical in nature, here's a page of great tips from folks who are living in the trenches with frizzy hair!
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Ichvala, I really identify with your daughter, though I've had my frizz since I was very little. There is one cute photo of me when I was maybe 3, sitting on my mom's lap in the morning before either of us had combed our hair, and it looked wild! Her hair was going every which way and mine looked like it was having a party without me. I look at that photo and laugh and laugh now.
I also have come to the conclusion that the way to live with my hair is to straighten it. If it would fall in curly waves -- Julia Roberts' hair does this, for example -- I would love it. But it's tight, kinky and very very frizzy, and any bit of humidity in the air just sends it flying. I also have thin hair, which exacerbates the problem. (I have a lot of hair, but each hair is thin.)
I wonder if your daughter's hair changed around the time of her period starting? You didn't say so, but that's about the age that hormones kick in and they can affect nearly everything about us. Clearly you suspect this since you had your daughter's thyroid checked, but there are other hormones at play in her system as well. There are changes that occur in our hair during pregnancy and during menopause; it makes sense that changes happen in puberty as well.
Did anything else change when her hair changed? Could be something as simple as the conditioner she was using or a new medication (even an acne medicine) she's taking, or something as complicated as her diet?
I couldn't find a medical explanation, though I'm continuing to look (I'm curious myself!). Our bodies go through so many changes at puberty -- physical changes, the onset of menstruation, acne, hair growth in new places, etc -- that you might just have to chalk it up to hormones and watch and wait to see if anything else changes. (I assume you've asked your daughter's pediatrician about this as well.)
In terms of coping with the actual frizz, if she ever grows it out curly again, I always got the most help from hair products made for African-American hair, especially the clear gel-type products. They did a lot to eliminate frizz and make my hair look shiny again. But overall, I just got tired of messing with it constantly and opted for straightening, like your daughter has. It's much easier to be able to just wash and go.
While these aren't medical in nature, here's a page of great tips from folks who are living in the trenches with frizzy hair!
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080522152608AAeHDPc
Your daughter's lucky to have a mom who's helping her with this, because it's hard to be an adolescent girl with all these changes taking place.
October 24, 2008 - 9:53amThis Comment
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