Howdy Blog watchers
I am so sorry for the delay in posting pictures. I have been pretty busy with the birth of our wee girls 7 Boston Terrier puppies. Check the cuties out here.
Back to the hair – enough puppy chat/excuses!
Here I am attempting to show you (in pictures) the spread, loss then regrowth of my hair over a 2.5 year period. My Alopecia started as little spots on my chin back in November 2011. I thought it was just Alopecia Barbae and was still distressed- then it gradually spread and I shaved my head in 2012- detailed here.
Where it all began – first ‘spotted’ in November 2011 and by the time it got this big – I was officially scared, depressed and stressed!! (March 2012):
Two spots of nothing.
Comic Hitler ‘tache
Chunk missing
The first image was taken in June 2012.
Once my facial hair began to disappear – so did my hair: The first spots appeared/ hair dissapeared in July 2012.
The big shave
So I shaved it all off on holiday in Spain in August 2012
Baldy Bald
And here is an above head shot from when I first shaved:
The solar system at the start
Is there any hope?
I started to notice thin white hairs growing back into my facial hair loss in September 2012
regrowth on my chin
September 2012 regrowth – Egypt
I was hoping that the blonde would go black straight away – it didn’t.
My hair kept disappearing, too: here is a peek from the front and top (both taken in October 2012).
From the front
From the top
October 2012
My right side
In the middle of my long alopecia episode
November 2012
Right side
Left side
My eyelashes and eyebrows started to disappear in November 2012.
Eyebrows up close
Disappearing caterpillar
The eyebrows were a low ebb – but the loss of my eyelashes are what made me feel more alien – literally. It is a strange sensation not having eyelashes. People gave me a second look as they couldn’t quite put their finger on ‘what wasn’t right’.
I have detailed in another post my experiences trying to hide my missing eyebrows.
In case you can’t be bothered reading that post and want to see what my pencilled-in efforts looked like:
Pencilled-in eyebrow as of November 2012
I tried a number of different ways to regrow my hair or at least hide the fact I had Alopecia, but found that a close shave (in the end) was best. At this point I was shaving my head daily and ignoring the ever-decreasing eyebrows and lashes.
My facial hair was also fast disappearing – again taken in November 2012.
My chin
From the side
December 2012
The patches started to spread quicker – which made my Christmas elf hat less itchy as there wasn’t as much stubble to aggravate it.
As you can see from the images below most of the holes started to join up with each other especially the two big ones at the left hand side! I hate those two bad boys.
My head from the back
The left hand side of my head
Happy New Year 2013
In 2013 it seemed to progress quicker. Here is the top of my head taken in January 2013.
February 2013
At this point I was still wearing beanie hats and pencilling in my missing chunks of eyebrow.
March 2013
This was when I started realising that my eyebrows were more or less drawn on and I saw a picture and realised it was time to get rid of them.
Abi and the eyebrows 🙂
As you can see, they looked fake and I hadn’t realised until I saw the image above. So in March 2013 I shaved them off in the shower whilst shaving my head.
The middle image above makes me look strange and if you look closely you can see that it is because my right eye has hardly any top eyelashes and the left eye does. Not a great look but now I looked bald and possibly blonde?! Just another balding fair haired guy? That is what I told myself and started to walk about without hats – in certain places anyway.
May 2013
- Then the hair loss started to snowball and this was when I thought “F*ck it!”
- My alopecia was getting worse and worse.
- I had become resigned to it and pretty much everyone had seen it and knew what it was.
- I still got the odd comment but brushed it off because (finally) I was in a stronger place and didn’t actually care as much as I did at the start.
Now that’s progress!
The images below are from July 2013. As you can see there is hardly any hair left at all.
These images represent the worst my Alopecia got (It seems strange saying that but I don’t want to jinx anything). Then I stopped taking photos as much of my head as I actually forgot about it!
Forgetting about it
Here I am forgetting about it at a wedding in Valencia in September 2013.
