***!!! ~ I'm a Survivor ~ !!! ***

Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll

Well-Known Member
"I'm a survivor (what),
I'm not gonna give up (what),
I'm not gon' stop (what),
I'm gonna work harder (what)!"



~Alopecia Survivor Thread~

I thought it would be a great idea to start a thread dedicated to those of us who have overcome severe hair loss and scalp trauma whether from alopecia, stress, chemical damage, etc.

Sometimes it's hard to gauge your progress when you see so many wonderful heads of hair on the board!

It may appear that you're not progressing very well, however, it's a very different story when you are regrowing hair from compromised follicles, not because you chose to BC.

I don't think we give enough support to those facing this very challenging situation.

So here's a haven to share your success, challenges and reggies - and hopefully, share your pics (when you're ready - no pressure).

As always, blessings to ya!
~Br*nze
 
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SilverSurfer

Well-Known Member
I'm a survivor, been suffering with this on and off for the past 5 years that I have been natural. Mine seems to be hormonal and started once I started having children and is especially bad a few months after delivery. It grows and it falls out. I have been to specialist but I am now managing to treat it myself and it's doing well again. I'll post pictures in a few.

Ok here are some pictures, although I have been having this issue on and off since 2004 but 2007 was the worst it had ever been coupled with a bad hair product I was using needless to say when it gets close to this bad, I just shave it all off and start over

2007


And this is my hair a few days ago. I've gotten to this point, at least 4 times in my 6 years of being natural. Hopefully it will last but I fear if I got pregnant again, it might happen again and the cycle starts all over
 
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camilla

Well-Known Member
My alopecia was from birth control at first we did not know what it was from i had a two golfball size patches missing. I went to the dermatologist and that was the first question she asked this was years ago so i have no pics
 

lovenharmony

ET / OT Bonafide Member
I am definitely a survivor! I've been surviving scalp trauma since I was 8 years old :yep: When I was ilttle, I used to play around in the dirt (was a tomboy) and mistakenly scratched my head before I washed my hands. A couple of days later, my head broke out in sores and my mom took me took the doctor to find out what was going on. I had given myself a bacterial infection on my scalp and my hair had started falling out in clumps! I was given antibiotics and they went away within a couple of weeks. Thank goodness my hair grew back longer and stronger than before.

Of course that didn't last too long cause around age 12, I started relaxing my hair. I remember this one time I went to a stylist to relax my hair, I told her that my scalp was sensitive and she decided to keep the relaxer on my head for over half an hour to "make sure it came out super straight" :rolleyes: BTW, my mom was with me when she said this but she also believed that the relaxer wasn't working unless your scalp started burning! Anyways, 2 1/2 hours later my hair is looking like an Asian lady's short bob and all the clients are oohing and ahhing over how my hair looked and how it had that swang, my scalp was covered in open "weeping" sores that had me in tears!. It was from then on that I decided not to go back to stylists to do my hair...that I would do my relaxers at home instead. There was one sore that was so bad that it took years for any hair to grow back in that section. I really thought hair would never grow back there again.

After all of that, miraculously, my hair grew back to around shoulder length by the time I was 15. Then RIO happened. If anyone doesn't know about RIO, it was an around the clock infomercial that used to come on back in the mid 90s that talked about an alternative straightening system which claimed to have no chemicals in it that would naturally straighten your hair and give it loads of body and that swang. The infomercial was very convincing with using RIO on clients taken from the audience "live" and parting their hair on television to show they were not wearing wigs when they came from back stage with lucious straight hair swanging!

