It started three weeks ago.

I got my hair cut shorter. Shoulder length.

Where I live, the weather is pretty humid, so I’m used to my hair being puffy and generally not nice looking. But then…I discovered that if I didn’t wash my hair for a few days, my hair got a lot less dry and started to actually look quite nice. It was no longer puffy and I was feeling really good.

Needless to say, it got a little out of hand. I had three science tests so I started to study every night. The duration I went without washing my hair became longer and longer. Partly because it looked better that way, partly because I didn’t have any time to wash my hair with all my studying.

But I started to realise that it no longer looked better. My scalp was oily and full of dandruff and dirt, it even started to itch quite bad. I was now washing my hair once a week.

I knew it was disgusting and I was so embarrassed, but I told myself that I just needed to get through these exams. Once they were done, I could focus on my hygiene.

But I finished the tests and this time I told myself I wanted to relax and I was too lazy to shower.

So me and my mom went to watch TV together, it was nice, we were enjoying the show but then…my head started getting really itchy. I started scratching, at first I thought it would go away but it didn’t. I started scratching and scratching. It started to get a little painful.

As I was scratching, a huge lump of hair fell out. It wasn’t huge but it wasn’t normal.

My heart started racing. I excused myself and went up to shower. Figuring it was probably a good idea.

I started to shower, getting my shampoo and rubbing it into my scalp. I wanted to get a really good clean.

But then, I noticed that more hair was falling out. I looked down to my feet to see clumps and clumps of hair falling out. Lumps just going down the drain.

Stray hairs falling out every time I ran my hand through my hair.

I stopped the water, not caring that I hadn’t washed all the shampoo out of my hair. I was freaking out, my body was shaking, goosebumps crawled up my arm.

I reached for the towel and wrapped it around myself. I walked over to the mirror and looked at my hair. I was terrified to touch it.

I turned around and saw that a clump of hair that had just fallen out had stuck to my back and when i touched my hair, more strands came out. I started to freak out, tears coming to my eyes.

I walked outside my room, water trailing across the floors. I called for my mom, it was late and she was tired.

I told her what happened, she started to yell. Telling me I never priorotized my body or my hygiene. Saying that I spent too much time studying while the world passed me by.

She started pulling the loose strands from my head, putting it in the sink. After a few minutes, she had already collected quite a lot. She got a hairdryer and started blowing my hair.

At this point, I was in full blown tears. Crying and crying and crying. I was so scared, not quite sure exactly what I was scared of, but I was scared.

My mom stopped yelling at this point, she could tell I was scared enough. She brought me into her arms and hugged me, I cried into her shoulder.

When she was finally finished blowing my hair and I had finished crying, we lay in bed together and discussed how I was to prevent this from happening again.

I can’t explain the fear I felt. It might be meager to you, but it was truly terrifying for me.

It’s been a week now, I just came back from the doctor and I think I will be alright.

But…What Do I Know?