Let me start off by saying good luck on your hair journey. Many say that hair is “just hair,” but it’s not. It’s a person’s crown of glory, and when years of abuse and bad education affect it in a damaging way it can really hurt someone.

I’ll start from the beginning: I had thick, healthy hair growing up. Even though my mom remembers it coming down my back, I didn’t notice anything past my neck, and pictures back it up. Relaxers came in around the age of ten and even though I had one every four or five week from root to tip (I was told that since my hair was back to being ‘curly’ it needed the relaxer again), it kept its thickness, though it never grew past my shoulders.

However, when I was fifteen, I started to notice my hair breaking off, especially in the left nape area. Eventually that spot was bald. The relaxers and heat I began using multiple times a week had taken a toll on my hair, and I was determined to do something about it. So to the chagrin of family and “friends,” I shaved my head close to my 16th birthday. My closest friends expressed that out of our group, I had the longest non-weaved hair (keep in mind, it’s shoulder-length) and now the great hair hope was gone. My hair eventually got back to the length it was in a year (I kept it in braids and gave the relaxers a rest until I thought that I could ‘handle them’), my hair fell out in that same spot three more times in eight years and each time I chopped it all off.

In July of ’08, a year and a half after a my spot reappeared I went online, determined to finally get my hair past shoulder length and not have my hair fall out. I just happened upon a youtube that mentioned Mega-Tek and I got curious and Googled it. I then was led to hair boards like LHCF (where I spotted your blog today) and BHM. I read the many pages about it and determined that Mega-Tek would help jumpstart my hair journey. And for me, it worked. I was able to gain length (¾” in the first three weeks) and some strength, but I knew that couldn’t just be it as far as caring for my hair. So I kept researching and picked up things like baggying (which my hair loves), protective styling (which I had done in the past, but never really to the extent I’m doing now), and protein-moisture balance.
I cannot express how much these boards have changed my life. Even though I’m in what I call “cocoon mode,” (protective Bantu knots 24/7 – love them), my hair is the longest and healthiest it’s ever been. EVER BEEN. Here’s what I do:

*Make sure I take or eat my vitamins
*Up protein by eating more chicken and fish
*Exercise six days a week (I just jump on my rebounder for 30, 40 minutes, but it really gets the blood pumping)
*Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day
*Run water on the parts of the scalp exposed by the knots to get the sweat off after workouts
*Redo the knots that come undone in the shower and lightly reapply conditioner to the ends (a tip that I saw on LHCF, “Bunning for a Year” or some thread like that. It cut down on the dry broken-off ends I’d encounter when I unraveled the ends).
*Use Aphogee 2 min Treatment twice a week and cowash it out (I’ve recently discovered that my hair is a protein fiend and this has strengthened and softened my hair so much). Use shampoo once a week.
*Baggy three times a week
I’m so glad I found a regimen that works for me. It took a while but my hair is thanking me. It’s about an inch or so from APL ^.^ and I will wait to have it carefully straightened for the new year to see the progress.

Here’s some background info:
Length – Nearing APL, but I lost hair again at that spot last year I finally realized that the hair was a different texture from the rest of my hair (but elected not to cut it). Thankfully that spot is nearing NL and can be covered up.
Goal – APL (layered – got a roundish face), but I might go for BSL
Hair Type – 4a/b, 3c in back (I think this is why my hair keeps breaking in the exact same spot. I’m thinking alopecia too – My doc couldn’t tell me)
Relaxed or Natural – Natural (Since 3/07)

May all the ladies in search of hair health have a happy journey!
CM