(Unofficial) Cure for Alopecia Areata II -plum blossom needle

This is an interesting video about a girl describing the use of the plum blossom needle for alopecia areata. It was working for her but she didn't give any more feedback. As I wrote I think this little seven star hammer could be of some use as a cure for alopecia areata for people with just a few spots, but I think (and again I am not a doctor of any type) that this is not a solution for areata totalis or universalis. It can probably "cheat" the immune system for a while and definitively bring some blood to the scalp, but my guess is that after a while the immune system will again "attack" the hair. As I wrote yesterday, it is also working for me in the scalp pretty well and I will post some pictures after 6 weeks of use. I started using it in the beard but I started a week later and 2 weeks is not enough to see results. Be aware it is a bit painful.

Week 7

This is the picture from week 7. I have started noticing that the remaining lashes are getting longer. The lashes on the other eye are also getting longer. I think you can easily see that it is getting stable...I am not losing many since the picture from week 2...only a few lashes...so that's good. It is not possible to see in the picture that I have a few tiny blond ones and that a few of them are growing ( a bit) but none of them are getting black. I spent sometime yesterday reading on the Internet about Latisse again. 16 weeks, that's the target! I hope I will get new black ones by then!

Update on the 7 needles hammer: It is three weeks since I started using the hammer and I am resting now for 4 days. So I use is every other day for 3 weeks and then resting 4/5 days. I will post the picture after I am finished with the second period that I will start on Monday. So far it looks like a some black hairs are growing. I can see it specially in the middle, but it would be too much to ask to get a full re-growth on only 3 weeks, so lets wait at least until the second period is finished and then I will post the pictures and can evaluate the changes.

(Unofficial) Cure for Alopecia Areata I -plum blossom needle

When becoming desperate about Alopecia Areata, one can get to the most strange remedies. One of this kind of "desperate" remedies that you can find on the internet and that your doctor will never recommend you is the plum blossom needle (or seven star hammer). Well, I have bought one and I am gonna test it.

This is a picture I got from the internet but mine looks exactly like it:

 This was my scalp a week ago. My hair was growing a few days in a row, although I normally shave it every day. The reason is not alopecia areata but androgenic alopecia.

Treatment: I clean the hammer using alcohol, and then I use the hammer to hit my spots until there is some blood coming. It is a micro-bleeding, nothing severe, just to get blood to the skin and get it a bit irritated and red. After I clean the spots using Minoxidil 5%. I do it two days on a row and rest one. I will also rest two or three days after two weeks and change the head of the hammer (maybe my head also :)))) It is a bit painful and takes around 10 minutes.

As you can see I have only a main spot and a few tiny ones. I  have been using the hammer for 9 days. Once I am back to my house I will take a new picture (total treatment 3 weeks) and see if there are any results. As I read in order to complete the treatment I may need 6-8 weeks. It is probably not a good idea and I would not recommend this to people having AT or AU. But it may work for people with just several spots like myself. We will see!

These are a few studies on the use of the hammer for Alopecia Areata:

Treatment of 40 cases of alopecia areata by plum-blossom needle plus rubbing with ginger slice

Treatment of 42 Cases of Alopecia Areata with Plum-blossom

Treatment of alopecia areata with plum-blossom needles plus moxibustion: A report of 53 cases

 

5th week

And here it comes the picture from the 5th week that I have just taken. Nothing, so far  I don't see any new lashes coming. It is too soon anyway. I know it takes at least 8-12 weeks to see some results. And even the studies say that 4-8 months. I am just hoping that at least I never need to use the faked lashes...but it could happen in a couple of months. This last week has been pretty stable. I am finishing  my vacation at the beach and I will be one week fully offline. I hope that when I am back I have some tiny ones coming. :)
Enjoy the blog and please comment. Positive experiences and good humour is always welcome!
Did Latisse work for you? Please let me know! :)

How to treat alopecia areata (I)

Excellent diagram on how to treat alopecia areata. Read also this link : Alopecia Areata a new treatment plan.

Fourth week

So here I post the picture from the 4th week. No big differences except for the fact that I got one single new black eyelash growing. This one which was small before is over 0.5cm now...is that the effect of Latisse? I am sure it is not. Lets be patience! The blond small ones are still there and I continue losing several every week. This week was not good at all. I lost the three long ones just in the very middle. I think I have now only 50% (probably less) of the eyelashes. But I can certainly see that the remaining ones are getting a bit longer and that is a good sign. I still use Latisse only once a day and after carefully massaging a bit the area (trying to get some blood in there)

I have to excuse myself because the lights on the pictures are pretty different but I am on vacation so its not possible to take the picture from the same spot.



2nd week                                           3rd week                                    4th week

All studies so far on the use of Latisse for Alopecia Areata

We have those four studies plus a last one from Universital Hospital Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain on the use of Bimatoprost that says that  24.32% of subjects showed a complete regrowth, moderate growth was reported in 18.91%, slight growth in 27.02% whereas no response in remaining 29.72%.

So the numbers are good and there are reasons to be optimistic.  The two main studies say that almost half of the people will get a complete or moderate growth. There is a lot more to study and of course better studies to be done, but again, my personal opinion is that it worths trying. I am doing that, lets see :).

Before my dermatologist suggested me to use Latisse I read different comments on forums on the Internet, and I can say that the numbers match what I have read in the studies. There is a 50-50 recommendation on the use of Latisse by people with total or partial alopecia on the eyelashes. But please, consider that it requires time, I am going to give it at least 24 weeks, that is 6 months, if it has not worked in those six months, then I can say that it doesn't work for me. If I get my lashes back, I cannot assure that Latisse has worked but I would be quite satisfy :). Fingers crossed.

Third week of Latisse

After the third week, I have noticed two tiny black hair growing and new several small blond/white hairs. They are sometimes the first step before the growing of the good black ones, I hope so.
But so far Latisse has not stop other eyelashes from falling. I have lost several, three or four, but just in the border, meaning it is still expanding a bit. Like 2mm per week, which seems nothing but almost makes 1cm a month, which seems nothing but we have to consider that there are not so many cms in the eyelid.
Yesterday I started using a cotton stick to massage a bit the eyelid before applying Latisse, just to try to bring some blood circulation into the area.
I feel in good mood now as I am going on vacation for a month, but I will still update the blog. My mood is up and I am feeling quite well, except when I see one of the "border eyelashes" in my face in the early morning.

Second week                                                                Third Week