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: