A woman’s hair is her crown.
Black women have a personal connection with their hair. When hair loss occurs, it can impact their self-esteem.
It did for Rose Cornwell, who lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Cornwell, 62, had long hair that reached to the middle of her back. But about eight years ago she started noticing her hair was thinning.
“Everybody knew me by my hair,” Cornwell said. “They didn’t realize it was something going on. It hurts when you lose your hair as soon as you get full hair.”
Pretty soon, she started wearing wigs.
This year she decided to go see a trichologist to repair her hair.
A trichologist studies hair and scalp disorders that involve the anatomy and physiology of hair.
Kari Evans, owner and founder of Studio Glamour Hair Salon & Restoration Center works with men and women to help them regrow their hair. She provides services such as scalp exfoliation, oxygen infusion, aquatic therapy, hair replacement, and hair care services.
Every day humans shed about 75-150 pieces of hair, according to Evans. When a person has alopecia, or severe hair loss, they are losing more than 150 strands a day.
People who have alopecia, lose all or nearly all of their hair on their scalp, according to the National Institutes of Health. Hair falls out in round patches about the size of a quarter, but in some cases it can be more severe.
Oftentimes, this hair condition can occur because of a nutritional deficiency or from other health issues like cancer.
“We check your oxygen, blood pressure, and we ask a series of questions so we can get to the root cause of your hair loss,” Evans said, who is a naturopathic health practitioner. “And for whatever reason, if nutritional deficiencies are the reason behind it, we have supplements that we suggest to you. We create a meal plan based on whether your body is balanced or not.”
Cornell has high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Hair loss can be a symptom of diabetes because of a hormonal imbalance, poor circulation, or an autoimmune disorder.
Cornwell takes women’s vitamins that contain Vitamin E, which is known for helping your hair to grow.
To promote hair growth, Evans recommends “eating for your blood type.” For instance, reducing your consumption of dairy, eating eggs, carrots, oats, spinach, lean meats, avocados, peanuts, and celery. Studies show Vitamin E can reduce cell damage and improve hair growth.
“Hair loss takes time,” Evans explained. “You don’t wake up and just all of your hair is gone unless [it is] something major. But in most cases it takes a while for you to lose hair and it takes the same amount of time to regrow your hair because it has to go through the beginning stages of being produced underneath the skin and then it grows all the way outward.”
When a person has alopecia, it can take at least nine months for your hair to fully regrow.
In February, Cornwell started treatments at Studio Glamour Hair Salon & Restoration Center and has noticed her hair slowly growing back.
Every two weeks, she goes to visit Evans and gets her hair washed, shampooed, conditioned, and braided down for a wig. She uses a serum and low-level light therapy to help stimulate Cornwell’s hair growth. Low-level light therapy is a laser treatment that works to improve regrowth by improving circulation and stimulating new growth.
Evans has a personal story of experiencing postpartum hair loss after giving birth to both of her children. As a result, she understands how this affects a woman’s self-esteem and can better relate to her clients.
The businesswoman is excelling in the beauty industry and focuses on educating and building confidence in each and every client.
“It seems like it’s the extra oomph when you’re getting dressed and when you’re getting together and you go through the emotions of is it all gonna fall out,” Evans said. “What am I gonna do? Who’s going to help me? Will it regrow back? That is a huge blow to anybody, especially a woman’s self-esteem and her confidence because they don’t want to go out in public.”
When Evans sees clients in the hair salon, the door is locked and she closes the curtains to give her patients a sense of privacy as they are getting their hair done.
As an educator and a speaker, she informs women to be healthy on the inside and outside.
“I tell them how important it is to be healthy while being beautiful,” said Evans, who is the author of the book “The Mysteries of Hair Loss, Crossing Cultural Lines.” “I think a lot of times when people come into the hair salon, they only think of the outward appearance, but you can be beautiful on the outside and everything is going wrong internally.”
The five stages of self-care are physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, and social.
“All of that plays a factor in the production of your hair,” she added.
After comedian Chris Rock made a joke about actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head at the 2022 Oscars, it was later revealed that she has alopecia. Based on his lack of knowledge about the condition, Evans said that there needs to be more awareness on the hair issue.
“I think he made the joke innocently not knowing that it was a medical condition,” Evans said. “We’ve been trying to hide it for so long, and so many women have been ashamed of something that they have no control over. That’s why he didn’t know and I feel like the more people become aware of this issue, when it pertains to hair loss, the more knowledgeable they will become.”
Cornwell doesn’t feel comfortable just yet with rocking her natural hair with it slowly growing back. Her personal hair goal is for it to grow back thicker on the top.
