Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alia Ingerslev on November 8, 2010 at 8:35am

HI Lisa. From our own experience you can probably expect a wide range of possible treatments of which none have a high rate of success but on the other hand have the risk of side effects. For us at least it was not an uplifting event and we have given up on conventional treatments due to the possible risk of side effects. However, you never know whether you would stumble upon the one person who has another angle to tests or the like so I would still give it a go. Good luck. Alia

I suppose you have seen the article posted here on AW about the young Autralian girl who had regrowth with Fusion Health vitamins??

Permalink Reply by Matt (Mikayla's Dad) on November 8, 2010 at 8:48am

Sometimes they will just look for the signs of alopecia. He/She will most likely look for "exclamation point" hairs around the areas of loss. He/She will also look at her finger nails, because another sign of alopecia are "pits" in the nails. It almost looks like somebody took a pin and made indentions all in her nails. Our daughter's were always this way, but we never thought anything about it until she was diagnosed. They might also recommend a scalp biopsy because that can prove alopecia as well. We chose not to do that, and our Pediatric Dermatologist didn't recommend it because of the pain associated with it, and he was 99.9% sure by just looking at it.

Our Dermatologist was very open and honest with us in the beginning. He said that there were several treatments they he could try, and he said that SOME treatments worked for SOME people, but not to expect anything up front because the medical community knows so little about this disease. We did try different topical solutions including steroid foam, topical creams, and even some irritant that basically burnt her scalp trying to cause irritation to resume hair growth. We even tried the scalp injections, and we had no results from anything. So, you might get different answers from different people, but in the end, you will have to decide what's best for you and your daughter. Hopefully, something will work for her, but you will have to decide when you're finished trying.

Believe me...as parents...my wife and I wanted to try whatever was available to try and FIX this for our daughter, but in the end, we had to decide that acceptance was our only true choice.

I wish you the best of luck, and I'll say a prayer for your appointment, for guidance, and for peace. :o)

Permalink Reply by Deanna on November 8, 2010 at 5:23pm

Hi Lisa
My daughter is 2 years old and was diagnosed with alopecia just before she was 18 months.Our family doctor reffered us to a dermatologist.She also just diagnosed her by looking at her head and nails as someone mentioned above.She did give me a prescription for a steroid cream which i chose not use because i felt my girl was to young.My daughter had lost almost all of her hair..id say about 75% of it..less than a year later her hair is growing back on its own and is much thicker.I really had a hard time at first with her losing her hair,once i realized that she just might be bald and got used to the idea..the hair came back.I do hope it is here to stay,but if not i know its not the end of the world...life goes on with or without hair.
I dont think that the dermatolgist can do anything for you if you do not want to proceed with a treatment,but it might make you feel more at ease about the situation if you can see one and ask questions to get some answers.

Permalink Reply by Erin on November 9, 2010 at 2:45pm

After our diagnosis appointment I felt there was no reason to return to a dermatologist--no safe treatments for a young child that had likelihood of success. However after my daughter's loss progressed to almost totalis a few months ago and new breakthrough's are being made in research for AA, I scheduled a follow-up just to be considered a "patient". I know my daughter is on her derm's radar should any development be made for treatment and for that reason wanted to stay connected to someone in the field.