Does anyone here have or know about Alopecia?

Hey CL,

While I do not have Alopecia Areata, when working in dermatology, we diagnosed and treated many cases of it. As it was probably all explained to you, it is an autoimmune disorder that can sometimes run in families (about 20% of the cases) It sounds like you have more of a sporadic case than some and it is estimated that over their lifetimes about 4.5 million people will have some variant of this condition.

Some people, as yourself will only experience a partial hair loss that usually grows back within a year. Some will experience hair loss on their entire scalp (alopecia totalis) and the most extreme cases will lose every bit of body hair they have, including eyebrows and eyelashes. (alopecia universalis)

No one really has any idea why this happens but they do know that as an autoimmune disorder, the affected hair follicles are mistakenly attacked in groups by a person's own immune system (white blood cells) resulting in the arrest of the hair growth stage. This disorder can last for months or years and even if left untreated, at some point, the hair follicles once again usually start producing hair growth like before. It is not brought on by stress or environmental factors and it has no detrimental health effects other than emotionally, especially for those with extensive hair loss.

While there is no current cure for Alopecia, those with less than 50% hair loss on the scalp do respond to some forms of treatment, including cortisone injections , topical minoxidil and even Anthralin cream or ointment (used historically for psoriasis).

Hopefully you are seeing a good dermatologist for this?

I'm actually not seeing anyone about it.. my doctor mentioned the cortizone shots... but I am lucky, it is on the back of my head and If I wear my hair down you can't see it... but knowing that it started with my eyebrows and now has gone to my head worries me....

I know from some of my own health concerns that immune system probs can be worse when we're under stress.

My wife, before we met and married, said she had alopecia, quarter sized, on her scalp. It grew back and never reoccurred.

Good luck.

I had a school mate that had Alopecia Areata, her doctor told her it was stressed related, and that's all I know. about that subject.

Sorry to hear you have that dear, I hope you have a speedy recovery (((hug)))

But you did say that your eyebrows grew back in about a years time, yes? That's very common without treatment. You may or may not experience any other hair loss. I wish I could give you a definitive yes or no as to what might happen

We never really take into consideration what someone might look like without hair until we actually see them that way. A most interesting case we saw was a young girl of about 14 with Alopecia Universalis. She did wear a wig but she was also fascinating to look at having no eyebrows and no eyelashes. It's like one of those things that really do stand out in our features and we take them for granted, but seeing someone without them was a really shocking experience!

CL...go with the flow for now and see how things go. If you notice any other loss of hair, I'd suggest visiting a dermatologist. Otherwise, if your body responds like it has in the past and hair growth is restored, you only have to wait it out until the patch on your scalp grows back. And, crossing fingers...it won't happen again. No guarantees though.

I went to a dermatologist and she gave me a cortizone cream to put on the spot... it will take four to six weeks to start really showing results but hopefully it will work!! I just have to pray that this will be the last patch that falls out!!

But I am lucky because it is on the back of my head, it could be worse!