Comment by Melissa 74 on November 28, 2022 at 8:35pm

I had steroid injection shortly after being diagnosed with Alopecia Areata in 1989.  Once a month mom made the treck from Washington state to Portland where I got 117 steroid injections in my head in one sitting.  Every month. I was in middle school. It was terribly painful. I remember hearing the liquid juice in, on the ones behind my ears.  

After 6 months of the injections the only thing I got was an incredibly fat round face.  The doctor, Dr Robert's, a leader in Alopecia at that time, said it was time to take me off the injections because it was becoming a risk to my health.   

She said there was a new cream out. It would burn my scalp but could stimulate hair growth.  The thought of more treatment or more misery and painful treatments at 13 years old was enough for me.  I said no more. 

I never tried a treatment or saw a doctor for it again. Now at 48 I have Alopecia Universalis. 

I've never looked back and for the record I think people with eyebrows look weird. I mean who wants caterpillars on their face? Lol.   

Un all seriousness I am sure medical treatment has advanced in the last 33 years and that would be amazing if it worked for anyone who tries it.  I wish people luck and hope that there isn't treatment suffering with no results 

Comment by Jane on November 28, 2022 at 10:24pm

Steroid injections are a standard treatment these days. I, too, had them like Melissa from 1981-1985. It got rid of my bald spots. I had periodic flare ups about every 5 years that the injections would routinely take care of.  Fast forward to 2019. I got the worst case of alopecia I had ever had an the shots did no good, and I lost almost all my hair. In 2020, I was accepted into a clinical trial with of medication based on JAK inhibitors, and my hair has almost completely regrown.  

The cortisone shots hurt a lot, but they worked for me. 

Comment by Mike on November 29, 2022 at 11:55am

I had injections too. Can't say they worked. Suggest if you are getting injections, change the needle after about 10 injections as it gets dull and pushes through the skin rather than slipping through. Less pain this way.

Comment by NorthCarolinaMama on November 29, 2022 at 1:52pm

I had injections in my eyebrows when my FFA was first diagnosed. It hurt a lot, and didn't help. I think my brows were just too far gone by that point. I know it does work for some people, though. 

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