Well, I bought into the hype and followed the directions of NOT NEEDING TO NEUTRALIZE BECAUSE IT WASN'T A CHEMICAL and not putting any kind of moisturizer on it after I placed the product on my hair...Within a couple of days my thick shoulder length hair was SEE THROUGH and all of the hair in the back had broken off! :wallbash: To this day, I thank the heavens that I didn't damage my scalp to the point that I wouldn't be able to grow back my thick fluffy hair that I adore! Of course that wasn't the last thing I tried....I also tried using permanent color over relaxed hair in my early 20's with ill effects. All of the color treated hair fell out within a couple of months. Finally when I reached my breaking point, I had pretty much had given up on my hair and started experimenting with wigs and sew in weaves. The shortest length was ear length with the nape GONE. people thought I had cut my hair in a Halle Berry hairstyle when the truth was that it broke off that way :rolleyes:

In a way, those events from the past is what made me so hair obsessed! :lachen: Since then, I've been trying to grow my hair back long and strong and to understand what the chemicals actually do to the hair and scalp to either hinder or stimulate growth. That's why I decided to go natural recently as well because my hair (and scalp) was the healthiest when I kept the chemicals OUT! Thanks to LHCF, my hair is the longest it's ever been in my life! That's why I have lots of love for all my LHCF sisters...there are many others who have suffered worse hair and scalp traumas than myself and they keep going!

I can definitely sing that song loud and proud...I AM a survivor!
 
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Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll

Well-Known Member
Thank you, ChiChiStar, Camilla and Lovenharmony for sharing. You ladies are true survivors. Sing it loud and proud!

There is hope for hair loss - I just love that!
 

JLOVELY

New Member
This is a great thread. I don't suffer from alopecia but my aunt does. I would really love to offer her some advice so that she can grow her hair back but I am not familiar with this issue. If anyone has some advice on methods of growing hair back or if anyone knows of any other threads with great info I would appreciate it if you could post them.
TIA ladies
 

Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll

Well-Known Member
Thanks JLovely. Definitely - definitely share links and info that can offer insight or provide help to someone working their way out of this.
 

LynnieB

Well-Known Member
Thanks LynnieB - you are definitely an inspiration. Girl - you got hair to share! I wouldn't mind some, thank you.

You know, I half way didn't want to click on this thread because just reading the word alopecia brings back a big surge of emotional chaos for me. Those emotions are sooooooo fresh - still.

Hopefully all of us can be a success story in some way, whether the hair grows back or not, there are many ways to cope with it. Support is #1 especially from those who have or who are living with it.

Everyone can help (hopefully) uplift the next one and then another and so on....:yep:
 

SelfStyled

Well-Known Member
Survivor checking in. I was diagnosed with genetic hair loss in 2007. On top of that i am a REALLY slow grower. After the birth of my last child, my beloved Connor who is now 6. I suffered post partum hair loss so bad. It was completely unlike anything I had ever experienced with my other 2 kids. Like an idiot I weaved my hair up to let my hair have a chance to recover. You all know how the story goes.......weaves became a kind of crutch for me, it was so easy to stay weaved up. I now had 3 kids, I was so busy, working trying to be a wife, etc, etc.

Thank the Lord in 2007 I discovered hair boards. I laugh/cry to think of how I found the hair boards. My silly self was looking up how to blend curly weave hair with my hair:look::nono:. I found awesome tips on BHM, but the more I researched in the growth areas of the board, I realized weaving did not not agree with me. On BHM I learned about LHCF and the rest is history. I was ready to handle and deal with my own hair.

The biggest change in my hair is that it is much thinner overall. I never had thick hair to begin with, so the loss of density really pains me. My progress has been so painstakingly slow, I feel like giving up sometimes. But I know that I won't because I really love hair period. Taking care of my hair has become such a hobby for me:yep:. I have not achieved great lengths these last two years at all, but my hair is way healthier and I know it so much better. I am a complete DIY'er now.

I have tried many different things since I have been here. What works for me is a very simple regimen. I wash and DC every 5 days, and moisturize daily. I also make sure to take a multi, biotin and MSM. I am also on a prescribed DHT blocker, that has been wonderful in the fact that while I haven't seen much improvement in gaining back density, it has halted my hair loss.

Thank you so much for saying it so well:hug2:. Progress is different when you are trying to achieve it with follicles that are challenged.


Some pics of my journey



My most recent picture....

