Could Chemical Damage Cause Permanent Loss?

(female) Hello-
I recently moved from California to Nevada and approx. 3 months ago decided to color my hair myself. It turned out horrible so I went to a salon and had them recolor it. My scalp was burning slightly when I was under the dryer. Since then I have noticed my scalp being much more sensitive when I brush it and my hair seems to be thinning all over. I have fine hair to begin with so I can notice wider parts when I separate my hair easily. My hairline seems to be receeding and I can’t cover my forehead with as much bangs as I could months ago. Could the chemcials have damaged my hair to the point it won’t grow back? I am really becoming concerned. I am 39 years old and do have receeding hairline genetics in my family but the extreme thinning is really worrying me. Is there anything I can take other then vitamins to promote the hair to thicken? Thanks for your comments.

The hair shaft itself is not alive and if you damage it with chemicals it should not decrease hair growth in the future or miniaturize your hair. Chemicals can, however, work their way down the hair shaft into the growing part of the hair that is below the skin and it can be damaged that way. Skin inflammation and irritation of any kind can disturb the growth of the hair follicles (as it happens in shock loss after hair transplant). Remember that irritation of the skin typically affects the miniaturized hair worse than normal, healthy hair with normal shaft thickness.

Just by reading your story, it seems that you are prone to male pattern baldness and the irritation of the scalp due to the dye may have accelerated the process of balding which you may be experiencing. My suggestion is to avoid using any irritant chemicals on your scalp and see a hair specialist for a miniaturization study of your hair, so that way you’ll know for sure the classification of your baldness, which will help us with future treatment plan.