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Rapid hairloss
My name is Alexandra and I'm thirteen years old. Most of my life I have had a full head of hair, but more and more of it is falling out. I'm very concerned that I'm going to go bald. Everytime my mom brings it up I cry. It's very emotional for me and I'm afraid kids are going to make fun at school, because I have quite a few spots that show. I just don't want to be made fun of. Today I went headband shopping and everytime I go it just makes me sad to think that my hair might never come back. I know there are worse things than this, but I've had my hair for most of my life. It just scares me to think of it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on
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Hi Alexandra
Your right you have had your hair for a long time and now that it isn't doing what it would normally do it is very scary. Even for adults this is a very difficult thing to understand and accept.
I would love you to have a big long talk with your mum about what is frightening you. I know it will make you cry but your Mum will be able to help so that you are not scared anymore.
My daughter lost her hair when she was 12 years old she is now 17years old and AU (that means she has no hair). She was frightened just like you but together we worked so that she was no longer frightened. She made a lot of decisions that were really hard but in the end worked out well.
I see that you are frightened that you may be teased at school if people notice your patches of loss. What do you think might make you feel safe? I'm not sure if hiding things will help but that may be what you are feeling at the moment.
My daughter decided to have someone with alopecia go in and educate her class about her condition. I know that will seem horribly scary thought. But it worked really well because all her friends (the people that care about you) really supported her and all the ones that wanted to tease couldn't because she was surrounded and supported by her teachers and friends and they all knew that this was not anything to be worried about and she was still the same girl she had been before this happened. When people tried to tease her or make her feel uncomfortable about having no hair they were stopped very quickly and made to apologise because this condition was not her fault or yours so to be rude about it is not ok.
I hope you start feeling a little better about your alopecia soon and I think that if you talk to your parents they will help you to get this ok for yourself.
Hear from you again soon
Rosy
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Permalink Reply by Cindy on
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Hi Alexandra, I am a mom to a 6 year old daughter who has lost all of her hair and more. While she is happy and well adjusted it is not an easy thing to have to deal with. I am sure your mom is trying to comfort and support you the best way she knows how. It isn't always easy for parents to watch their child have to go through this and your mom is hurting too. We as parents just don't show our emotion because we want to help our kids get through it. I did want to offer you some suggestions for covering your hair if and when you need them. Samantha wore headbands to cover her spots too until we could not anymore. She wore scarfheadband that had an elastic in the back which we found at Claires. Samantha wears a wig now, but on days she does not want to, like the summer she wears headbands that have hair sewn into them. You can find them at www.hatswithhair.com Sam loves them. If you should come to a point where you may need to think about wearing a wig there are a few resources I want to give you that provide free wigs. 1. Locks of Love, but it is a long process. 2. www.childrenwithhairloss.com They will send you a temporary wig and then send you to a place to get a mold for a custom wig. 3. Hairclub for kids. My daughter is getting her first custom wig this week from them and it is my first choice to go. www.hairclub.com. They will give you 3 free hair replacements a year and make a custom hair replacement. I hope giving you this information does not make you upset. I just want you and your mom to know that there are options. You are a beautiful girl and you with your families help will find something that works best for you. I also suggest joining CAPS or NAAF. You maybe able to locate some peers in your area going through this as well. Hang in there and smile. You are the same person with or without hair. Cindy, Samantha's mom....
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Permalink Reply by Caroline on
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Hi again! I know exactly how you feel on this one too haha! I'm in the same exact situation. First of all if your teachers don't know I would definately have your parents tell them. Last year my mom told my teachers about it and it help so much! They actually cared about me and always put my seat in the back of the room so no one could look at my head! And if we were ever doing something active (like in science class one day we had to do jumping jacks) my science teacher let me sit out and just told everyone I hurt my ankle. Also for presentations and things where you have to get up at the front of the class my teachers always asked me if I wanted to do it in front of just them or in front of the whole class. If you want to hide the spots I put eyeshadow that matched my hair color on my spots to fill them in and alotttt of hairspray to keep everything covered =p If that doesnt work for you I would look into getting a wig. I just ordered one the other day and I am so excited to get it! I think it is going to help alot. I know how emotional this all is. I'm the same exact way. If this helps at all because I know it helped me, my doctor told me that if you have had Alopecia Areata your whole life and you've just had spots, there is a pretty good chance that you won't go totally bald. What kind of treatment do you get for your spots? I get shots every 6 weeks in my spots and it helps. I hope some of my advice helped you but know that I'm always here and your not alone. I'm in the same exact situation.
Good luck and keep your chin up
love and hugs
Caroline
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