1. Love yourself unconditionally, with or without hair.
2. Consult a physician when you think your hair loss has become excessive or abnormal.
3. Get a second or third opinion if you need confirmation of a physician’s diagnosis.
4. Educate yourself about alopecia (hair loss), its many possible causes, traditional and alternative treatments, treatment costs, possible side-effects, and other options (e.g., wigs, scarves, etc.).
5. Don't forget that bald is beautiful, too.
6. Seek the advice of your physician and people who love and care about you before making decisions about treatments or lifestyle changes.
7. Join an alopecia support group to receive insight and inspiration from others who are living with hair loss.
8. Give others who may also be concerned (e.g., your employer, school, or church) appropriate information about your condition.
9. Maintain your emotional well-being by learning positive strategies for coping with depression, rejection, ridicule, stress, anxiety, and other negative feelings and experiences. Also develop conflict management skills, and other strong interpersonal skills, which you can use when dealing with people who choose to remain ignorant or insensitive. In other words, see a professional counselor, if you must.
10. Live life to the fullest, which includes allowing yourself to truly love and be loved and taking full advantage of the new opportunities alopecia opens to you.
Cheryl Carvery and richard jones (rj) encourage you to share these 10 helpful suggestions with others who are dealing with hair loss. More information is available on their Alopecia and Love blog at www.AlopeciaAndLove.com.