Alopecia Areata Support Group

last yr i noticed a couple of bald spots at the back of my daughters head,i had no idea at that time what it was ,her gp did blood tests which came back negative and they told us it was alopecia areata,she was then refered to a dermatoligist ,we decided at the time that we didnt want her to go through the treatment that was being offered .my daughter at 1st tried to cover up using bandanas and i have to say has coped far better than i know i would.in the beginning we were scared as we knew nothing about alopecia and feared for her as we know how cruel some can be,,i think its about reminding our children how beautiful they are and giving them the reasurance that things will be ok,i found when my daughter seen me panicking so did she.i wish you both the best of luck x

Oils help keep some people calm, its more stressful when it gets worse. Ive had it since about your daughters age. I have used foams, creams, and other things. Hair shampoo and things like that can also lead too hairloss. More vitamins the better, she could be allergic too gulten thats also been found with this condition. Dermatoligist dont see kids that I know of well not anywhere around here, it could be different for all I know. I think you had too be like over the age of 13. I know there is a hair cycle where a period of time it will be alright then slowly it will happen all over again then it changes. Its not just something that goes away well not in some cases. She could have thyroid problems thats just about all I know for my age. Ive seen doctors where I currently live, medford and soon Portland. I would look into wigs they help a lot. I wish you and your daughter luck!! She will thank you in the end for helping her through it.

Not the dermatoligist but uh the endroconoligist if I am spelling that right...

She only loses it in small chunks that will sometimes get up to the size of a dime. We were given prescription steroid drops to massage into the scalp... & I'll be damned... they work! The chunks she lost over a year ago are now about 4-5 inches long... and the kids at school can't see it anymore. I did talk to an endocrinologist when I found out that it was an autoimmune disorder. I will keep ya informed... but this seems to be working well :o)

Glad to see the treatment is working for her. I had the same thing when I was 16 years old. At the time they worked for me. Tell your daughter each day she that she is beautiful and that you love her. Having this condition is hard sometimes to deal with. I know over the 10 plus years I had my ups and downs and I stressed a lot worrying more about what other were thinking.

Thank you for the advice (((hugs to all of you)))her treatment has been awesome over the past, what will be 2 years soon. Her hair is in full bloom and long enough that she is considering donating hair with me within the next year. Personally I finally hit my 5 feet of hair donated goal that I set in 2003 . I reached my goal of 5 feet 2 years ago and I am going to try to make it to 10 feet by the time I am 40... God bless all of you who have been suffering from this and thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. I really means a lot to me.

My daughter was diagnosed early this year with Alopecia areata. She started losing a lot of hair, and we took her to the dr. It was confirmed by a pedicatric dermotologist. She ended up having to get steroid treatments until it went into remission. It is in remission right now. She has new hair growth, but it is very very thin, and not growing very fast. I buy her hair pretties that she sees and likes often. I basically try not to make a big deal of it. I let her know she is beautiful anyway I can. It bothers my daughter that her hair isn't long, but when she was bald in those spots she didn't act like it bothered her at all. I noticed the more I worry about it though the more she does, so I work hard for her not to see me worried about it. Now that she is remission I have bought her a hair clip with long hair attached to it. SHe loves it and makes her feel likes she has long hair. It matches her hair. You can get those at Claires if you have one in your area. SOmetimes Walgreens has them too. Though usually not as long as I have found at Claires.