I'm wondering... how long does it take to go from Areata to Universalis?
The bald spots on my head keep growing and now I've discovered small ones under my armpits and on my eyebrows. It also feels like my eyelashes are thinning out.
Any experiences/stories you want to share? Isn't it a bit unusual to skip the Totalis?

Greetz from Germany!

Ulli

Two years ago, March, 2011 to be exact, I incurred my first bald spot. 5 months later I was completely bald. I had never heard of Alopecia…now Alopecia was controlling my emotions, actions and my entire life. I did not want to venture out in public with my condition and taking pictures was a no-no. And when I did leave my home, I did so in complete fear of people staring at me and whispering under their breath about me. I tried to smile but I didn’t mean it… I was too heartbroken. I was…

I am so beyond sitting back and watching my life go by. I am so beyond not achieving my goals and not living my dreams. It is time to make a change, time to give birth to a difference. A different way of living. Living a more healthy life, a balanced life. We all have challenges that we feel are boulders in our path but these challenges are opportunities to build strength. It is time to pick up the boulder, walk around the boulder or climb over the boulder. It is time to make a difference in…

HI there.I am a 26 year old and have been losing massive chunks of hair since the last six months.I feel so terrible about it and am having low self esteem issues.I also have this constant fear of my hubby not fining me attractive enough for him.It just consumes all my thoughts with negativity,leaving me grumpy ,moody and pissed all the time.

I just hate going out,am always worried about my scalp showing(through my carefully maneuvered hairdos)and just hate having my pictures taken.I…

So admittedly, there is very little good about having Alopecia and whatever happens, any positives that come out of it do not, in my eyes, outweigh the terrible burden of having no hair. However, I realised one of those positives today and feel the need to share it.

In fact the drama began yesterday, in the freezing cold, wet town of Queenstown, New Zealand. I’m here for a few days after nearly a year away from home. The morning had gone well, after a disappointing beginning whereby…

Hello,

This is my first time posting on here. Hope I do it right. I'm stressing! Was diagnosed with Alopecia Aerota in May of this year. Then in June, my family doctor checked my thyroid. TSH level was .086. Was sent to an Endo and my TSH level was checked again in July and it came up to 1.18. Also, in April my gyno checked my thyroid and it was 2.04. My question is about my hair. It is coming out in handfuls!! How do I know if it is due to my Alopecia (possible diffused alopecia at…

Its always scary to take a leap of faith and sometimes you will stumble and fall, but when you make the landing and find yourself in a different place than you were before, that makes it worthwhile!

Other people are going to amaze you and disappoint you equally. I have been bullied to my face and shown pity because people assume I have cancer just as much as I have been called beautiful and brave.

You never know how people are going to react to you so instead of depending on…

Hi guys!
Was just wondering about vacuum wigs, i currently wear a regular human hair wig but it would be really great if I had something that allowed me not to feel so cautious of it falling off! Does anyone have good/bad experiences with vacuum wigs or just information on them that they could share?
Much appreciated :) x

Hi everybody,
I live in Italy, but I will go to the USA in september to attend a conference (I am a PhD candidate in anthropology).
I have gone to many doctors here, but nothing worked except a corisonic treatment that intoxicated me, many years ago. Do you know if there is any GOOD doctor I could go to in the USA? An expert in Alopecia, obviously.
I will go to Dallas, Washington DC and NYC... Thank you
Cat

International Alopecia Day ® is – Saturday, August 3, 2013! Be a part of this year’s YouTube video slide show of International Alopecia Day around the world!

International Alopecia Day began several years ago. My idea was for there to be a day when people with Alopecia Areata could celebrate who we are, and perhaps try going out in public bald for the first time in the company of others with Alopecia. The more cities and countries we have participating each year, the more IAD will…

Autoimmune Research Breakthrough

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) applauds the National

Institutes of Health's (NIH) announcement that NIH

scientists and their colleagues have discovered that a gene called

BACH2 could likely play a significant part in the development of

autoimmune diseases. In a study of mice, researchers at the

National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of

Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases…

A friend offered me a 4-day ticket to Comic-Con this year, so I decided to make a costume I've thought about doing ever since I lost my hair in 2008 - the bald and sexy "Ilia" from the 1979 Star Trek movie. She spent most of the movie in a skimpy costume and is the only bald leading lady I think Hollywood has ever featured. For those who haven't seen the movie, here's a nifty 10-minute version of the whole movie SPOILER ALERT...this gives it all away:…

I remember the first time I saw my bald reflection looking back at me and thinking what a great shaped head I had. Of course I looked completely unlike anything I had ever seen in the mirror previously but I didn’t look like the hideous pictures on the doctors hand outs and at that moment, I just assumed this is how I’d look for a while until it all grew back. I felt happier at that moment than I had done for the previous few weeks having had to watch my hair thin and fall out, I felt in…

Hi! I was diagnosed with alopecia areata last september right before my son's (minor) surgery. The doctors said it was probably stress and that it would be "totally fine" after steroid injections... it wasn't fine. It spread to about the size of a ritz cracker, right on the crown of my head, then I got another one right next to it. They responded well to the treatments, but 2 more spots showed up, and again, I went to get steroid injections. They seem to work for me, which I honestly am…

Well, I went swimming with my head under the water for the first time since I got AU almost four years ago! I had my wig on with the usual two pieces of tape, one at the forehead and one on the nape of my neck. I was on a backpacking trip and at one of the lakes I decided to give it a try. It stayed on just fine. I was able to brush my fingers through the wig while I was under the water to rinse it out a bit. I sat on the shore in the sun and after a bit the wig was dry and I just brushed it…

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on wigs - synthetic vs. human hair? Although I have was diagnosed almost 5 years ago I have lost 95% of the hair on my head in the last 3 months. So I have had to dive into this part of things. I bought a synthetic wig and I wanted to make it look like "my hair" so I got a long one. In less than a month it was 'clumped' and I couldn't brush it. The place I bought it replaced it but within 2 weeks it started again and I had to have it…