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Working Out With Alopecia

Working Out With Alopecia

This week’s blog is all about coping with alopecia, while looking after your physical health. Exercise can be daunting for someone going through hair loss. Here, Ariel gives tips about being comfortable in your own skin while working out.

Ariel tells us…

Working out is one of my favorite forms of therapy. Getting those good endorphins pumping always leaves me feeling positive, confident, and reminds me how wonderful my body really is. When I developed alopecia, I relied heavily on exercise to help me cope with the variety of emotions that came with the reality of total hair loss. When I was feeling lonely I would show up to a group fitness class, and the support of my friends would boost my well being. When I was feeling loss and grief, a good long run would help me sort my thoughts. Oftentimes a good sweaty workout is just what I need and leaves me feeling so proud of what my body could do. It shifts my focus from a negative mind set to a positive mind set.

Exercise also forced me to embrace the bald. Some in the ‘Alopecia Club’ are great at working out with a wig on, but I have never liked working out with a wig. Wigs are too constricting for me. I find sweat would just roll down my head and make a beeline for my eyes. Because of this, showing up bald to work out was really the only option for me. 

According to the National Alopecia Associacion, Alopecia is caused by genetics and environmental factors. These environmental factors include stress. Working out reduces stress, which could possibly help reduce hair loss in some cases. I have not seen any visible improvement in my hair loss, however reducing stress is always a good thing for your body. I find working out keeps me from obsessing so much about my hair loss.

Have I convinced you to pick up a workout routine yet? If so, below is a list of several things that have helped me gain confidence and adjust to the challenges that I have encountered while working out. Once you overcome some of the drawbacks of working out with a bald body, believe it or not, I have found that there are many positives.

First of all, I am so much cooler! I never realized how much heat my head retained while working out. It’s a wonderful perk, especially during the hot summer months here in central Texas.

Second, I was forced out of my comfort zone. I needed to exercise and did not want to wear a wig. My inner warrior would take over in preparation and courage would surge to overcome the fear inside me each time I worked out. I started to feel more normal with my bald head. The courage I gained led to confidence, and that confidence is continually leading me to acceptance of my different body and its capabilities.

Third, without eyebrows, eyelashes and hair on my head sweat has a straight shot right for my eyeballs. Salty sweat in the eyes burns and blurs your vision. This takes my focus away from a great workout to blinking away the salty pain in my eyes. Thankfully, I have found a couple of helpful products to ease the salt-in-the-eyes dilemma. 

Headbands

The first few products I found to keep sweat out of my eyes are headbands, sweatbands and any sweat-catching-band-around-your-head. My personal favorite brand is Maven Thread Headbands. They are thick and soak up sweat. After a tough workout I can wring the drops of sweat out of them. They are also cool and lightweight. These particular headbands are great at staying right where I put them, they don’t slip and slide. Bonus, they come in so many fun styles and colors! . 

I have purchased some sweat bands from my local grocery store that are certainly adequate, however they are not quite as absorbent. Ultimately, anything that wraps around your head and is made of a material that will soak up sweat will be a helpful addition to your workout. 

Bando Stretch Band perfect for working out

Hats

The next helpful option to ease the sweat to eye ratio is a good sports hat. Give me all the hats!

I love working out with a hat when I am going to be out in the sun. Not only do they soak up sweat they also keep your head and face protected from the sun. If you have microbladed eyebrows, protecting them from the sun is necessary for increasing their life. We can’t forget to protect our heads from the potentially harmful sun rays either. Now that I have no hair I definitely think a lot more about sun protection.

When choosing a workout hat I look for a few things. First is the material of the hat. I like a lightweight fabric that keeps me cool without feeling too heavy. I want the fabric to still feel light, even after I’ve had a great workout. The next thing I look at is the clasp in the back. Before I lost my hair I had a pretty good hat collection going. However, stiff hats with bulky metal clasps in the back are so uncomfortable now, because they scratch and rub into the back of my head.

Look for small delicate claps and soft flimsy fabric. Even better, find a hat that just has elastic in the back. Draw strings are another great way to get a custom fit with a hat and not sacrifice any comfort. My favorite hats are from the brands Nathan, Reebok and Apana. I have heard Puma, Nike and Adidas also have great options, however, I have not had a chance to try them out yet.  

Here’s some Hats from the HairWeavon shop.

Embrace The Bald While Working Out

There can be some apprehension to embrace the bald when working out. One of my worries was, what people would think of this bald girl working out? I didn’t want people to think I was sick or wonder why I didn’t have hair. One way to overcome that is to pull out an old Alopecia awareness t-shirt. Whether people read the shirt or not, I always feel a little more confident when I am repping my Alopecia gear. If you need a shirt there are some great Etsy shops that will make custom shirts for you. My favorite Etsy store for this is TEESnCARROTS. She has customized a workout shirt for me I  wear all the time. 

When I first lost my hair I kept my workouts to solo runs. I didn’t have the pressure of talking with other people. It also took the pressure off wondering what everyone thought of my baldness. Sometimes I would run into other people on the trails. I was nervous about this at first, but that quickly faded as my confidence grew. I don’t think people even noticed. We would just smile and wave in passing.

Each person I passed on the trails would give me a boost of confidence. It was like a video game. I collected a star each time I passed a person and each star filled me with more energy. After a few solo runs I braved my old workout class. Many of the participants were my friends. They knew what I was going through. It was helpful to have a few allies in the class with me. Little by little, and class by class, my confidence grew . I found my old spot towards the front of the class. I no longer hid my bare head in the back of the class. Like with any workout regime I have found that the hardest part for me is to take that first step.

Wearing A Wig After Working Out

While working out with a wig is something I choose not to do, purely for comfort, some have found a special wig they set aside just for the gym. If working out bald is keeping you from the gym, I would recommend getting a no sweat wig liner and a full lace wig. A full lace wig is a great option because this type of wig allows you to put your hair up in a ponytail. I would also look for a long hold wig tape as well. This will keep your hair from slipping off or keep you from sweating off the wig glue. 

Another great option is the No Sweat Wig Liner that absorbs sweat, and regulates the body’s temperature during a work out.
It has a non slip material prevents your wig from shifting on your head. It sits under the wig and is completely camouflaged.

No Sweat Wig Liner

When getting ready after a workout at the gym, I often bring my wig. I pack it in a small box or a silk bag and carefully place it in my gym bag. When choosing a wig to wear post-workout I look for wigs that are glueless and tapeless. A lace-front, mono-top and wefted-back is my favorite. They are easy to plop on after a shower without anyone noticing. They are also cooler than my full lace wigs, so if I am still cooling down they don’t make me too hot. I hold off on working out with makeup or false lashes on because the sweat will just make the glue unstick. Because of that I pack my makeup for my brows and lashes. With practise, applying lashes and brows will be a simple and seamless task that can easily be done at the gym. 

With hair loss, working out can feel overwhelming. At first working out might not feel worth the extra steps that we need to take to feel safe and comfortable. However, my hope is that I have given you some helpful tips and tricks to get you back into your workout routine. When you try and test these tips, I know you can have a wonderful experience working out again!


Thank you Ariel for sending your tips! If you’d like to keep up with Ariel’s fitness lifestyle, you can follow her @fauxfiber on Instagram!

Here are some styles we stock at HairWeavon to make your work outs more alopecia friendly.

The Easy Fit Cap by Ellen Wille is made with a comfortable material, that is guaranteed to stay firmly on your head while exercising.

Sage by Ellen Wille is a great solution for those who wish to wear some hair, but not be uncomfortable by how hot a wig would be while exercising. It can be covered over by any hat or scarf you wish.

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