Oct 09

 

pookaloo83

New Member
I have follicle damage in the front. It's short and piecy. It itches alot there too. Right in the front where my bangs are supposed to be. I can't do alot of styles, but oh well. I just started taking Biotin last week. I need to go and get a multi vitamin too. I was told I had low iron levels. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. I also noticed that when I was natural, I didn't have any hair loss in the front anymore. I wonder if it's my relaxers causing this as well.

My mom had the same hair loss as me and in the same area. My sisters hair fell out from using relaxers. And I mean FELL OUT. In clumps. She is now natural. I'm thinking that this should be my next option as well.
 

Stella B.

Well-Known Member
Wow, tons of inspiration here! You ladies are great examples of how you can overcome setbacks and still reach your goals! Great idea, Bronze! I personally think that we're all shero's in this great hairjourney that we've embarked upon. We had the nerve and the courage to accept whatever poor state our hair was in and came on board to try to make it better. Much admiration for the ladies who wanted to make it better, but had to overcome medical hair and scalp issues as well as the normal set backs we all experience. Thanks for sharing your personal and very private insights of strength and coping with us.
 

dcprdiva

New Member
I am definitely a survivor! I've been surviving scalp trauma since I was 8 years old :yep: When I was ilttle, I used to play around in the dirt (was a tomboy) and mistakenly scratched my head before I washed my hands. A couple of days later, my head broke out in sores and my mom took me took the doctor to find out what was going on. I had given myself a bacterial infection on my scalp and my hair had started falling out in clumps! I was given antibiotics and they went away within a couple of weeks. Thank goodness my hair grew back longer and stronger than before.

Of course that didn't last too long cause around age 12, I started relaxing my hair. I remember this one time I went to a stylist to relax my hair, I told her that my scalp was sensitive and she decided to keep the relaxer on my head for over half an hour to "make sure it came out super straight" :rolleyes: BTW, my mom was with me when she said this but she also believed that the relaxer wasn't working unless your scalp started burning! Anyways, 2 1/2 hours later my hair is looking like an Asian lady's short bob and all the clients are oohing and ahhing over how my hair looked and how it had that swang, my scalp was covered in open "weeping" sores that had me in tears!. It was from then on that I decided not to go back to stylists to do my hair...that I would do my relaxers at home instead. There was one sore that was so bad that it took years for any hair to grow back in that section. I really thought hair would never grow back there again.

After all of that, miraculously, my hair grew back to around shoulder length by the time I was 15. Then RIO happened. If anyone doesn't know about RIO, it was an around the clock infomercial that used to come on back in the mid 90s that talked about an alternative straightening system which claimed to have no chemicals in it that would naturally straighten your hair and give it loads of body and that swang. The infomercial was very convincing with using RIO on clients taken from the audience "live" and parting their hair on television to show they were not wearing wigs when they came from back stage with lucious straight hair swanging!

Well, I bought into the hype and followed the directions of NOT NEEDING TO NEUTRALIZE BECAUSE IT WASN'T A CHEMICAL and not putting any kind of moisturizer on it after I placed the product on my hair...Within a couple of days my thick shoulder length hair was SEE THROUGH and all of the hair in the back had broken off! :wallbash: To this day, I thank the heavens that I didn't damage my scalp to the point that I wouldn't be able to grow back my thick fluffy hair that I adore! Of course that wasn't the last thing I tried....I also tried using permanent color over relaxed hair in my early 20's with ill effects. All of the color treated hair fell out within a couple of months. Finally when I reached my breaking point, I had pretty much had given up on my hair and started experimenting with wigs and sew in weaves. The shortest length was ear length with the nape GONE. people thought I had cut my hair in a Halle Berry hairstyle when the truth was that it broke off that way :rolleyes:

In a way, those events from the past is what made me so hair obsessed! :lachen: Since then, I've been trying to grow my hair back long and strong and to understand what the chemicals actually do to the hair and scalp to either hinder or stimulate growth. That's why I decided to go natural recently as well because my hair (and scalp) was the healthiest when I kept the chemicals OUT! Thanks to LHCF, my hair is the longest it's ever been in my life! That's why I have lots of love for all my LHCF sisters...there are many others who have suffered worse hair and scalp traumas than myself and they keep going!

