The Balding Bride

Stress is a you know what.  I'm no stranger to stress.  I am a tax accountant.  Three and a half months out of every year is filled with deadlines and stress, but after over ten years in the industry, I feel I manage it quite well.  Wedding and emotional stress, however, is a new beast. 

I knew that planning a wedding would be stressful at times.  Our engagement was was just over 15 months long and for the most part, I handled the crazier moments quite well.  It wasn't until the week before the wedding that I realized I was holding on to some major stress, and obviously was not managing it at all.

I, like many, many other brides, grew my hair out for the wedding.  One week prior to the 31st, I took a shower and noticed I was losing more hair than normal.  I've been using the Wen hair care products for a few months now and I use a comb in the shower to work the product through my hair and untangle any knots.  Well, I ran the comb through and it came out FULL of hair.  It completely freaked me out.  I thought maybe it was a fluke, but the next time I washed my hair, the same thing happened.

I was trippin' big time so I reached out to my fellow Bees to see if anyone else had experienced this.  While it was unfortunate that they had, I was so relieved to discover I wasn't alone.  Many a bride before me has faced this terrible side effect.  My hair is quite thick, so as long as it wasn't noticeable to anyone and I didn't develop any bald spots, I could live with this temporary issue.  The last thing I wanted to do was worry about walking down the aisle looking like this:

Image via Worth1000.com

I made it through the wedding with a full head of hair, but I received an even bigger shock the first time I washed my hair after my wedding up-do.  We were at our Bed and Breakfast for our mini moon and I didn't have my normal hair products with me.  I did expect maybe a little more hair loss do to all the bobby pins, hair spray and veil tugging my hair endured.  I, however, did not expect this (WARNING:  If pictures of loose hair gross you out, scroll by quickly!):

GROSS!

Holy crap.  The little balls are what I wadded up while washing my hair and the rest came out while combing it.  Ah!  I couldn't wait to get back home and schedule my post-wedding chop.

I consulted with Mr. Ball Cap on styles and lengths he liked and we both really loved the look of a layered bob.  Unfortunately, my regular stylist couldn't get me in for quite some time and this was an emergency, so I called the salon down the street and they got me in the same day we returned from our trip.

As a reminder, here is the length of my hair before:

Mr. BC and I at Christmas

(OMG - I just noticed MOB totally photo bombed us!)

And here is the after:

So much better.  I feel like myself again!

I wish I could say the shedding has stopped.  It hasn't, but it has improved and I haven't lost anywhere near as much at one time as in the picture above.  I've been told it should start to slow down over the next month, but I've also heard from some that theirs continued to fall out for months after! 

I know my body was in a bit of shock and wasn't used to this different kind of stress, but I never imagined my hair would be falling out.  I hadn't started or stopped any medications, changed my diet, and I wasn't pregnant (I was asked more than once).  It still amazes me the physical harm and changes stress can cause to your body.

So ladies, if this is happening to you, I just want you to know that you are not alone.  My tale isn't meant to frighten anyone (although that hair ball picture is terrifying) or make you feel that you are destined to shed your locks.  I only wish to put this out there that should anyone else suffer this same, cruel fate, you can have some peace of mind that it is a fairly common occurrence and it will get better!

Are any of you experiencing (or have experienced) pre-wedding hair loss?