Comment by Mary Sarra on June 25, 2009 at 8:15am

Katie, I had kenalog shots about 10 years ago. I can say from my experience that I did get regrowth where I was getting the shots, but as you say for every new patch of growth, I lost hair in other places. I finally gave up.

Comment by Kim Culberson on June 25, 2009 at 4:01pm

After I had AU for about 2 years, I tried the kenalog and had regrowth only where the injections were. It grew about 1/2 inch and then all fell out again. Once our immune system decides to attack our hair and give us AA or AU, I don't think kenalog can bring it back.I have been AU for 7 year(Aug 01- Sept 08) I started Methotrexate one year ago and now have a full head of hair with the exception of a dime size spot above my right ear. A friend of mine is a Physician Assistant and wants to do a kenalog injection into that one spot. I haven't decided yet whether to do it, or just leave well enough alone.

Comment by Lori Van Decker on June 25, 2009 at 5:28pm

Everyone is different. I had those shots for a lot longer than anyone should (on and off for about 16 years). They seemed to work at first, but they also seemed to grow hair at the site of injection and lose hair in a circular pattern around the site of injection. Eventually, it got to be an exercise in chasing spots that the shots seemed to be creating. I gave up, shaved my head, and within six months all of my body hair fell out and I haven't had to shave anything since.

I used to get terrible histamine reactions to those shots....the injection sites would blow up into hard bumps that lasted around 24 hours after injection. It was bad enough when that happened on my head; you can imagine how ugly and awful it was when I had my brows injected.

The things we will do when we think it might work amaze me! But just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you.

Comment by Kat on June 25, 2009 at 7:39pm

I had the shots and not only did I get more spots but the spots that they injected became concave. It was terrible there were bald craters on my head! My doctor actually made an oh no face when he felt them. The muscle eventually filled back in but it was super scary and I no longer am on treatment.

Comment by Lori Van Decker on June 26, 2009 at 8:10am

My scalp also had bad atrophy for a long time. The skin got very thin and started to get very sore. The skin was so thin and close to the skull that my head actually broke the dermatologist's needle one time. I still can't believe that I continued with the injections after that happened. But at the time, I still held out hope for a "cure."

Comment by Diane on June 26, 2009 at 9:52pm

Kenalog belongs to the drug family of steroid. It is useful to control burst of AA. It is NOT a good option for severe AA, AT or AU.... Also, the in site injection will not prevent new spot to appear or, if the disease is very active, the hairs to fall around the injection.

Before becoming AU, I was using kenalog injection. I've used it many many years (over 15 years, on and off, I had 'remission' period of 6 months to 1 year sometimes) with excellent results until the alopecia progress.... My head never became atrophic but, I've tried kenalog for my eyebrows and had the atrophic side effect.... I stopped it right away and everything came back to normal.

Comment by Jeff W on June 27, 2009 at 12:25am

It's hard to say for sure what would have happened if I didn't get shots - but my hair loss was by far at its worst soon after I got corticosteroid injections. Others have reported temporary growth and the like. Personally, I'm also no longer undergoing treatment as I think I need to give nature and my body a fair shot at recovering naturally.

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