I can definitely sing that song loud and proud...I AM a survivor!

My mom and two sisters used Rio - needless to say they both had to cut their BSL hair to neck or shorter! I didn't use Rio, but I saw the damage! I'm glad that stuff is off the market! You hair looks great too!
 

SistaSista

New Member
Survivor checking in. I was diagnosed with genetic hair loss in 2007. On top of that i am a REALLY slow grower. After the birth of my last child, my beloved Connor who is now 6. I suffered post partum hair loss so bad. It was completely unlike anything I had ever experienced with my other 2 kids. Like an idiot I weaved my hair up to let my hair have a chance to recover. You all know how the story goes.......weaves became a kind of crutch for me, it was so easy to stay weaved up. I now had 3 kids, I was so busy, working trying to be a wife, etc, etc.

Thank the Lord in 2007 I discovered hair boards. I laugh/cry to think of how I found the hair boards. My silly self was looking up how to blend curly weave hair with my hair:look::nono:. I found awesome tips on BHM, but the more I researched in the growth areas of the board, I realized weaving did not not agree with me. On BHM I learned about LHCF and the rest is history. I was ready to handle and deal with my own hair.

The biggest change in my hair is that it is much thinner overall. I never had thick hair to begin with, so the loss of density really pains me. My progress has been so painstakingly slow, I feel like giving up sometimes. But I know that I won't because I really love hair period. Taking care of my hair has become such a hobby for me:yep:. I have not achieved great lengths these last two years at all, but my hair is way healthier and I know it so much better. I am a complete DIY'er now.

I have tried many different things since I have been here. What works for me is a very simple regimen. I wash and DC every 5 days, and moisturize daily. I also make sure to take a multi, biotin and MSM. I am also on a prescribed DHT blocker, that has been wonderful in the fact that while I haven't seen much improvement in gaining back density, it has halted my hair loss.

Thank you so much for saying it so well:hug2:. Progress is different when you are trying to achieve it with follicles that are challenged.


Some pics of my journey



My most recent picture....

Oct 09


You've made great progress.
 

Mrs. Verde

Well-Known Member
Survivor checking in. I was diagnosed with genetic hair loss in 2007. On top of that i am a REALLY slow grower. After the birth of my last child, my beloved Connor who is now 6. I suffered post partum hair loss so bad. It was completely unlike anything I had ever experienced with my other 2 kids. Like an idiot I weaved my hair up to let my hair have a chance to recover. You all know how the story goes.......weaves became a kind of crutch for me, it was so easy to stay weaved up. I now had 3 kids, I was so busy, working trying to be a wife, etc, etc.

Thank the Lord in 2007 I discovered hair boards. I laugh/cry to think of how I found the hair boards. My silly self was looking up how to blend curly weave hair with my hair:look::nono:. I found awesome tips on BHM, but the more I researched in the growth areas of the board, I realized weaving did not not agree with me. On BHM I learned about LHCF and the rest is history. I was ready to handle and deal with my own hair.

The biggest change in my hair is that it is much thinner overall. I never had thick hair to begin with, so the loss of density really pains me. My progress has been so painstakingly slow, I feel like giving up sometimes. But I know that I won't because I really love hair period. Taking care of my hair has become such a hobby for me:yep:. I have not achieved great lengths these last two years at all, but my hair is way healthier and I know it so much better. I am a complete DIY'er now.

I have tried many different things since I have been here. What works for me is a very simple regimen. I wash and DC every 5 days, and moisturize daily. I also make sure to take a multi, biotin and MSM. I am also on a prescribed DHT blocker, that has been wonderful in the fact that while I haven't seen much improvement in gaining back density, it has halted my hair loss.

Thank you so much for saying it so well:hug2:. Progress is different when you are trying to achieve it with follicles that are challenged.


Some pics of my journey



My most recent picture....

Oct 09


Now that right there is some PROGRESS!!!! Looks great.
 

