A Little Information

[deecoily]

I found this information while doing research on hair and skin problems. Hope it helps.

Miniaturized follicles – At age 15, hair follicles actively produce thick, heavy terminal hair for about 3.6 years during the anagen phase then shrink during the dormant telogen phase for about 4 months. As we age, the follicle's anagen phase progressively shortens while the telogen phase lengthens. The net result is a progressive shrinkage of follicle size during the anagen phase and this produces thinner, slower growing hair. (5,6) Hair conditioners are used to thicken the hair shaft with fats and proteins to give the appearance of fuller, more-youthful hair.

Increase in length of dormant follicle phase – While this change is usually attributed to DHT actions, other factors such a damage caused by excessive heat, coloring agents, and relaxers may also produce follicle damage that results in less functional follicles.

Inadequate follicle microcirculation – The synthesis of new hair necessitates a very high nutrient flow to the follicle bulb. Morphological studies often observe a markedly diminished capillary blood supply in aged, miniaturized follicles. This alone may be the cause of follicle miniaturization and inadequate hair syntheses. (5-7)

Inflammation around follicles – Many dysfunctional follicles appear to have an auto-immune inflammation around the follicle. It has been proposed that follicular inflammation is the final step in the sequence of events that ultimately produces inactive follicles that are incapable of producing thick, terminal hair. (5-7)

Decreased subcutaneous fat layer – The layer of fat at the base of the skin, also known as subcutaneous adipose tissue or colloquially called “baby fat”, diminishes with age. Researchers have noted the accumulation of this fat around healthy follicles that are vigorously growing hair, and its relative lack in around dormant follicles, and have postulated that these fat cells serve a supportive function for the hair follicle. Conditions that inhibit hair growth such as chemotherapy or starvation, also decrease the subcutaneous fat layer (5-7).

Damage from relaxers, excessive heat, coloring agents and dyes – Numerous common procedures damage scalp health and hair follicles. Scalp damage from relaxers, permanents, color cosmetics with their organic dyes and metallic salts, and excessive heat from blow dryers and hot oil treatments that can literally boil the follicles, all can combine to damage the hair follicle and reduce hair growth. This is often most noticeable in women as a decrease or loss of eyebrows and eyelashes by age 40.

Lack of sulfur donors – Hair is composed of 35% sulfur containing amino acids. Only feathers in birds have similar levels of such amino acids. Nutritional surfer supplements such as MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane) have long been used to improve the hair coats of racehorses and are increasingly being used to improve hair health in humans.

Graying of hair – The hair colors are produced in pigment cells in the follicles. The amino acid tyrosine is converted by the copper-containing enzyme, tyrosinase, into black pigments called melanin or eumelanin and a reddish pigment, produced by a separate gene, called heomelanin (or sometimes called phaeomelanin). In most persons, hair color slowly decreases with age and may vanish to produce white hair in the elderly.

[kutemommie]

Wow...great information Dee! Thanks for posting it.

[gr2006]

coming out of lurkdom.....

i'm suffering from what i believe is stress triggered Alopecia Areata. Small spot was noticed about 1-1/2 months after a near fatal housefire my family survived on thanksgiving night 2005.

The spot has slowly grown to just this side of a silver dollar. sometimes i feel a slight burning or tingling/itching just before losing 5-10 hairs. i've tried EO therapy - peppermint, rosemary, lavender mix in a sweet almond carrier. I thought it might slow the shedding down but i just don't know now. i'm also taking msm, biotin and b-complex supplements.

I have stopped all heat - no blowdryers, flatirons and just wear my hair in twists or twist outs - the braidouts seem like the put too much tension on my scalp.

I am currently texlaxed and 3 1/2 months into transition from relaxers - i just can't bear to put any of that stuff on my hair right now. i'll be honest with you that i won't be doing any bc's just a big transition.

so now coping with AA and about 3.5 inches of new growth.

i have an appointment with a derm this week. i have no idea what to expect but will try and keep a positive attitude.

just want to thank you girls for all the information you're passing along and let others know they're not alone.

[JustAnAngel]

Good information Dee... Gr2006 yes make your appt and see the derm. I went myself two weeks ago after searching forever for a black derm and finally finding one. I have a spot at the very top of my head which has progressively gotten bigger. The hair there just kept breaking off, and now its down to fuzz. The derm did a biopsy and stitched me up. I got my results by phone yesterday and it was folliculitis, which is inflammation of the hair follicles like the information Dee provided above. I go back to see the derm on Monday, and we start with a special shampoo, and injections... i'm not looking forward to it, but i want to stop the inflammation, and figure out what is causing it, since the inflammation is a symption of something else.
The derm was very confident that we could get the hair growing again, so that made me feel better. Keep your head up lady.

