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First post...
This is my post on heralopecia.com:
Hi, I'm writing this in hopes someone can give me some insight.
At first, it was almost funny in March when I got a pea-sized patch of thin hair along my part. I could see the skin underneath was peach-colored, about 1-2 shades darker than my normal skin tone, and I joked about having a tan on my white scalp. From March until now my hair thinned out on top a little, but I still didn't worry, just attributed it to hair breakage from dyeing my hair and went on with my life.
About five days ago I was running my fingers through my hair when it more or less just fell out at my touch. Horrified, I continued to rake my fingers through and ran to look in the mirror. I could definitely see patches of "peachy" skin/broken hair in a ring shape on the right side of my scalp with a small "island" of hair in the middle, reaching to about a half inch from my hairline on my right side. I would say about 10-15% of my hair is missing as of today. For five days, my hair has been falling out profusely. What I thought were hairs growing in seem to be the "exclamation point hairs", although the "point" part is not usually visible if I pull the broken hairs out of my scalp. It seems to just taper off without the root on the end. But I do sense that I am losing hair throughout my scalp as well, although not as fiercely. I wouldn't be able go out without a hat or a really wide headband on.
I can tell that the hair I am losing is/was very recently in anagen phase because they show outgrowth from when I had dyed my hair about a month ago. Before this happened I'd usually only lose hair that was completely dyed (e.g. in telogen phase, ready to fall out naturally). No one in my family has any type of hair loss and I have never experienced anything like this before. I won't waste anyone's time with my whining, but I feel so devastated, even suicidal. I can't even bear to leave my house... all I do is cry. I feel so stupid that just a week ago I would obsess over my makeup and all that.
Now for the questions: How long does the falling-out phase last? What's the correlation between the darker skin and the hair loss, if any? What *usually* happens to people who experience what I did? What are the chances that it will all fall out? I suppose most people who have a complete recovery wouldn't stick around here, but I just pray that there is a good chance for my hair to grow back naturally (not medically induced).
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I wish you all the best of luck.
Hi, I'm writing this in hopes someone can give me some insight.
At first, it was almost funny in March when I got a pea-sized patch of thin hair along my part. I could see the skin underneath was peach-colored, about 1-2 shades darker than my normal skin tone, and I joked about having a tan on my white scalp. From March until now my hair thinned out on top a little, but I still didn't worry, just attributed it to hair breakage from dyeing my hair and went on with my life.
About five days ago I was running my fingers through my hair when it more or less just fell out at my touch. Horrified, I continued to rake my fingers through and ran to look in the mirror. I could definitely see patches of "peachy" skin/broken hair in a ring shape on the right side of my scalp with a small "island" of hair in the middle, reaching to about a half inch from my hairline on my right side. I would say about 10-15% of my hair is missing as of today. For five days, my hair has been falling out profusely. What I thought were hairs growing in seem to be the "exclamation point hairs", although the "point" part is not usually visible if I pull the broken hairs out of my scalp. It seems to just taper off without the root on the end. But I do sense that I am losing hair throughout my scalp as well, although not as fiercely. I wouldn't be able go out without a hat or a really wide headband on.
I can tell that the hair I am losing is/was very recently in anagen phase because they show outgrowth from when I had dyed my hair about a month ago. Before this happened I'd usually only lose hair that was completely dyed (e.g. in telogen phase, ready to fall out naturally). No one in my family has any type of hair loss and I have never experienced anything like this before. I won't waste anyone's time with my whining, but I feel so devastated, even suicidal. I can't even bear to leave my house... all I do is cry. I feel so stupid that just a week ago I would obsess over my makeup and all that.
Now for the questions: How long does the falling-out phase last? What's the correlation between the darker skin and the hair loss, if any? What *usually* happens to people who experience what I did? What are the chances that it will all fall out? I suppose most people who have a complete recovery wouldn't stick around here, but I just pray that there is a good chance for my hair to grow back naturally (not medically induced).
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I wish you all the best of luck.
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Comment by Stacy on August 5, 2010 at 10:50pm
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Hello!
I am a stylist and dealing with the same issue. About a week ago I had 3 patches of hair missing, when I went to check it out today and put on the cream my doc gave me, I noticed 6 more patches. WTF!!! I don't have any history of this in my family and I am just shocked this is happening at the age of 25.
I really hope it grows back but have also noticed red spots on my head so am thinking the hair will fall out in those spots. Can Anyone tell us about how long the falling out phase usually lasts? I'm trying not to stress about it cause they say the more you stress the more it will fall out but it's so hard...
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Comment by Nari on August 6, 2010 at 3:43am
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I wish I had some information to help, but I'm still in the hair-falling-out phase... :(
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It's hard to say - I'm sure that is why you are not getting many responses! In addition, everyone is different so it's one of those questions you're afraid to answer.
Having said that, my daughter's derm did tell me that the phase is typically 4 weeks - and that you test it by doing a "pull test" to know if you are still in it.
I can't say that I've been able to see this with my daughter - again, it's so hard to know when it starts, etc.
Lastly, the derm did tell me to put a topical steroid on the red spots 2-3 times per day as soon as you see it - she said it is inflammation. In our experience, the hair doesn't always fall out in those red spots but it does seem to be an indicator...
Sorry - I know it's not much help. Good luck & I wish you the very best.
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Thank you very much. I really appreciate your response.
Do you know any more about this "pull test"? Would I pull it where the spots already are, or pull from anywhere?
Not sure if you know but again thanks. Any info helps :)
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Hi Stacy,
The pull test is when 40-60 hairs on different parts of the scalp are gently pulled to see 1.how many hairs easily pull out and 2. the stage that the pulled-out hairs are in (anagen or telogen). More hairs lost indicate that the area are the hairs are from is "active" and more hair loss can be expected. If hairs lost are in anagen phase, it can be an indicator of AA (among other things); a high percentage of telogen hairs could point to TE. I am definitely not an expert, but this is what I've learned through internet research.
Hope that helps a little.
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Thanks a lot Nari. I appreciate you getting back to me.
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