I am looking for some opinions and insite...

A new Derm that I went to see this week at Hershey Medical center here in PA who is a Scalp and skin specialist has suggested I try squaric acid treatment.

Has anyone used this treatment and what is your opinion or outcome? I know everyone reacts differently but just trying to see if this is something I want to try.

Thanks

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I didnt try this, but I hope that you get a good results from there

Please keep us updated if you find out anything more about this.  I never heard of it.

Squaric Acid Dibutyl Ester was approved by the FDA as a drug for alopecia areata on Feb 24, 2015 but unfortunately around the same time was taken off the approved list of covered prescriptions by TRICARE during a focus on reducing costs of compounded drugs.  (I am a TRICARE recipient and was able to get squaric acid in Dec 2014 but not in April 2015).  Am trying to understand the process of how drugs which are approved by the FDA suddenly get disapproved by TRICARE (both federal agencies).  Cost for the squaric acid without insurance in my town is about $70/bottle.  Was getting a beginning regrowth before I stopped for other reasons and then can't restart without significant cost so am trying anthralin which definitely causes a irritation on the head - studies for anthraliin do say that you need to be on it 11-12 weeks and about 40% success so we'll see.

I have never heard of this. I am in NJ.. I will have to take a look.. I go to a girl in NJ who is awesome.. She does great hair with pieces extensions if you want to take a look and she is reasonable if you need any help.. you can see a lot of her make overs on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/HairDesignsByJanelle

Where in NJ are you? If you are close to Fort Lee there is a great doctor called Lee look him up he's fantastic! I went to him, he's the one who started me on the acid, I went went every 2 weeks and he knows what he's doing and great great results with a lot of patients like us! He's on Grand Ave. he's awesome!! I may still have his number if you can't find him so let me know. Good luck!

I tried squaric acid when I was around 12 and still only had areata. For me, it really only worked to a point - I would grow short little hairs but nothing lasting or substantial. It's also pretty uncomfortable. I would put it on and it would burn at first, then it would itch, and when I scratched it, it would hurt even more the next time I applied it.

As far as I could understand, the only thing squaric acid does is irritate your scalp so your body reacts by growing hair follicles to "protect" itself from the irritation it created, so it doesn't mean the hair is going to  grow back all the way, it's only going to grow to the point of which it can protect the scalp from the pain. Does that make sense?

I also would get pretty bad scabbing in places too, but that's probably because I was 12 and didn't have enough self restraint to keep from itching constantly :/ .

Hi, I only used the SADBE for two weeks. I started to have numbness of my upper lip and spread to my whole face. So of course I stopped all treatments. The derm said it was not related to the 3% Dibutyl Squarate I had been using but who knows. it seems like others have been helped by this. Hope you have good results.

We can all admit that Alopecia areata is a growing problem in our society and escalating at a very fast rate;  We also can admit the current treatments offered today do not work nor address the real issues causing this type of hair loss.       

Alopecia areate is caused by an auto-immune disorder. The 'root cause" of AA and should be addressed to give a person a fighting chance to save their hair. The circular patches reflecting hair loss on the scalp are not the cause but the symptom, therefore, applying salves, lotions, shampoo and conditioners on the hair is a band-aid and do not give lasting results. I am sorry if I am not saying what people want to hear, but I think it is time to stop beating a dead horse and look for real solutions to help eliminate this epidemic.

I do not comment on these sites generally, but it saddens me to see so many people struggling to keep their hair and their dignity. 

Daughter tried it and it did not work. So sorry

Hi Becca,

I actually went through with squaric acid at Hershey Medical center as well. It did not work out for me.  They also had me try Propecia, plaquenil (used to prevent malaria but apparently had some success with alopecia) and Excimer Laser with no success =[

They did do cortisteroid injections which worked to fully regrow my eyebrows, which is VERY important to me.  Just having them makes me feel a little better.  I do need to continue with injections or they will go away.

In May I told them I want to be put on Xeljanz and they agreed it's worth a shot and filled out their paperwork for Pfizer's hardship program so I could get the cost covered.  I got accepted into the program and have been on 2 pills a day for a month.  No results yet, but just got my second month in the mail.  Hope to see results soon!

Nice to know I'm not the only person around here with this problem.  I wish you the best of luck in your treament. - Ben

I tried this acid treatment before at Singapore National Skin Center. I experienced itching & redness on my scalp and it did not works on me. This method can only work as substitutes to suppress the symptoms temporarily. 

You may check out nutritional immunology products through below link by joining their member for FREE. This is how I recovered from 12 years Alopecia.

https://www.eleadglobal.com/invite/register?promotionNo=MDAwMTEwNTQ... 

I am always suspicious of any new wonder treatment, there would be no alopecia if these treatments ever work, just very rich doctors and dissapointed patients, save the money and enjoy your life with it, your hair will grow when it's ready and if it doesn't, it's just hair!

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