Possible baldness or something else?

[Nick]

I am 16 years old, and almost exactly a month ago I decided to try a no lye hair relaxer on impulse. The week following was ok, not much inflammation. But then the rest of the month, new hair started growing in, and my hair started breaking a lot. One day I woke up and found 47 hair fragments on my pillow, only about 5 of them had the root. The rest of my hair seems relatively fine, its just that I have a spot on the back of my head that is either parted, or the hair is falling out. It is not directly on my crown, its a little bit to the left. I am really worried right now, and I don't want my hair to fall out at 16. Every man on my dads side had a full head of hair through old age. What could this be?

[Sur La Mer]

Relaxers, no matter what's in them, they're chemicals and they're poison, they are still damaging to your hair. Lye is something found in many hair relaxers. It helps the product work, but it can also burn the skin.
Hair-straightening products are allowed to contain small concentrations of formaldehyde (0.2 percent). But several hair-straightening solutions have been found to contain well above the allowable limit. For example, one popular hair-straightening product that advertised itself as “formaldehyde-free” actually contained 6.8 percent to 11.8 percent formaldehyde.
Another example: Fourteen women, including two from North Texas and one from Houston, are suing Unilever, the maker of a product they claim caused permanent damage to their hair.
"It transforms frizzy, unmanageable hair into hair that's sleeker and easier to style," said the commercial for the Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion 30-Day Smoothing Kit, which is no longer being sold
When she began looking online for more information about the product, she said she found some people who said it worked, but more who said it damaged their hair.
She discovered a Facebook page devoted to angry consumers, and there are multiple postings on YouTube. I've been warning people about relaxers since 2009 and people are giving me thumbs down!
BTW: A variety of hair-straightening products used in professional salons can expose both hairdressers and their customers to formaldehyde. The results show that three professional hair-smoothing treatments labeled "formaldehyde free" can produce the cancer-causing chemical at concentrations above the occupational exposure limits set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They tested four products: Coppola Keratin Complex Blonde Formula, Global Keratin Juvexin Optimized Functional Keratin, La Brasiliana Escluso Keratin Treatment with Collagen, and Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution. While ChemRisk tested four popular brands of hair straighteners, THERE ARE HUNDREDS on the market. Nov. 11-11

Dove hairfall facts:
1. Humidity makes hair dry and brittle, leading to hairfall
2. Colouring the hair damages the hair strands leading to breakage
3. Pollution is also an unseen killer of healthy hair
4. Tangled hair is the most common reason for hair fall
5. While shampooing cleanses your hair, regular conditioning is required for adequate moisturization. Regular use of conditioner post shampoo also solves the problem of entangling which is the major cause of hairfall.

HEAT & CHEMICALS are hair's worst enemies. You've got any of those on your hair?
Supplements, medications, anti-acne products, hair oil, birth control pills, pollution in the water, to name just a few . . . ALL HAVE SIDE EFFECTS. Example: "I used minoxidil drug to restore the hair on my head; however, I ended up with unwanted body hair. I don't know if it is temporary or I have to seek medical treatment." YA poster 9-27-12. Four men are charged in federal court for selling home-brewed hair growth drugs online. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/549919...m.html.csp
Any reactions to a drug - like Vitamin B complex which is a supplement - 'side effect' is a negative reaction to a drug - this is your body telling you that what you just gave it is toxic to it, and instead of helping you, it is actually hurting you.  It is your body's way of telling you to stop.  All drugs have side effects, and are toxic...even lethal...to some people at some dosage.  Another term for toxic is poisonous.  We owe it to ourselves to try less toxic treatments first.  Especially since too many drugs merely cover up symptoms rather than treat the underlying cause of the symptom in the first place.
Source: Health Magazine, FDA, Slate dot com

"You find people oiling hair every single day, the hair sweats and it doesn’t get washed. What do you think happens? It goes limp and becomes thin because it is not breathing,” Shamillah Mohammed, a hairstylist at SUQA, says.

When hair starts to fall out MORE, there are no hair products or treatment, that are made of glue to fix, prevent, reverse hair from getting damaged or hair falls. It is a trillion dollar business, and they do not give money back guarantee for damaged hair or hair falls.

Eliminate the 'causes' and your hair will improve.