So I have extremely sparse hair. I'm not sure if it's falling out or if it's just extremely sparse. I fill up my hair brush in about two uses, and I have to be really careful about how I put my hair up, or else I end up with these wide "trenches" of scalp show-through. If I'm not careful, it looks like an all-over comb over. I hate it. And if I'm outside without a hat or umbrella, I get sunburned on my scalp because my hair is so thin. I also loathe the idea of me with short hair, so I leave it long, and you can definitely see right through my hair.

Don't get me wrong. I am thankful that you can't see all of my scalp, and it could be worse. As long as my hair is clean and "fluffy," it's not too jarringly obvious. But it's still frustrating.

And I hate the comments. Once, in high school, a girl looked at me and point-blanked asked, "Is your hair falling out?" And a few nights ago, I was out with friends, and I was facing away from someone. And she said, "Have you ever thought about cutting your hair short? Because it would help it look less thin." I don't think it was intentionally snarky, but it still sounded a little like, "Your hair isn't good enough and you should change it." I mean it just came out of nowhere. We weren't even talking about hair in that moment.

I can't afford the $40 a bottle for Rogaine that may or may not work. I was on spironolactone for 2 years, and it regrew a small amount of the hair, but then I went to a new doctor, and she pulled me off of it due to side effects. And water pills can make lipedema worse, so I guess that was for the best, anyway. Just the same, two years of regrowth fell out in less than a month - every last new hair is gone forever. And other than that, I know there are cosmetics that can camouflage scalp show-through, and shampoos that add fibers to your hair and make it look thicker. Hair extensions are also very expensive, and can damage the hair underneath. I don't want to cover up the issue, anyway. I want to fix it. I would save up for hair replacement surgery if I could.

I am grateful that I don't have it worse. But I guess I just think about some of the ways that this disease affects my appearance sometimes, and it has a way of pouring salt into the wound.

For those of you who deal with the hair loss or extremely thin hair, what steps did you take or products do you use to counteract it? How do you deal with comments? General (constructive!) commentary also welcome.

Thanks! And thanks for letting me rant!