Hair loss, scared.

[Bo]

A couple months ago when i was going through a shit ton of stress i noticed my hair had been falling out, i didn't think much of it. Today, my bf found a bald spot on the back of my head a bit bigger than the size of a quarter....i think i may have alopecia and i'm scared. I don't have health insurance and i'm really freaked out because i read that my hair can grow back and go through different patterns of hair loss or it can progress and i can lose all my hair at some point. wtfff do i do?

[vashti]

This is usually a hormonal problem (excess androgen). You will HAVE to see a doctor if you want to stop (and reverse) this problem. If you leave this untreated for too long, the hair follicle may become damaged, and the hair won't be able to grow back.

[kitkitkitty]

has anyone else in your family experienced this when they're really stressed? and yeah, go to the doctor's to get it all sorted. maybe read up on it while you wait?

[Gribble]

Okay, why don't you have insurance? Don't answer that. Go out and get it. I don't care if you have to get a new job or what, go get it. I promise you, you can't afford not to have health insurance. Your hair falling out will be the least of your worries when you break your leg or get appendicitis.

[Bo]

This is usually a hormonal problem (excess androgen). You will HAVE to see a doctor if you want to stop (and reverse) this problem. If you leave this untreated for too long, the hair follicle may become damaged, and the hair won't be able to grow back.

omfg. I don't know where to go...i have no doctor and this is shitty cuz i've also been dealing with a lot of body pains for a while but haven't had treatment for anything and this on top of it is just shit.
when my bf found it yesterday it startled him enough to tell me not to look at it and he ACTUALLY asked me if i am sure i hadn't done it myself. wth. i can't afford insurance right now.

has anyone else in your family experienced this when they're really stressed? and yeah, go to the doctor's to get it all sorted. maybe read up on it while you wait?

well from what i know, nobody in my family has had it but idk if this has something to do with it but i've had a smaller bald spot on the upper side of my head since i was a little kid...i read that it typically developes around ppl my age, early adulthood.

Okay, why don't you have insurance? Don't answer that. Go out and get it. I don't care if you have to get a new job or what, go get it. I promise you, you can't afford not to have health insurance. Your hair falling out will be the least of your worries when you break your leg or get appendicitis.

well the thing is i'm financially dependent on my parents right now. They can't afford health insurance for me right now or else i'd already have it. I think there might b a free clinic i can look into tho but i'm worried this sounds like something i'm gonna need longterm treatment for and obviously free clinics don't do that...

[Gribble]

How old are you? Are you a student? Why are you entirely dependent on parents who can't really afford to take full care of you?

I'm not trying to pry or to be a jerk. You don't have to answer those questions. I'm just stressing that you should get out and get a job that provides insurance. Do your parents have health insurance? If you're a full-time student you ought to be able to get on their plan for cheap. Go out and get yourself a part time job and cover the costs yourself. It's worth it.

And you're right. If this bald spot is anything the clinic won't be able to help you. They'll want to send you to a dermatologist who will charge you an arm and a leg for treatment. You are far too beautiful to go losing your hair--or worse yet, your future--because you don't have insurance.

[VincenzoG91]

Thanks to health care reform, you can actually get insurance coverage now for pre-existing conditions.

[Bo]

How old are you? Are you a student? Why are you entirely dependent on parents who can't really afford to take full care of you?

I'm not trying to pry or to be a jerk. You don't have to answer those questions. I'm just stressing that you should get out and get a job that provides insurance. Do your parents have health insurance? If you're a full-time student you ought to be able to get on their plan for cheap. Go out and get yourself a part time job and cover the costs yourself. It's worth it.

And you're right. If this bald spot is anything the clinic won't be able to help you. They'll want to send you to a dermatologist who will charge you an arm and a leg for treatment. You are far too beautiful to go losing your hair--or worse yet, your future--because you don't have insurance.

Well i'm in a sticky situation, you may or may not remember me posting about how my parents had opened up a restaurant just over a year ago and i have been working for them, before i was just working retail at a clothing store. They still don't pay me a wage, just whatever i need and i do it because they need me to work for them. We are doing well for a new restaurant opening up right in the middle of a recession but we are still in the stage of trying to pay everything off. I'm 19 turning 20 in two months. And i'm a full time student but my parents don't have health insurance, so i'm pretty much shit out of luck. I'm trying not to stress but i'm so scared that i'm gonna lose my hair! From what i read there are 2 kinds the first is where you lose hair and it grows back, or just does not come back ever. There second is where you keep losing hair and it doesn't come back at all.

