Help- My best friend's baby is sick with a weird hair disease

[chanou]

My best friend's five year girl has been diagnosed with this hair disease called Alopecia Areata. All the hair from the little girl's head had to be shaved and chances are that her hair will never grow again. It started like ringworms and then spreads all over her head.

We've already done some research on the internet. I'm just wondering if anyone from this forum has heard or have personal experience with this disease.

Thanks

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Alopecia areata (AA) is a non-scarring, inflammatory, hair loss disease that can affect men, women and children. The factors that activate the onset of alopecia areata and the mechanisms of its development are not fully understood. Circumstantial evidence suggests alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease where cells of an individual's own immune system prevent hair follicles from producing hair fiber. Although alopecia areata is not life threatening, the pressures of an image orientated society can make hair loss psychologically devastating for those affected, their families, and friends.

 

[chanou]

maybe I should move this to the hair tips forum??

 

[webby]

Chanou, one of my mother's students had alopecia, I think it was a little girl too, which is even more tramatizing.

Anyway, the child's hair had to be cut off, as you described, but then the mother used some kind of herbal mixture to bring the little girl's hair back. I don't know exactly what was used, but I'll ask my mother if she is aware. I remember that the little girl had bald patches

 

[KAddy]

I feel sad for your friend. I remember reading some information on herbal remedies to help. Check out these links:

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/alopecia/alopecia.htm#8

Alternative therapies--When drug treatments fail to bring sufficient hair regrowth, some people turn to alternative therapies. Alternatives purported to help alopecia areata include acupuncture, aroma therapy, evening primrose oil, zinc and vitamin supplements, and Chinese herbs. Because many alternative therapies are not backed by clinical trials, they may or may not be effective for regrowing hair. In fact, some may actually make hair loss worse. Furthermore, just because these therapies are natural does not mean that they are safe. As with any therapy, it is best to discuss these treatments with your doctor before you try them.

http://www.naaf.org/requestinfo/faq.asp#11

 

[kombov_dymond]

I had a friend like this is jr high. She ended up getting some kind of injections that actually made her hair start growing in. I'm not sure if that treatment is still effective for her or not. I know she was tired of wearing wigs and stuff.

 

[chanou]

Thak you ladies. I don't think my friend knows of any remedies. the doctor told her that her options were:

1) a head injection with steriod and no gaurantee the hair will grow back,
2) an oral steriod and a tropical creme that irates the area
3) lastly they told her that she could join a support group.

Webby, I would forever grateful if you can find out what the mother used.

Thanks Kaddy. I'm pasting this thread into an email for her.

 

[Wolftrap]

Why does the hair have to be all cut off? My husband had this but it was like in patches on his head. He was not told to cut his hair all off. He was given injections of some type of steroid in the bald spots and his hair grew back after a few months.

 

[chanou]

Why does the hair have to be all cut off? My husband had this but it was like in patches on his head. He was not told to cut his hair all off. He was given injections of some type of steroid in the bald spots and his hair grew back after a few months.

I think she caught it too late(long story) - The little girl had bald spot all over. She had to shave it.

 

[KAddy]

Hey Chanou,

Here is an article I found regarding using essential oils for treatment and results.

http://www.naturesgift.com/alopecia.htm

In research conducted in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland, 43 alopecia patients received daily 2-minute scalp massges with essential oils of thyme, rosemary, lavender, cedarwood, mixed with jojoba and grapeseed oils. Another 43 received scalp massages using just jojoba and grapeseed oils. After seven months, 19 people in the essential-oil group grew hair, compared to 6 people in the control group. The results included one man who regrew a full head of hair from an almost completely bald scalp, says Isabelle C. Hay, MRCP, the medical doctor and specialist in dermatology who spearheaded the study. The above comments were excerpted from Prevention Magazine.

 

[jasmin]

This terrible. How sad..

 

[vickid]

I have alopecia areata and I know how your friend feels. It has taken 10 months for my hair to begin to grow back. I get steriod injections in my scalp every other month, I can't use shampoo with sodium lauryl sulfate, I literally douse my scalp with tea tree oil/grapeseed oil mixture twice daily, massge twice daily and use an RX for scalp irritation called embeline and I use 5% rogaine and 15% rogaine at night. I didn't have to cut off all my hair. The hair will grow back but it takes time. Tell your friend to log onto minoxidil.com to get some really good info on alopecia. Good luck!

 

[Nonie]

At the risk of boring everybody again, alopecia aereta in my definition is a general term for hairloss in patches. I had that. I blame food sensitivity and stress on my condition, and had an allergy test that confirmed I had developed sensitivities to foods that until then never bothered me before. So I changed my diet avoiding those foods, but I also used a herbal remedy that has worked in tests (according to several websites that prescribe it) and it worked for me. I share my story with pics in this thread (updated pics are near the end of the thread): An Experience of Hairloss (Pics included)
I am a huge believer that food can be a cure or cause of many ailments. So when anything goes wrong, I usually seek some insight from my nutritional bible and/or consider an allergy test (www.betterhealthusa.com). It's amazing how our immunity weakens due to outside stimuli/environments or poor diet; or how we could be responding differently to things that don't affect most pple and not realize that we only need change one thing to help bring us back to good health. I'm also a huge advocate for natural remedies, coz I'm yet to hear of any side effects from them. The thing with steroids is they're addictive and you'd have to keep up the shots and who knows what else they do besides bring back hair. With natural methods, besides the absence of side effects, you can stop using the remedy once the problem is fixed and not suffer reversion. And if it doesn't work, no harm done.