I had an appointment to get my regularly scheduled cortisone injections at the end of the month last month and just decided I was not going to put myself through it anymore. It hurts like hell, I am an emotional wreck, and its sore afterwards. I am firm believer that continuously putting any chemical into your body over a long period of time causes some issues. As I touch my bald spots, I notice dents, which is a side effect. The dermatologist told me that it means my scalp is thinning due…

Since my hair is beginning to fall out even more now, I reluctantly went into my bathroom closet and pulled out one of my wigs that I had retired. As I fought with my inner self about wearing this wig, I just simply had no choice. No matter how much I try to fight AA, it always seems that AA gets the best of me. The day that I had to pull out my wig was also a day that I was going out with friends. I noticed that they kept staring and trying to figure out if it was my hair or not. The…

So my hair has been doing pretty well at least so I thought. I still have a lot of patches, however I have been able to conceal it with my own hair. I went to get my hair done by a stylist who claimed that he specializes in working with clients who have alopecia (I am convinced that those people don't exist). He used some Brazilian technique to put some tracks in to cover my patches. That was a huge mistake. It was so uncomfortable not to mention I had just gotten injections the day before.…

My journey with alopecia has definitely been long, hard, and lonely. As an African American female (which I am sure this may be true for other cultures) I have found it very hard to find a beautician who actually understands the considition of alopecia itself. I have been through my fair share of beauticians and most of them I have found do not understand the condition/disease itself. I have had numerous Africann American beauticians ask me how this happens, what am I doing to damage my…

In an effort to be authentically me, I began a process of going natural with my hair about five years ago. This means that I no longer get my relaxed. Initially it was great because my alopecia was in remission (if that's a correct term). Now that my alopecia areata has reared its ugly head again, going natural isn't as carefree. Alot of the hairstyles make me self conscious or don't turn out right because I am missing a significant amount of hair in certain areas. I have dabbled in wigs,…

I have had alopecia since I was tweleve years old. I am now 28 and it is a normal part of my life. It is a bit frustrating because it comes in the form of patches all over.I have alopecia areata. Right now I have 9 patches. I have some rather large ones on the sides and the vertex area (learned that terminology from the derm). I can cover it, but I am very self conscious of it when I go out in public becasue one false move will expose my patches and then I have to either come up with a…