These are beautiful images, and it looks like the exhibition went superbly well. Congratulations on your hard work, and your initiative (and Agata's) to image beauty in what is seen in our society as unexpected places.

Well done,

Claire x

 

If only it could be so simply as take this, and we're fixed.  

I've heard contradictory things about our immune system - on the one side, that its gone into overdrive and is attacking thing it shouldn't... and on the other that its become sluggish and not working properly and equally not sending out the right information.   Either view can be almost irrelevant because we still have hairloss, and we still don't have THE magic fix.

 

For some people participating in the treatments, of whatever kind and whatever result is a good thing, it makes them feel they are doing something for themselves, it helps in the managing of being an alopecian.  So the proactive isn't only for hair growth. Whilst for others the opposite is also true.  Trying things on a may be outcome is not helpful at all.  And they manage far better by not pursuing treatments.   It all comes down to who you are and what's best for you, in your choice think also of your emotional well being, alongside the strong desire for hair. 

 

 

I've had AA for over 20 years.  Initially small patches which eventually started joining up.  These days I'm AU, but the progression was extremely slow over the years.  During my earliest AA phase, I was the sort of person to try everything and anything to kick-start my hair to regrow... steriod injections/oral, PUVA, DCP, minoxidil, homeopathy, chinese medicine, accupunture, Vitamin B12 injections to name but a few. 

 

There were only two things that my private dermatologist offered me that I didn't pursue: one was anti-rejection drugs (I don't know what the names were) which were, at the time, being used for HIV/Aids patients.  The risks of damaging liver and kidneys was too high a price for me.  I decided I'd rather be healthy with patchy hair than take the chance of damaging my organs.  The other option I dismissed was pregnancy - the basis of this thought was that perhaps the hormonal shake-up might distract my immune system sufficiently to allow my hair to regrow.  My dermatologist wasn't suggesting he'd get me pregnant  and, being single and in my early 20s, I wasn't ready to have children.  I remember asking him "What do I do with baby at the end of it?"   Since then, I've learned that, actually, pregancy can sometimes be the trigger the onset of alopecia anyway.

 

The bottom line is that only you can decide what treatments are worth you trying.  I can only urge you to do your research thoroughly, so that you can truly weigh up the pros and cons for you personally would be of each option - be it the financial investment, the time commitment or the health risks.  Good luck in your decisions.  As AA sufferers/survivors we always seem to have many decisions to make as we travel our alopecia journeys.

 

Jaye