I had a spiritual awakening.

I notice my soul more than my appearance.

I am bald and I am beautiful.

So happy that this is the year, I'm so glad it has come. After 8 years, finally, I've been able to look in the mirror and not feel disgust. I am still bald, but I am still living and kickin. I'm not gonna let it bring me down anymore, 8 years is too long to be hating myself. 

I've grown to love who I am on the inside, not the outside.

I am different and I…

I feel like I am going backwards right now and I feel like this is a place where I can articulate and discuss these feelings. 

Last summer I had got to my peak of acceptance for my alopecia. I was happily alternating between my many wigs, scarfs and going bare headed, which I was particularly enjoying the freedom of with my new found confidence. I had another tattoo on my head (I already had one) and had come to a point of seeing alopecia as a quirky part of my identity. 

Then…

So my hair at the front and sides has gradually - oh so gradually - disappeared. And my hairbrush is forever having to be stripped bare. And for the first time in my life I have to use hairspray, just to hold down the carefully arranged styling to cover the seeming acres of flesh. Why does it matter? I am still the same person. I am 64, not young and needing to prove a thing. Who looks at older women in any case? We are universally invisible. So why should I care?

But I do. I care…

I am kind of lost for words…..  The nurse called and left me a voice message telling me I do have Lichen Planopilaris, that's it!  Prescribed Minocycline but have not received any other information from the doctor.  Thankfully, I found this site!!!  Thank you to everyone for sharing your story, advice, and support!

p.s. Does anyone know of a Specialists in Albuquerque, NM? 

Hello My Fellow Hair Challenged Friends,

Yes-I have a story. We ALL have a story regarding how and when it began. My alopecia started 16 years ago, I was 25 and noticed two hairless spots on my otherwise hairy head. My derm diagnosed me swiftly and coldly; injections began. Regrowth, fall out, repeat. And then one day it became clear that mine was a losing battle. A Freedom Wig came, and eventually tattooed eyebrows...Although I detest them, I'm known to put on false lashes now and…

I think the best option for any person with hair loss is to do what feels good to them, no one has the right to dictate to anyone how they should feel.

We as a society are so quick to point out to women that we need hair to make us feel feminine, sadly most

people don't realize that femininity comes from within, it's about being true to yourself, finding your inner

strength and self respect and being proud of who you are inside. Then and only Then will your outer self be…

I have been wearing a nice beanie to cover my AA patches in between shaves.

I don't go out in public with a wig though I've been seriously considering 1 lately.

I just cover my head outside.

I was kicked out of a courtroom today because I would not remove my head covering in front of a room full of strangers.

I was mandated to "take it off or go pay the fine for the ticket". They wouldn't even grant me an audience with the solicitor in the hall way.

I paid…

Presently, I am dealing with some huge challenges that make me feel like I am running a marathon, but I am determined to finish strong; even if tears are streaming down my face.

I was at the beauty shop talking with a woman about covering up this bald patch, and pricing hair pieces. She told me I have beautiful hair. I was choked up with emotion, and quietly said, "thank you" fighting back tears, and left. I was taken by surprise with the emotion seeping up from within me. I felt…

So the first thing I noticed about Caitlyn Jenner's photo shoot was her long gorgeous hair. I wondered if it's her natural hair or if she bought it (and if she did where did she buy it?!) I also noticed with interest that she chose long flowing hair because in our culture, like it or not (and I don't like it!) long hair is associated with femininity. 

I could identify with her in some ways. I am having some very nice professional photos made this weekend of me with no wigs, nothing on…

I'm interested in what coping rituals people use. I have a nightly bathroom mirror "face off" where I REALLY look at myself, and dare myself to be more than just "ok" with it. I'm considering some kind of undercut and just embracing it. I'm an aging, GEN X punk girl. I just want to stop hiding it all together, and just put it out there, right in everyone's face.

I've had alopecia for 10 years now.  The past five have been alopecia universalis.  This school year, I changed school districts to be closer to home.  It turned out to be a much less stressful job and very fulfilling.  Two or three months ago, we started noticing "peach fuzz" on my face and part of my head.  When I had alopecia areta, it was common for fuzz to come and go, so I didn't think much of it.  But it hasn't gone anywhere this time, and it is getting longer.  My sidewalls are still…

As I sit here writing my first thought down on the Alopecia network, my cat trying to get me to get off the computer so she can have all the attention, I wonder , is God trying to tell me something? I still can remember the day when I was 16, my mother took me to see a endroconologist (if thats how you spell it) because I was experiencing abnormal hair growth where hair should be growing on my body, acne, and (surprise) hair loss.

"Your hair is thinning." He said. No, duh.

It…