Saturday, April 24, 2010

Central Cicatricial Alopecia

On February 22, I was diagnosed with central cicatricial alopecia. This type of alopecia is also known as scarring alopecia because inflammation destroys the hair follicle causing a “scarring” below the scalp’s surface. "Central" refers to the area in which the alopecia starts (the center top of the head) and the fact that the alopecia spreads out.  At first, I was devastated – I cried for days. The dermatologist said that the likelihood of my hair growing back was slim but that she would do her best to stop the hair loss from spreading. So my doctor immediately started me on rigorous regimen of creams (some twice a day) and scalp shots (every six weeks).
 


I waited a while to share this because I was still coping with the news.  But now I am in attack mode! :).  I think the hair loss has stopped (for the time being) but I am prayerful that my hair will grow back in the affected areas.


So part of the reason I wanted a darker hair color, was to help my hair to look thicker (because of all the hair I lost at the top/front of my head) and to just give my hair that healthy look that darker hair usually has.  And as I would like to eventually go back to my natural hair color, so dying my hair darker will allow me to grow out my color without the extreme differences in color.


So today, I went to see Nicole and we talked about my situation.  She agreed that going with a darker, richer color would be a good idea and a great change.  She used a demi-permanent chocolate color and I am beyond happy with the results.  She trimmed a LOT of my hair but it looks so healthy and I feel like I have a new head of hair.  Wearing my hair straight is a challenge because I have to hide the thin top section, so I am still not completely comfortable wearing my hair blown out.  I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the situation.