Life with Alopecia

Something to Love About Alopecia #3

2010-03-02T08:40:00.000+11:00

Grey hair?

Not me!

The Worst Kind of Hair Cut

2010-02-28T19:41:00.004+11:00

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.”

- Pablo Neruda, 1904 - 1973

On Friday night I finally said goodbye to the remaining hair on my head.

The strands were probably 20cm long and had become annoying to manage.

Wearing headscarves meant I had to somehow tie the separated hairs together. But loose strands would alway escape my headscarf and make my alopecia feel revealed.

So I finally garnered the courage to trim my hair to the shortest length possible.

And it felt good.

6 weeks ago the idea of cropping my hair right down was emotionally unbearable, yet this time it felt like the step I needed to take.

Like in yoga, my journey with alopecia follows a natural progression. Each day I become more accepting, more positive and more affirmed in my choice to get better.

It feels good to have my hair close to a buzz cut. I feel more in control of my appearance, which empowered me on Saturday night to watch a DVD with my boyfriend, Rod without any head cover.

I embrace my new found confidence and thank the Universe for revealing this in me.

Something to Love About Alopecia #2

2010-02-27T20:27:00.000+11:00

Somehow I don't miss this...

And to think I used to pay $30 every 3 weeks to undergo the pain of an eyebrow wax.

Something to Love About Alopecia #1

2010-02-24T16:58:00.001+11:00

It's been over 4 weeks since I've had to use one of these.

Understanding the Source

2010-02-23T16:01:00.001+11:00

To be completely honest, I'm still quite confused about when, how and why my alopecia manifested into what it is today.

6 months ago I was not applying steroid cream onto my eyebrows in a bid to save them - nor was I seeing my eyelashes disappear overnight.

Though each day I accept it more and more, I continue to carry questions that seemingly can't be answered.

Even this leaves me wondering:

"Hair follicles grow faster than any other part of the body and are easily affected by emotional stress and physical dress, although there is often a delay factor. For instance, a woman may lose hair for one to six months following childbirth.

- Modern Ailments Ancient Remedies – A Healing Manual by Gillian Kerr N.D. and Dr. Yvonne Bloomfield.

My psychologist initially said alopecia was always going to happen for me - that is, at some stage in my life I would be as hairless as I am today.

In my second session, however, she had taken the time to consult my dermatologist only to disprove this theory and throw me a new one: alopecia could only ever happen (and return) to me in moments of extreme stress.

The two theories, their similarities and differences, have confused me ... a lot.

For me, the first theory suggests I would surrender to it eventually, where stress would play a small role.

Whereas the latest theory might mean extreme stress has caused the hair loss - and it could return to me again should my life manufacture the same experiences of early 2009.

Somehow, I don't think there is a simple answer to this one...

Radish and Alopecia

2010-02-20T16:09:00.004+11:00

Last Sunday (Valentine's Day), while my boyfriend and I were doing this,

I found this,

Radish... really?

Good thing I don't have to worry about helping my greying hair with bee pollen...

Just Breathe

2010-02-19T13:22:00.001+11:00

This week my journey takes me to finding ways to feed my body with oxygen.

My psychologist put it to me that in stressful moments (positive or negative) oxygen can help us get through.

Ironically, it's in these adrenaline filled episodes that our breathing's tendency is to become shallower.

To kick this habit, for the next 3 days I have a reminder appearing on my work computer to force me to stop and practice 3 deep breaths on the hour every hour.

Plus of course maintaining this exercise outside of work hours is important too.

For those who like maths:

3 days x 3 deep breaths x 14 hours I'm awake = 126 deep breaths

Not only is this practise helping calm my system in the short term, it is teaching me a new way to cope when stressful moments occur in ordinary life.

As stress aggravates my form of alopecia, breathing has potential to help my body avoid more hair loss.

And because my alopecia is being treated with injections that promote circulation to the parts in my head missing hair, it's quite possible oxygen could encourage new hair growth.

4 Ancient Remedies for Alocepia

2010-02-17T17:18:00.000+11:00

I've uncovered a chapter from old source, Modern Ailments Ancient Remedies – A Healing Manual by Gillian Kerr N.D. and Dr. Yvonne Bloomfield.

