Eyebrows

[BarbaraJ]

Hi,
I have alopecia areata and am bald and basically have no hair anywhere on my body. All this happened in about 1-1/2 years. I donated 12 inches of my hair to Locks of Love and then 4 months later noticed my first bald patch. It just escalated from there and I was wearing bandanas everyday starting at about 3 months after that. Now, I cannot believe that I have no hair, pretty much anywhere on my body. I bought my first wig in May and my second in November last year. I only wear a wig when I go out and the minute I get home I rip that thing off my head. I'm glad I work from home. My mom is a cancer survivor so she is always sending me her wigs or ones she gets from cancer support groups. Of course, they are always in a style that she likes. But she is thinking about me and I know that she loves me.

I only have very few eyelashes on the top on my right eye and on the lower lid of my right eye. There are some eyebrows that are starting to grow back, but only after multiple trips to the dermatologist and steroid injections.

I was wondering about a couple of things. Has anyone tried Latisse to grow your eyelashes? If so, did you start with no eyelashes or just thin eyelashes? Did you have any success?

One more question/idea about eyebrows. If they can do hair replacement for thinning hair, is there any way they could do that for eyebrows also? I am looking for someway, other than tatooing, to have eyebrows that I don't have to draw on every day.

If you have made it this far through my post, I have a tip about eyebrows and drawing them on. I know if you just draw them on they can look harsh. Use an eyebrow brush and brush the line to smudge it a bit. That way it won't look so harsh and it seems to blend better.

Having no hair has a lot of advantages (especially now in the summer) - I'm saving money on stylists, products, waxing - but I would most definitely trade that all in to have a bad hair day again!

Thanks for reading this and letting me ramble on. :)

[mymanego]

You sound like you've taken your sudden hairloss with grace and determination to look for a possible cure. I haven't tried any product that claims to result in hair loss because I figure most of them are scams. But I would be very wary about taking any medication - I think the side effects may not be worth it.

Thanks for the tip about drawing eyebrows.

And I agree, I would rather have those bad hair days of the past than the balding hair days of the present.

Good luck!

[Bunanza1751]

I recently lost my leg hair, arm hair, and eyebrows. Head is still okay. However, having always had dark prominent eyebrows, I felt somewhat naked without them. Recently I heard about an excellent tatooist, and she did my eyebrows two weeks ago. Best thing I have ever done for myself! They look wonderful, and I can swim etc without worry. Just check out the person before you go to them -- should be under permanent makeup.

[Corinne13106]

Hi Barbara!

I am so sorry to hear that you have to deal with all of this but it is so nice to meet someone that has a very similar situation as mine! You have asked so many of the same questions that I have!

I lost all my hair starting about a year ago this month. Within 6-8 weeks it was gone, no real warning or working it way towards it…just gone. So, I also have no eyebrows, no eyelashes, and have also lost all my body hair (and yes it is so glorious not have to worry about shaving this summer- but to always have baby smooth hairless legs :)).

I have also been receiving Kenalog injections in my eyebrows for a few months now. I think I just had my third round. They worked great but my dr. told me at our last visit that after 1 year of this treatment it needs to be reevaluated to see if the hair is starting to grow on its own or not. Well, in the last two weeks I've come to the realization that it is not, and fairly soon I will choose not to have any more injections. I also asked the dr. about Latisse and b/c it has not been tested on pt w/out hair I don't think at this time I will put any money or time in it.

I also choose the injections b/w drawing my eyebrows on every morning and the idea of getting a tattoo. I thought, what could be better than having my own hair growing! But now, I have to accept that I can't take injections for ever. Now I probably will consider the tattoo and may end up getting one before the year is out. Personally, I am not likely to consider a hair transplant b/c it seems like such an ordeal and with the possibility with more complications than a tattoo.

"I would most definitely trade that all in to have a bad hair day again!" (I said this exact thing just earlier this week when I was with some friends grieving my current hair situation and accepting my thinning eyebrows)

"...because even if you have a bad hair day you can always take a shower and start all over again" :(:)

Corinne