“Like many Black women, I tried numerous hair oils that promised hair growth but saw no benefits… with exhaustion, I gave up,” explains Amanda Cowham to Unbothered over email. “I had a bad sew-in [weave] experience that gave me bald patches due to inflammation and an allergic reaction. This prompted me to go to a doctor for thorough testing,” she says, sharing that she had been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid that provoked “inflammation and itching” leading to bald spots. The 30-year-old content creator from Zambia has been sharing her experiences with hair loss and hair growth on TikTok for over a year. Cowham is one of the many Black women dealing with hair loss and traction alopecia from tight braids and weaves and uses her platform to share hair growth methods that work. For Cowham, her results came via minoxidil: a medication that comes in a foam, solution, or pill used to treat hair loss. The treatment, which is available over-the-counter without a prescription, is the one method she says has worked to restore her hair. And, from the looks of her videos, her thick curly hair is thriving. “ minoxidil has given me my confidence back,” she shares. “I now have a head full of hair — more hair than what I bargained for.”