Thanks to health care reform, you can actually get insurance coverage now for pre-existing conditions.

That's the thing is that i've never been diagnosed for anything, my parents have always only taken me to the doctor whenever it got bad enough. I never had normal check ups growing up and now a lot of health issues are popping up..

[Gribble]

I did a bit of google legwork for you. I'm bored and somehow I've got to stay conscious all night. I uncovered the following:

If your hair fell out during a stressful period in your life you may have telogen effluvium. Something women get during childbirth or sometimes just during a particularly difficult time. Basically your body thinks something is seriously wrong because your emotions are going haywire. It shuts down unnecessary functions, such as the regrowth of hair. All those follicles that naturally tumble from your head on a daily basis stop growing back. You can test for it yourself by pinching about a dozen hairs or so and giving a sharp tug. If several come loose that's a good indicator. Do you have hairs on your pillow when you wake up in the morning? Check and count them. Also, do you find an abnormally large number of hairs in the drain after a shower?

The cure for telogen effluvium? Calming down. Which is about impossible when you think your hair is falling out, no? You're going to want to visit a dermatologist. He's probably going to need to take a sample of your scalp and send it off to a lab. I have absolutely no idea how much that would cost without insurance. A great deal I'd imagine. The important thing is not to wait. There are ways of slowing and even stopping hair loss. Regrowth, on the other hand, is extremely difficult.

[Bo]

I did a bit of google legwork for you. I'm bored and somehow I've got to stay conscious all night. I uncovered the following:

If your hair fell out during a stressful period in your life you may have telogen effluvium. Something women get during childbirth or sometimes just during a particularly difficult time. Basically your body thinks something is seriously wrong because your emotions are going haywire. It shuts down unnecessary functions, such as the regrowth of hair. All those follicles that naturally tumble from your head on a daily basis stop growing back. You can test for it yourself by pinching about a dozen hairs or so and giving a sharp tug. If several come loose that's a good indicator. Do you have hairs on your pillow when you wake up in the morning? Check and count them. Also, do you find an abnormally large number of hairs in the drain after a shower?

The cure for telogen effluvium? Calming down. Which is about impossible when you think your hair is falling out, no? You're going to want to visit a dermatologist. He's probably going to need to take a sample of your scalp and send it off to a lab. I have absolutely no idea how much that would cost without insurance. A great deal I'd imagine. The important thing is not to wait. There are ways of slowing and even stopping hair loss. Regrowth, on the other hand, is extremely difficult.

well i'm going to be on my way to the clinic in about 2 hours to see a doc. First time in 3+ years. I'm nervous, especially since i found what felt like another bald spot yesterday and my bf confirmed when i had him check my scalp/hair. He also said it seems like my hair is thinning, that's one of the most common symptoms of alopecia areata, fml. i'm so nervous i can't even sleep.

[Bo]

so i was diagnosed with alopecia areata, lucky me.

[vashti]

so i was diagnosed with alopecia areata, lucky me.

Any treatments ordered?

[Bo]

Any treatments ordered?

Just minoxidil solution for the bald spots, there's only so much a free clinic can do for me. But they gave me a men's solution? I don't get it...

[Illusional]

A couple months ago when i was going through a shit ton of stress i noticed my hair had been falling out, i didn't think much of it. Today, my bf found a bald spot on the back of my head a bit bigger than the size of a quarter....i think i may have alopecia and i'm scared. I don't have health insurance and i'm really freaked out because i read that my hair can grow back and go through different patterns of hair loss or it can progress and i can lose all my hair at some point. wtfff do i do?

see, you didn't wanna date me when i told you that you were beautiful and now you're stressing about it. but it's too late now because you're stuck with brian. hahaha


raverboy

[vashti]

Just minoxidil solution for the bald spots, there's only so much a free clinic can do for me. But they gave me a men's solution? I don't get it...

Be happy, that stuff actually is more effective on women than it is men.