Hello:
My name is Terri and I have a 12 year old with AU. She was diagnosed 3 years ago. I would love to chat with you sometime. She is in the 7th grade and has not told her peers. She has 3 best friends that do know and have been very supportive, but it is still soooooooooooo hard. This is a tough age! I know you could probably relate.
Terri

Hi there Jana! I hope you are doing well. Yes, I do feel the injections are worth it, and so does my husband, as well as both kids. Last time, four months into AA, my daughter had lost 1/4 of her scalp hair right on top of her head! It took seven months for her hair to all grow back, so that she did not have to wear a half-head scraf or hat. This time, four months into AA, she has developed a total of four spots in different areas (one has completely regrown hair), and each are smaller than a dime and naturally concealed (my son has four too, which are naturally concealed). The shots stop the AA from growing in a particular area, but do not prevent new spots from appearing. The dermatologist has a lot of experience, and states these shots send her patients into remission for a few years, if not longer ~ but it does take several months of going once every four weeks. I always check in with the kids before each appointment to make sure this is what they want to do. Each time, they are more than willing to endur temporary pain (they say the sting only lasts a few seconds), in order to try and keep their hair & send this thing into remission. They know that the more hair you loose, the longer it takes to grow back. Once you loose hair, it could take four to seven months for the hair to grow back! At least this is the experience my kids have had. I have a good friend with AA, she treats with a steriod cream & Roggaine. It's taken ten months for hair to grow in, and she still has a few spots left. Her dermatologist feels that anyone with AA should seek some sort of treatment. With my kids, we make the Roggaine a regular part of our routine (one application in the morning and one at night), and they have not missed an application (my daughter since May 23rd and my son since June 30th). I hope this information helps! Good luck with your decision to treat this condition. Take care sweetie!

Hi Jana,.If you live in the US go to www.hairclub.com and click on the link for kids club. It will give you a number to call to get the application and then you need a doctor signature. Once you have that, call your local hair club for men and make an apt. Samantha wears it for everything and we have never had a problem. We brought pictures of he before the loss and they did a fabulous color match and styled like her old hair cut. Hope this info helps..

FYI- I think you posted a message to go Miranda on my thread..Please check..Cindy

Hi, I was reading your post on the Parents of Children Group. My daughter is 6yrs old and has total hair loss. She is experiencing regrowth under supervised treatment. However, she does wear wigs and no one knows she has no hair in less she tells them I suppose. I am more of a private person. I did want to tell you that the hairclub for men has a kids hair club and your daughter can get 3 free human hair wigs a year. My daughter got her first one in Aug and she loves it. I think everyone copes with these so differently. I have been fortunate that Sam has had no social or emotional issues. We need to be strong for our children and save weakness for behind closed doors. The teenage years can be the toughest, especially with the whole body image thing. There are many kids in your daughters peer group on the board. It may help her to connect with some other teenage girls going through this so she knows she is not alone.

Hi, I am the creator of the Parents Group. I also have twins! Mine are identical twins. Della has had alopecia since she was turning 2. It hasn't been anything to her until she started kindergarten this year. We have done so much because there have been teasing here and there. I am not looking forward to her becoming your daughter's age. Well, let me know if you need anything, although you have been working with this disease a lot longer than I have. Take Care!