Monday, September 21, 2009
New Find
I just found a great website. The amount of support and info you can find here is amazing. Check it out at www.womenshairlossproject.com.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
How Big Is Your Forehead?
Taking the advice of Dr. Keene I took a picture of my hairline with a tape measure and I'll do it again in a few months to see if it's still receding or if it's stopped/slowed down.
So my forehead measures about 3 1/2". Bet you can't beat that! ;)
You can kind of see the skin color change in the picture where my hairline used to be at around 1 1/2" - 2". You can also see how dense my hair is behind the hairline. That mix is what has the doctors I've seen so far confused. Which is why I'll be seeing a dermatologist and possibly and endocrinologist.
Friday, September 18, 2009
A Few More Opinions
Since my last post I've been to three doctors, two hair transplant specialists and one family doctor to get a referral to a dermatologist.
The first doctor, Dr. Alexander, was very nice. Although he has never seen anything like my condition in a woman he definately thought he could help me. He charges $4 a graft and he thought he would have to do it twice to get the thickness that he thinks I would be happy with. It would be about $8000 but I was so happy there was hope that I was almost ready to sign up for surgery right then. He thought it was probably traction alopecia caused by wearing a tight headband. But he also mentioned seeing an endocrinologist to make sure it wasn't hormonal.
I then went to Dr. Keene, a female hair transplant specialist. I thought it would be nice to get a female opinion. As soon as I walked in the room with my bangs in my face and my hair thrown forward she said, "it doesn't look like you have a hair loss issue."
"Oh just wait until I pull my hair back." I warned her then pulled my bangs back.
"Yes, I see now." She was shocked and immediately let me know that I probably have frontal fibrosing alopecia. Luckily I had just read about this here and knew that it usually only affects post menopausal women and they also lose their eyebrows. She suggested I see a dermatologist first to rule that out. They will do a biopsy and send it to a dermapathologist to determine the diagnosis. She also suggested taking a picture with a tape measure and then doing it again later to compare the measurements and make sure that my hairline is not still receding. Very good idea!
Since no one has really seen something like my hairloss I set my next appointment with my general practitioner to get referrals to an endocrinologist and a dermatologist. I'm starting to realize this is going to be a very long journey but I hope it's one that turns out well.
The problems the doctors are having are that I'm only 33 and female. The hairloss was gradual and we don't know if it would continue since I'm now using minoxidil and Nioxin. I don't dare stop either one of these since I haven't noticed my hairline receding since I started them. The other issue that's confusing is I don't have any mininturized hairs. There is a definite line where my hair is receding and then it starts to grow in thick again. I'm feeling like I'm the only person in this world that is having this type of hairloss but I know there must be others. So speak up! Let me know you're out there and if you've found something that has worked for you pass it on please!!!!
The first doctor, Dr. Alexander, was very nice. Although he has never seen anything like my condition in a woman he definately thought he could help me. He charges $4 a graft and he thought he would have to do it twice to get the thickness that he thinks I would be happy with. It would be about $8000 but I was so happy there was hope that I was almost ready to sign up for surgery right then. He thought it was probably traction alopecia caused by wearing a tight headband. But he also mentioned seeing an endocrinologist to make sure it wasn't hormonal.
I then went to Dr. Keene, a female hair transplant specialist. I thought it would be nice to get a female opinion. As soon as I walked in the room with my bangs in my face and my hair thrown forward she said, "it doesn't look like you have a hair loss issue."
"Oh just wait until I pull my hair back." I warned her then pulled my bangs back.
"Yes, I see now." She was shocked and immediately let me know that I probably have frontal fibrosing alopecia. Luckily I had just read about this here and knew that it usually only affects post menopausal women and they also lose their eyebrows. She suggested I see a dermatologist first to rule that out. They will do a biopsy and send it to a dermapathologist to determine the diagnosis. She also suggested taking a picture with a tape measure and then doing it again later to compare the measurements and make sure that my hairline is not still receding. Very good idea!
Since no one has really seen something like my hairloss I set my next appointment with my general practitioner to get referrals to an endocrinologist and a dermatologist. I'm starting to realize this is going to be a very long journey but I hope it's one that turns out well.
The problems the doctors are having are that I'm only 33 and female. The hairloss was gradual and we don't know if it would continue since I'm now using minoxidil and Nioxin. I don't dare stop either one of these since I haven't noticed my hairline receding since I started them. The other issue that's confusing is I don't have any mininturized hairs. There is a definite line where my hair is receding and then it starts to grow in thick again. I'm feeling like I'm the only person in this world that is having this type of hairloss but I know there must be others. So speak up! Let me know you're out there and if you've found something that has worked for you pass it on please!!!!
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