Comment by Jeff W on April 21, 2009 at 11:46pm

Katie,
I had been cloring my hair every 5 weeks or so for about 3 years and never had a problem despite the fact that my scalp was usually itchy for a day or two after each hair coloring. The dumb thing is that when my barber discovered my first alopecia patch (a single nickel sized patch) I thought so little of it I still let him color and cut my hair (also in December). What followed was my whole alopecia experience where I have so far lost about 35% of my hair. While I do not believe the hair coloring actually was responsible for my alopecia (since I seemed to tolerate it for 3 years just fine) I am hesitant to color my hair now as I fear it might aggravate my already stressed scalp. I may get bolder eventually though, as I'm getting some really odd looking gray patches now and I think my hair would cover better if it were all black (actually if it all were gray it might also look better). I too am curious about others' experiences with hair color and alopecia.
Jeff

Comment by Katie on April 22, 2009 at 12:12am

Thank you so much for your info! I to have colored my hair for years with no problems, until this Dec. Sure hope that more people add a comment about hair color experiences!

Comment by ann on April 22, 2009 at 1:17am

I starting coloring my hair when I was in my 20s , I got AA when I was 68 Have had it about 6 months have lost about 50% of my hair but am sure it wasn't the coloring that did it

Comment by JeffreySF on April 22, 2009 at 2:44am

I have never colored my hair except my beard when I had one...I got burned like no ones buisness. I followed the directions to the T too. I am way too afraid to color my white fuzz on my head as I think I might get burned again.
Ouch!!!

Jeffrey

Comment by Christie on April 22, 2009 at 8:53am

I used to colour my hair every couple of months...The last I coloured it was in November of last year, and a few weeks later noticed a patch...I shaved my head the end of January 09...noticed about 16 patches. Since I shaved it, I have had regrowth in all the patches. The main patch, which got to a beautiful 3 1/2 inches around, is now about the size of a quarter. A lot of the hair that was growing back was the white "fuzz", and I was tired of looking at it, on top of which I already had quite a few grays....so...I coloured my hair last week. Man, did I ever feel better. I could also see just how much hair is regrowing because it was darker. I was pleasantly suprised!
What hair dye did everyone use? Wouldn't it be interesting if we all used the same one...and ended up having our hair fall out? Lawsuit anyone?
But overall...I had no side effects to colouring my hair...except I felt better about myself!

Comment by Alexandra on April 22, 2009 at 9:21pm

It's funny you mention this topic because I was wondering if the bleach I used to streak my hair had triggered my female pattern baldness. I used to put two white-blonde streaks in the front of my hair several years ago. About half a year later, that hair cracked off, so I assumed it was just because it got damaged. But then that part never came back thick like it was before. And then I started slowly thinning all over my head. My dermatologist claims that the bleach had nothing to do with it, but sometimes I wonder...

Comment by Julie on June 18, 2012 at 2:14pm

I have had alopecia Areatar (on phone so not entirely sure of spelling) since I was 13 (now 35yrs), I have been dying my hair for about ten years now, if I didn't I would be completely gray I think. I am beginning to wonder if colouring does effect it but not sure. I only dye in brown and with a rinde. What are everyone else's views. I last saw a determinologist around 20 years ago, so imagine the advice would be out of date. Has anyone else been advised to dye their hair like I was by my GP a few years ago?.

Jules

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