Friday, June 1, 2012

Hair loss in third world countries

Dear readers,

There's something that we need to talk about, and that's hair loss.

After I had dengue my medical officer said I might experience clumps of hair coming out. I was real nervous because my hair was already coming out. Not in clumps, but every time I touch my head, or run my fingers over my head, quite a few strands come with my hands. My hair is constantly falling out, and I'm finding it in every inch of my room.

You guys should see my bed...it's like one giant nest of hair in there. Sick, right?

So I asked my medical officer about it, she said it's most likely due to a protein deficiency. At site a lot of us are vegetarians since the meat situation isn't the greatest around here. I'll eat chicken occasionally if Bookie makes some, but I just can't bring myself to order a chicken to be killed and then given to me dead and plucked with head and feet still on. I can't do it! We try to eat beans, eggs, and peanut butter as often as we can to keep up our protein intake.

I noticed within the past couple of weeks that my hair is about half as thick as it used to be. Guys, I know this is irrational, as I've seen female PCVs leave will a full head of hair, but I'm a bit afraid I'm going to leave Cambodia bald.

Have any of you experienced this when becoming vegetarian, or when living in a third world country? What did you do? Anyone want to send me some protein powder or something?

Sincerely,
A concerned balding PCV

Update: I made it back to America with some hair. I really did lose about half of my thickness due to a protein deficiency while living in Cambodia. Since being back in America and having a constant access to meat, beans, and other sources of protien, I've stopped losing my hair and it's even started to grow back! It's been 5 months and My head is full of about 2 inch long hairs all over my head! I'll keep you updated on if my full thickness ever comes back.

5 comments:

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Is there some kind of supplement that you can get sent to you?

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