Author: baldbrillance

Bald Reality

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How do you know if you have Alopecia Areata? Generally, the first symptom is that you will notice a small bald patch or patches. It is typically a round or oval spot that is completely bald and feels smooth. When I first noticed that I had a bald spot, I thought it was the result of always wearing ponytails and my hair breaking off. Soon the one bald spot was followed by other spots.

Bald Patches

If you think, you have Alopecia Areata, it is best to visit your doctor. He or she, may refer you to a dermatologist for further examination. The dermatologist will most likely be able to determine if it is Alopecia just from visually examining the spots and going through a medical history with you. The dermatologist may pull at the hair that is close to the bald spot to see if it comes out easily and examine the hair strands. They may send you for blood work to rule out other possibilities and verify that it is Alopecia. Don’t be scared, I remember when I went for the blood work and I thought for sure something really awful was wrong with me. They took a lot of blood much more than the normal set of labs. In some cases, the dermatologist may perform a biopsy of one of the bald spots. Once the dermatologist verifies that it is Alopecia, they will suggest some treatment options.

It is scary and stressful when you first determine you have bald patches. Alopecia is not as scary as it may seem when you are first diagnosed. You may be able to cover your bald spots, you may respond great to the treatment plans, your hair might come back on its own and at the worst case scenario you are bald. You can decide to wear wigs, scarfs, bandana or just go bald. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you having Alopecia is not stressful. However, it is important to recognize the reality of Alopecia. It may be life changing but it is not life threatening.

Now for some humour.

One night at our ladies ringette game, I had hung my wig up and put on my bandana for under my helment. A fellow player comes around the corner into the dress room and lets out a scream. We are all startled and then she proceeds to tell us she could see some hair hanging from a hook and her first thought was that someone had hung themselves in the dressing room and no one was doing anything about it. It was just my wig!! “Oh, Lois.” The team had a good laugh.

Choose to laugh,
Shannon

All different types!

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I was recently at a massage therapist and there is always that awkward moment of having to tell that you are wearing a wig. So, I tell her that I have alopecia and say that I will remove my wig during the massage. Her comment to me was “I thought people with alopecia had no eyebrows.” She did not realize that Alopecia comes in different types.

Some of the more common types of Alopecia include Alopecia Areata, Alopecia Areata Totalis, Alopecia Areata Univesalis and Androgenic Alopecia.

Alopecia Areata – most common type, round, smooth patches on the scalp that can be various sizes. Spotty appearance!

Alopecia Areata Totalis – Total loss of hair on the scalp. Shiny bald!

Alopecia Areata Universalis – Loss of hair on entire scalp and body. This form is least common.

Androgenic Alopecia – “male pattern baldness”. This type of alopecia can occur in both males and females and is genetic. It is linked to have an excessive amount of male hormones around the hair follicles.

In my case, I have Alopecia Areata where I have a large number of hair loss spots on my scalp. The spots sizes and locations change. At one point, I did lose my eyelashes but thankfully they grew back. It is hard to believe that your eyelashes play such an important role in keeping your eyes clean and free of dust particles.

Keeping with the theme of all differnt types!! I come in all differnt types! I love getting new wigs and changing my look. I go from short to long, curly to straight, all colours and even some pink highlights. Sometimes, I even go with the sideways look! Yes, sideways!! In a mad dash out the door this winter to an early morning hockey practice, I quickly put on a short, spikey wig. I get our son out on the ice and sit down to watch him. I had chatted with a number of parents by this point not one of them mentioning that I looked like a crazy lady! I’m sitting watching and go to brush my bangs out of my eyes when I realize its not my bangs. The bangs are nicely covering my ear!! So with out hesitation, I straighten the wig out. I see our son looking into the stands but wasn’t sure if he saw me adjust the wig. He did see me and we had a good laugh on the way home from the rink!

Keep Laughing,
Shannon

Why me?

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Hello,

Why do you have Alopecia and not your sibling or your parents? Why does your brother have thick, curly, beautiful hair and you have Alopecia? Why me?? I have asked myself this question many times.

It seems that there is not a real clear answer to the question; however there is evidence that genetics does play a role. Genetics may predispose you to the disease meaning that you are more susceptible to get Alopecia. You may however have the genes and never experience Alopecia. Alopecia can occur after some type of stressor or trigger in your environment which can be anything from a virus to a stressful event. This is why sometimes health care workers will tell you it is stress related.