Missigirl

New Member
I'm a survivor!!! I did not know what I had until I joined this site. All I know was one day I noticed my hair was gone in one spot about the size of a silver dollar, I'm talking the old silver dollar. It was awful and I felt helpless and afraid.
I'm using dial up so I can not upload any before pics. My sigi is my now shots. It is still a little thin, but the hair around the spot grew a whole lot.
 

Rain20

Well-Known Member
I am recovering from alopecia areata. It seemed to start after a super stressful time at work. I am using a steroid cream and Rogaine 5% and it is filling in. Hopefully it will be fully filled in by the end of Dec or January. I have never experienced anything like this before. I am trying to decrease my stress but I sometimes look at the area and get a bit discouraged and worried that it may not totally fill in. I thought I was just having breakage from a bad perm. So I cut may hair short. Now it seems to be growing back so slowly. I have started using a MT/MN mix for the unaffected areas but no miracle growth yet.

Thanks for starting the thread BB.

Great progess SS

LonnieB: Thanks for posting the link to ur fotki.
 
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Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll

Well-Known Member
Those are great testimonies! Awesome progress. Luv that.

Thanks for sharing, everyone.

I was looking at my hair today and my heart kinda dropped. I remembered when i used to pull my hair back and wear a headband and it would hurt, because I had so much hair - this was when my hair was relaxed bone straight, bsl.

I forget the dang thang is on, now.

*sigh*

One day at a time. One day at a time.
 

winnettag

New Member
You know, thinking about it just now, I think I found hair boards while trying to find a "cure" for my scalp problem a few years ago.
I managed to get a smooth round bald spot right on the front of my head about half an inch in diameter (I know there are ladies facing much more serious scalp problems, but it was very traumatic for me then).
I don't have pics because I didn't want to remember it and I wasn't into hair boards at the time....I would have been too embarassed to post them then anyway.
I think I got the bald spot from my sister braiding my hair too tight and my wigs rubbing against my hairline.
I surfed the internet until I read about emu oil and ordered it from treasuredlocks.com (H2G growth serum) and found a gel headband to wear under my wigs. It started to fill back in soon after making those changes and it's just a faint, horrible memory now.
Thank heavens for LHCF!
 

Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll

Well-Known Member
SelfStyled, can you share the name of your prescribed DHT blocker?

Thanks so much for sharing...

your hair looks really good, btw. :yep: AMAZING progress.

Survivor checking in. I was diagnosed with genetic hair loss in 2007. On top of that i am a REALLY slow grower. After the birth of my last child, my beloved Connor who is now 6. I suffered post partum hair loss so bad. It was completely unlike anything I had ever experienced with my other 2 kids. Like an idiot I weaved my hair up to let my hair have a chance to recover. You all know how the story goes.......weaves became a kind of crutch for me, it was so easy to stay weaved up. I now had 3 kids, I was so busy, working trying to be a wife, etc, etc.

Thank the Lord in 2007 I discovered hair boards. I laugh/cry to think of how I found the hair boards. My silly self was looking up how to blend curly weave hair with my hair:look::nono:. I found awesome tips on BHM, but the more I researched in the growth areas of the board, I realized weaving did not not agree with me. On BHM I learned about LHCF and the rest is history. I was ready to handle and deal with my own hair.

The biggest change in my hair is that it is much thinner overall. I never had thick hair to begin with, so the loss of density really pains me. My progress has been so painstakingly slow, I feel like giving up sometimes. But I know that I won't because I really love hair period. Taking care of my hair has become such a hobby for me:yep:. I have not achieved great lengths these last two years at all, but my hair is way healthier and I know it so much better. I am a complete DIY'er now.

I have tried many different things since I have been here. What works for me is a very simple regimen. I wash and DC every 5 days, and moisturize daily. I also make sure to take a multi, biotin and MSM. I am also on a prescribed DHT blocker, that has been wonderful in the fact that while I haven't seen much improvement in gaining back density, it has halted my hair loss.

Thank you so much for saying it so well:hug2:. Progress is different when you are trying to achieve it with follicles that are challenged.


Some pics of my journey



My most recent picture....

Oct 09

 
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