Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Debs on November 29, 2013 at 12:28pm

Please see my post on the forum from Saturday 23 November ....

Permalink Reply by April on November 30, 2013 at 10:37pm

Ammie,

Hi! I thought I would let you know that I am currently undergoing laser treatment for FFA. This is something called xtrac and it is done at my derms office. It is excimer laser UVB light therapy. It is a very concentrated dose and it only takes a few seconds if exposure twice a week to see results. I have not tried any of the home laser treatments that are available, although I may look into it. If you can find Debs post, there is a laser cap type if thing that someone had success with. She mentions the name but I can't remember what it was. Anyhow, the laser therapy has stopped the red inflamed appearance of my hair follicles in the affected area. I am also seeing a tiny bit of regrowth at my hairline, not much, but some wispy hairs at the front. It's hard to say if this has stopped the hair loss completely. I feel I am still losing a small amount of hair since I started the treatment, but not too much.I am not doing any other treatments at this point. If you are interested I would suggest trying it since there are not too many negative side effects. Maybe in combination with other treatments it would stop the hair loss? I would check with your derm to make sure you can do it in combination with other medications. Good luck, and let us know if you decide to try it or have any success! Take care: )

Permalink Reply by Pauline on December 4, 2013 at 2:59am

Hi April,

I would be very interested to find out more about laser treatment for FFA. I live in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland so the first thing I need to establish is the nearest clinic offering this type of treatment.

Kind regards,
Pauline

Permalink Reply by ammie on December 4, 2013 at 10:32am

Thanks so much for the responses.

Permalink Reply by Debs on December 4, 2013 at 12:21pm

IGROW retails in UK online for about £660.  It is a helmet that emits a laser for use in hair loss.  use it for 25 mins every other day.  I heard about this at the CARF patients support group meeting in London on 23 November.  A woman with another type of scarring alopecia was using it, too early to know if it was working for her but the 3 derms that attended agreed that lasers do promote hair growth because sometimes when they use lasers to remove excessive facial hair it can have the opposite effect on their patients!  Lasers are used in the UK on NHS for other skin conditions and sometimes for other types of hair loss.... so I don't know why none of our derms are offering it for FFA... I think we probably need to ask if we can have a go.  The IGROW laser has been approved as safe in the USA by the FDA. 

Permalink Reply by Pauline on December 4, 2013 at 3:42pm

Hello Debs,

Many thanks for the information; I will look into that and let you know how it goes. I had a consultation tonight after work with a local beautician and am having HD brows done on 20th December! Santa has come early! Hoping it is going to save me 5 minutes each morning pencilling on my eyebrows!

Kind regards,
Pauline

Permalink Reply by Debs on December 5, 2013 at 2:12am

Hi Pauline, it is such a relief to get your brows done.  It does save time but it really does enhance your appearance, that is why so many celebrities have this treatment done, it is not just for ladies with hair loss.  Good for you treating yourself. XX

Permalink Reply by Debs on December 5, 2013 at 2:37am

In the UK NHS hospitals do have lasers but it is not being offered to ffa patients.  I have found out quite by chance that the hospital I attend, Salford Royal, has another derm doing research using lasers to treat a different skin condition (scleroderma), so the laser equipment I assume is on site but not prescribe for us.  I think we need to elect to use lasers with our derms as there are likely a lot more lasers in the NHS than I think we have previously imagined.  Lasers are used by derms to treat other skin conditions so I can only think that time on the lasers is precious and there is a big queue of other patients all trying to get their turn.  It would of course be worth the NHS doing a pilot study to see if FFA does respond to lasers.   Any ladies in the UK that have a consultation with their derm can I suggest you ask for this to happen.  If we all request a pilot study into lasers on FFA management it might just work!