It is possible that alopecia can be inherited but it does not necessarily mean that if you have it, one of your parents has it or that you will give it to your children. And Alopecia is not contagious!! I had a good chuckle one day at the gym; I overheard two ladies talking and wondering if I was contagious. At first, I was mad and upset but realized it’s just the ingorance of not understanding.

The good news is Alopecia is not life threatening!! Yes, it can be life changing as it affects your appearance and the way people react to you. However, you have to remember the big picture and choose to approach it with a positive attitude. 

Now for some humour, one summer a group of friends went on a golfing weekend. We decided to go water sliding after golf. I was wearing a bandana as I generally do when I’m doing water sports. I headed down the slide and to my surprise there were three sections where the was a drop into a pool of swirling water. I hit the first drop into the swirling water and my bandana came off. I quickly stand up in the swirling water and I’m trying to grab it but it keeps getting away on me. I feel like a cat trying to catch a fish.  I would just about have the bandana and then the water would swirl and I would miss it. Too make matters worse; I look over to see three boys looking down watching me, pointing and laughing hysterically.  I decide I would dive at the bandana, which maybe was not the best idea as the extra water splash gives the bandana enough momentum to go to the next section of the slide. So after it I go and eventually I did catch up to the bandana and managed to get it back on my head before reaching the bottom.  I spent the rest of the day on the lazy river, floating on a tub.  I had only been wearing wigs for a year or so when this happened, so needless to say, it was rather stressful for me at the time. I did however; choose to laugh about it with my friends that evening.

Choose to Laugh,

Shannon

My first blog! Scared but excited.

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Hi,

My name is Shannon and I have Alopecia.

I decided to create a blog for awareness, education and provide readers with some humour.

I have had Alopecia for over 20 years and have been wearing wigs for 13 years.  Having Alopecia may not be life threatening but it has its own challenges and can be very stressful.  Before I started wearing wigs, I would try to cover my bald spots which would cause be alot of stress. I tried the corticosteroid creams and injections over the years. I remember the last time I went for injections and it was a horrible experience. I got 100’s of injections in my scalp and it was bleeding. I thought to myself, I am never doing this again and it was not long after that I decided to started wearing wigs.  Once, I made the decision to start wearing wigs, it was kind of a relief but brought some different challenges like what do you do when you want to go swimming, sports, etc.

I have tried to approach having to wear wigs with a positive attitude and think of it as an awesome accessory that I have that other people don’t. I change my wigs  from short to long, brown to blonde, and curly to straight. I get alot of strange looks from people that see me on a regular basis but don’t really know me.

Yesterday, I was at a spa and pool trying to have some relaxation time. I was wearing a bandana in the pool which brings with it looks of sadness because people assume I’m in cancer treatments. It always amazes me though of the comments and questions. I was sitting enjoying the outside area in the hottub when a gentleman made his way toward me and I knew he was going to ask me a question. Sure enough, he was actually going through chemo. We had a nice  conversation and I explained what Alopecia is and how I have been bald for a number of years.  Shortly, after he left I had three little old ladies basically corner me and ask me some similar questions.  I know that they were just concerned.  Yesterday, gave me the push I needed to make my first blog post. I have been trying to get enough courage to start an Alopecia blog for sometime.

So what is Alopeica Areata (AA) – well basically it is hair loss on part or all of your body.  Why? Your immune system decides it is a good idea to attack your hair follicles and causes your hair to fall out and stop growing!

I want to leave you with some humour.  WIND is not my friend! I have a number of funny stories related to wind incidents. I will start with the very first time I lost my wig due to a wind gust. I was on a hunt for a stool for my Grandma and it was not going well. I decided to make one more stop at Winners to see if they had anything that would work. It was a miserable, windy day. I got out of my vehicle and before I could put my hand on my head to secure my wig, it was gone. It is going accross the parking lot at a fairly good pace so I start running after it and finally get close enough to STOMP on it.  I just bought that wig and was not going to lose it. I looked up and see a man sitting in his vehicle. He  is in complete disbelief of what just happened. I’m sure he had a good story for his wife when she got out of the store. I pick up the wig put it on and march right into Winners. Surprisingly, they had exactly what I was looking for right near the enterance. I get the stool and head to the cash register, pay and get back to my vehicle. I pull down my visor mirror to check out the wig damage and there is a basically a shoe print on the top of my head and I look like a crazy woman!!  The teller must of thought I just got out of the looney bin. I had two chooses, I could cry or I could laugh.  I choose to laugh and have had many laughs over the years with my friends over that story!

Looking forward to blogging and if I can help one person understand Alopecia or help an Alopecia suffer like me then I have done some good with my blog!

Choose to laugh,

Shannon