Guests at a Valencian wedding
I decided to forget and what happened a month later??? The bastard started coming back!!! Exactly two years since I noticed it going!!!!! My previous post was correct! And there is hope for all you people out there who got this late and are hoping yours may come back in this famed two year period!!!
November 2013 THE RETURN OF MY HAIR!
Whaddya know – it kept on growing through December. Merry Effing Christmas!!!!
2014 – The year of regrowth
The year started well for me.
Here I am in January…. More progress on my regrowth in my next post………
Kisses from Coco
Haaaaaappy Christmas
From Hair to eternity... 
Reece,
So happy for you, brother! My regrowth started around the 2 year mark, and like you, I’m experiencing slow-and-steady progress. I’ve been following your blog from the start and it’s helped me cope with my loss as well. I hope that you experience full remission! Eager to see future posts.
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Thoughts are with you man. This condition sucks. I am two years in and still waiting for my miracle.
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Hello Reece, how is your regrowth now, do you have any photo updates?
Do you have hair loss on only your facial and scalp area, or other parts of your body as well?
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Mainly on my scalp and facial area – lost a tiny bit of chest hair and one circle on my leg and that was it.
I will post another update very soon.
Thanks for your comment.
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Thanks for your reply.
Would be great to see some recent photos soon
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Getting some re growth. I am doing the shots in my face. Starting to see some black hairs. No idea yet the cost, I havent got the Bill. Just wanted to let people know they might help.
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Hi fella. Great blog. I came across it due to me having the same problem and the googling. My beaRd has pretty much gone apart from the same ‘hitler’ tash and a bit of bum fluff around the neck. I still have my eyebrows but have a few 2p size bald patches on the back of my head which over the last two months are slowly increasing in size. It does worry me but not to the extent of fretting over it but if my hair gets worse I think I will. Glad yours has re grown and hopefully mine will start to soon then I don’t have to shave it off. Would you mind forwarding your email to chat about your experiences. That would be great.
Thanks
matt
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Hey Matt
Thanks for the positive comment. Will forward on my email just now.
Cheers
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What i admire most about u reece is the fact that u didnt allow it to affect ur life
With all the pictures u seem to have still enjoyed travelling and going out
Thats the way mate. Do not become a recluse
It is certainly life altering but thank god not life threatening
All the best Reece!
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Thanks very much Jc. I couldn’t have put it better myself! “life altering but not life threatening” I like it!!! And it does put it into perspective. Thanks for your comment and for reading the blog post. Cheers – Reece
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did you change your diet?
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Hi Jess – not really. Though it is coming out again. I just wrote a new blog post.
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Hey man, Im 27 and my hair looks like exactly like yours when it was at worst. Did your hair regrown fully? Im so stressed about it. Dont even know what is causing it. Dont know what should i do about it. Please give me some advice
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Hey Sancho,
My hair did (almost) regrow fully – read <a href="http://“>my latest post here for info. It has started to come out again – but please don’t lose faith. Mine only started coming back when I accepted that I had alopecia and stopped worrying about how my hair may look.
Try and stop wondering what has caused it as you may never know – just know that the way you choose to deal with it – getting anxious, stressed and always thinking about it – probably isn’t helping. It will also not be helping your general mood, relationships or quality of life if you keep obsessing. Have you tried different forms of exercise or relaxation? Controlling the breath via yoga exercises, mindfulness and relaxation were great for me. Anti-depressants also helped me for a while. Try and find something that helps you come to terms with what is happening and focus on acceptance as opposed to stress. Try asking yourself – what is the worst thing that can happen? Or will happen – you may lose some hair and you WILL get used to it and start to accept it. Nobody you care about will think of you any differently. So when that nagging voice in your head starts saying “Oh NO, why is it coming out? What am I going to do?” Just try to breathe a little more deeply, not worry about what you are thinking and know you are going to be absolutely fine. Your hair may all return quickly or not at all – and worrying, stressing and panicking will not help in any way shape or form. Good luck and I hope you start to feel better soon. Reece
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