This book has been lying around the house for more years than I can remember, so it was a nice surprise to see it mention alopecia.

My journey with alopecia so far has taught me to nourish my body with organic foods, fresh fruit and vegetables and more recently, yoga and meditation.

So it’s not much of a surprise that my search to heal my alopecia turned to nature for answers.

The manual describes specific benefit is derived from rosemary, yarrow and thyme.
According to Kerr and Bloomfield these 4 ancient remedies are,

1.    Rosemary, massaged regularly into the scalp and hair follicles, offers circulatory benefits

2.    Yarrow has a powerful effect on the circulatory system, though the manual does not recommend in what form

3.    In hope of preventing further hair loss, thyme works as a strengthening tonic for the scalp

4.    And for a shampoo, tea tree or aloe vera (or as a gel or oil)

I have rosemary in my garden which I can definitely try, though I'm wondering how smelly it'll get...

I think tea tree is wonderful for its antiseptic qualities. My face products include this as an ingredient and it seems to be doing the trick. Particularly when the oral steroids didn’t do wonderful things to my already not so wonderful skin. So I'm keen to give tea tree a go.

I think I'll try at least 2 (1 and 4) of these remedies.

My Alopecia (Welcome)

2010-02-14T22:37:00.000+11:00

I began losing small patches of hair at the base of my head in early 2009.

What maybe (maybe not) triggered the alopecia was a break up, retrenchment and a family member becoming ill with cancer – happening all at once of course.

In brackets I say ‘maybe not’ because irrespective of my circumstances, alopecia and auto immune disease run in my family.

This predisposition means alopecia could have happened at any time in my life. It was just its choice to manifest in my body now, no one (including me) is to blame.

I left the hair loss untreated for a couple of months, until July when a dermatologist finally reprieved me from their waiting list.

In an attempt to prevent further loss, the first dermatologist I saw wrote me a script for oral steroids. By the time I had consulted a second skin specialist, the patches began to grow in size. In the meantime, I was grateful the missing hair could be covered quite easily with the surrounding thick, healthy hair that showed no signs of disappearing anytime soon.

The new dermatologist continued my treatment with oral steroids and began me on a program of cortisone injections.

We finally found success in October when my hair began falling out less and growing back more. The new growth looked just like baby hair and was a sign of how temporary alopecia can be.

But it was in December, 2009 that my hair's texture began to feel different. In the midst of last minute Christmas and travel preparations, I failed to notice this change now relying on hindsight for this information.

Before I knew it I was on a plane to Singapore, on my way to India for my (new) boyfriend’s sister’s wedding.

The moment I stepped onto foreign land my hair began to fall at a much faster rate than ever before. Our hotel bathroom’s white tiled floor soon became covered in hundreds of strands of hair, all my own. 2 weeks in India brought much the same, if not worse.

I spent New Year's day in Gugaon, India feeling invaded by the alopecia, mourning my inability to stop the hair from falling out further. My cries were as desperate as my prayers for intervention.

Hours after I landed back in Melbourne I was in my dermatologist’s room receiving a new batch of injections. I’d returned with less than 1/4 of the hair I left with (probably 3/4 of my full original head of hair).

As part of more intensive treatment, my dermatologist sent me to a psychologist, who counsels me through my new life without hair.

It’s February, 2010 and I continue monthly treatments with my dermatologist and psychologist, coupled with a better way of living through yoga, meditation and spiritual studies.

These esoteric remedies help reduce general stress, which is a factor (though not a direct one) for alopecia. I am fostering new habits, ridding myself of previous self-neglect and learning to embrace the Universe's part in my alopecia instead of returning feelings of anger and resentment.

To promote the benefits of my various treatments, I rely on a wonderfully diverse support network.

These people include family who carry me on my bad days; friends who I speak directly and indirectly to about my alopecia; a boyfriend who comforts me like no one else can; and a collection of professional peers who remind me of my worth in the workplace headscarf or no headscarf.

The contents of my blog are written from my own personal angle. At no point do I try to represent professional advice nor do I try to pass on the granular details of my course of medication.

Finally, this blog is inspired by my most recent challenge: to save my eyebrows and eyelashes. Like the hair on various other parts of my body, it too faces being taken away from me.