[Q'Dee]

Good information Dee... Gr2006 yes make your appt and see the derm. I went myself two weeks ago after searching forever for a black derm and finally finding one. I have a spot at the very top of my head which has progressively gotten bigger. The hair there just kept breaking off, and now its down to fuzz. The derm did a biopsy and stitched me up. I got my results by phone yesterday and it was folliculitis, which is inflammation of the hair follicles like the information Dee provided above. I go back to see the derm on Monday, and we start with a special shampoo, and injections... i'm not looking forward to it, but i want to stop the inflammation, and figure out what is causing it, since the inflammation is a symption of something else.
The derm was very confident that we could get the hair growing again, so that made me feel better. Keep your head up lady.
[/b]

Hello everyone,

I have to get a punctured biopsy but I am on the fence about following through with it because I feel like it will be too painful. Just an angel, was the biopsy painful and if so did the doctor give you anything to suppress the pain?

[JustAnAngel]

Hello everyone,

I have to get a punctured biopsy but I am on the fence about following through with it because I feel like it will be too painful. Just an angel, was the biopsy painful and if so did the doctor give you anything to suppress the pain?
[/b]

Definitely go have the biopsy. I don't like needles... I used to have such a big fear of them, and although now i'm much better with handling it, I'm still not fond of them, lol. I walked in, and talked to the nurse and then to the doctor (dermatologist). He examined the spot and told me how the procedure would go. I got on the table and he gave me a shot in my scalp where the biopsy would be done to numb the area. The shot feels like a stinging pinch, but its not bad at all. Next he took the instrument and took a piece of the scalp and put it in a specimen cup. Afterwards, he stitched the area up, and told me i'd come back in 2 weeks to have the stitches removed. The whole process took maybe 2 minutes. It was very quick, and not painful. All I felt was the pinch of the needle.

Its not bad at all, definitely go have it done. I don't anticipate the injections being that bad either.

[gr2006]

The derm was very confident that we could get the hair growing again, so that made me feel better. Keep your head up lady.
[/b]

Thanx Angel....

Must be a coincidence or fate, but i live in Spring Lake, NC, the house where we had the fire is in Fayetteville. We don't have many choices for derms in this area (maybe 4 or 5 in the yellowpages) so i said a little prayer and made an appointment with the one closest to my address.

If things don't work out with this one, would it be too much trouble for you to perhaps pm me the contact info for your derm in Raleigh? It isn't that far from us in Spring Lake and i'd be willing to drive the distance to see this doc.

TIA

gr

[gr2006]

ok - my appt was for 8:45 - am a new patient so had to fill out all the health history forms, etc. while waiting for the doc, i asked some of the other patients in the waiting room what they thought about this doc and got nothing but positive responses....i didn't ask them if they had alopecia though.

anyway, saw the doc. first thing he did was wash his hands (A+ in my book) - checks out my baldspot and told me what i already know. he confirmed every bit of info i've scavenged on the net about it including there's really no known cure, it could progress to AT or AU but since my patch looked "nice and neat" he said he thinks it'd be highly unlikely i'd lose all my hair. me and hubby are on a real tight budget atm and i told him so, he gave me a discount on the office fee and a handful of of something called Dermatop (prednicarbate cream) - am in the process of looking up this stuff online and get some info.

got another appt in 2 months and he said if things seem like they're worsening or i'm getting a bad react to the cream, to let him know and he can see me sooner.

no biopsy or bloodwork talk or anything, i'm sorta glad in a way but then in another i wish i could find out why my body is at war with my follicles. it's really a horrifying disorder even though like many of you probably heard a million times already - "it's "just" hair for crying out loud!" or "you worry too much about it that's why it's not growing!".

not exactly what you want to hear.

i use this cream x2 a day - he said just use enough to very very lightly cover the bald patch.

we'll see how this goes.

geez, this is becoming a diary of sorts....so sorry for rambling.

gr

[JustAnAngel]

Hey Gr2006, I'm glad to hear that you went to the doc! He didn't do a biopsy? hmm, well maybe he didn't think it was necessary... keep us updated on how the cream is working for you. I will definitely pm you the info of the doctor I'm seeing. The only thing I wasn't clear about, is that he isn't in raleigh, he's in charlotte. I couldn't find an AA derm here in raleigh, and since I'm from Charlotte, I checked it out. I'm guessing Charlotte would be a crazy drive for you, but I'll get you the info just in case!

also, if anyone cares, I'll come back and share my experiences after the injections on Monday...

[rrjsa308]

OK LADIES I'M SOO EXCITED TO HAVE FOUND ABOUT THIS SITE B/C I NEED SOME MAJOR ADVICE.I HAVE WENT TO THE DERM SHE DIDNT DO A BIOPSY,SKE JUST CHECKED MY THYROID AND HORMONES , IHAVE SUFFERED MAJOR HAIR LOSS OVER THELAST SIX MONTHS,I WENT FROM ABOUT SIX TO EIGHT INCHES OF HAIR DOWN TO ABOUT TWO I HAVE STARTED TAKING A MULTI AND BIOTIN,BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.I HAVE DECIDED ON A BC ON THE 5/24 B/C I'M TIRED OF WEARING WIGS.I ALSO LIVE IN N.C RIGHT OUTSIDE OF SPRING LAKE,I GO TO A DERM IN CARY .PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF A BLACK DERM WITHIN A 3 HOUR DRIVE