Fixing Alopecia Areata - My Story

C'est Moi. The Empress Fights Back.

My reel name is Katt. Female. Malaysian. Somewhat 'dented' due a condition called Alopecia Areata, this blog is about my journey in getting my hair "fixed". My aim is to grow back hair like weeds so that I can have my favorite pixie 'do. I will write about treatments/products I have done/gone through/used in my quest to you-know-what.

I really like pixie hairstyle like pictures below, as it is simple and doesn't require lots of maintenance. But it is a terrible hairstyle to have when I have bald patches showing. It is sooo not cool.

Discovering my Alopecia Areata.

Well I first self-discovered Patch #1 (refer picture way below), the largest one, sometime in late May 2009.

To be fair, I was forewarned by my regular hairstylist. In fact, when I went for hairwash services at few other salons, they also forewarned me - something along the line of 'Malaysian-subtlety', like...,

(1) "Lenglui, you're losing alot of hair worr. Really, really alot" or
(2) "Your hair is thinning leh. You don't want to do treatment ah?"

Disbelieving them (thinking that they probably wanted to make more sales via hair treatments) I (almost-always) retorted back at them like, "Oh!!! I know... !!!"

Not knowing the severity of the issue, I lived my life as usual, blatantly unaware. Stupid naivety.

Until that one fine day in May, when I thought the pixie 'do has grown longer at the nape. I positioned my back to the big wardrobe mirror and used another smaller mirror to check against the reflection. That was THE moment. The Fuck-My-Life moment.

Now I know why balding people are even more stressed than they already are.

Stage 1: Last week of May 2009 - 1st week of June 2009.

With the discovery of Patch #1, I had to quickly 'buckle up' my attitude and opt for a 'never give up' mission statement.

First, I asked an Indian friend for some tips. She recommended to check with a doctor that her friend went to. Her friend had fungal infection on the scalp which caused a bald spot the size of 20-cent, and the good doctor gave her ointments that took care of the problem.

Well I went. The clinic was just behind Strudels in Bangsar. The doctor was very nice indeed. He checked my scalp condition and promptly gave me another doctor's contact details. He said, "Lady, I can't help you with your Alopecia Areata but this doctor will be able to. You will probably given steroids to counter the problem. And for this I won't charge you anything because I can't prescribe you any treatment."

I thought, "Steroids??? What the hair??? No way!! FML x 1000 times."

Back to the same Indian friend. She said, "Why don't you try Bajaj Almond Oil? My sister used it for her hair and also worked for my niece too. You could get it from any Indian sundry shops in Brickfields".

Without delay, I got a bottle the same day I got the 'tip'. The cost was RM4.50. I was to apply the oil every night. I did. I could feel fine babyhair growing but not the entire area. I was happy but not too happy. I was desperate to fastrack the growth. Dammit.

Stage II.

I definitely did not want to go through the Steroids stage and the almond oil was working albeit pretty slow like kura-kura (turtle). I wanted to check Neeta's Herbal that same weekend, but I overslept because it was raining hard and I got lazy.

The following Monday, I dragged my backside to their Bangsar outlet only to find that Monday is their off-day. FML x 1100 times.

Unhappy, I went for a walk at Times Square and chanced upon Huayi Hair Growth. It was mainly because they have that scalp scan machine. That is how I found that I have other patches! FML x 1200 times!

While I was there, I saw a returning customer who was there to purchase more Huayi products. I asked if it's working for him and he said yes, that's why he's there. Upon hearing the testimonial, I parted with approximately RM400 for a bottle of shampoo and a tonic that cost RM300 ++.

The routine involves washing the hair every other day, putting the tonic onto the scalp and then 'tapping' the patches with hard bristles paintbrush for the next 5-10 minutes to 'improve blood circulation' until the tonic is fully absorbed. The tonic contains ethanol so it is easily absorbed, much like alcohol-based-hand-sanitizers. I will post the product photos soon.

Mid-July 2009 - there are some more growth. Not alot to make me happy though. And they don't grow fast enough to make me happy. And my 'Farmville' patches has grown in size.

That. is. dangerusss..

Stage III.

One fine Saturday, I went. Consulted for 10-15 minutes by Nita and then sign-up for a 12-course of weekly treatments. Given seven products. By the way, how much did I pay for it? Yes, I heard you asking. It was flat out RM1898. Plus RM49 for the mask treatment (optional but I opted in the first time just so I know how I should do it at home).

OK, why did I choose Neeta's? Through my Google-research (comparing most of the hair solutions centers available in Kuala Lumpur), Neeta's Herbal stood out from the rest.

First and foremost, they are using Herbal. I like au naturel. I am pro-naturopathy.

Second of all, the Founder (Nita Gosalia), had the same problems and found what worked for her.

Thirdly, Neeta's Herbal is a Malaysian company that has been around more than 10 years. I forgot how many exactly but you can re-verify by calling them or going to their content-outdated-website (It's not even Web 2.0 but nevermind that).

Fourthly, they fit my budget. Huayi's single treatment cost about RM2700 sans the products. Yun Nam costs more than that. Hairloss 101 is even more expensive. Tricho-Kare, I didn't even bother to check.

And the final one, I've never seen any haircare centers that is frequented by people from all races, teenagers and old folks alike. Seriously.

Be back soon..