My husband has been experiencing extreme hair loss for several months now. He went to the dermatoligist and she said it is Alapecia (sp?). It is caused by stress. He now has several spots that are completely bald. I feel so bad for him. He is very concerned about it and embarrassed. He has tried a cream that she gave him and injections at one site with no luck. I am hoping that someone might have a success story or know of something that can be done. I am also struggling with what to say to him to help him. Thanks for listening and for any ideas you might have.

By Mrse on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 01:39 am:

sounds like the doctor should be giving him something for stress, did she mention anything like that? My husband has had a lot of thinning, and he took it with ease, we just gave him a brush cut and he was good to go. My dad did the old comb over for years, please do not let him do that it looks aweful, he finally let go and did the brush cut and it was 100% better. How much of it is genentic's (sp) did his father keep his hair? sorry I am not much help , if it bothered my dh he did not say anything to me. He could do the brush cut untill it comes back, combat the stress and the hair should grow back, if genetics are not involved.

By Feona on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 07:01 am:

How about shaving the head? It would remove the stress of the hair. It is very cool look for men. You know that captain picard was the hottest guy.

I think Princess Caroline had it. I don't believe there is much you can do. It grows back or not.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 07:50 am:

Yes, she did Feona.

I agree with shaving his head. Some guys, IMO, actually look BETTER with shaved heads, and are sexy that way. :-)

By John on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 10:33 am:

Alopecia is actually a general term for losing your hair.

Androgenetic alopecia is male pattern baldness.
Alopecia areata is the medical term for sudden hair loss.

This site had some interesting info on the various causes:
http://www.follicle.com/2.html

I started losing my hair in my early 20's so I guess I never really became that attached to it ;)

By John on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 10:56 am:

Here's some more links that might help:

http://npntserver.mcg.edu/html/alopecia/AlopeciaFAQ(part01).html

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/alopecia/alopecia.htm

http://dermnetnz.org/hair-nails-sweat/alopecia-areata.html

http://www.scn.org/~dcv/alopecia.html

http://www.keratin.com/ad/adindex.htm

By John on Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 11:01 am:

The most important thing is to be sure that the hair loss isn't being caused by some undiagnosed condition. Quoting the second link above:

"Alopecia areata often occurs in people whose family members have other autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, pernicious anemia, or Addison's disease. People who have alopecia areata do not usually have other autoimmune diseases, but they do have a higher occurrence of thyroid disease, atopic eczema, nasal allergies, and asthma."

By Amyj on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 11:07 pm:

Thank you all for the information. Thank you John for the links. My husbands alopecia is alopecia areata. His father has a full head of hair and it does not seem to be genetic. My husband has approximatly four large balding spots and they are becoming hard to cover up. He is very nervous about shaving his head and doesn't want to talk to me about it. Mrse, you mentioned a brush cut. What is that? I feel so bad for my husband. He is really concerned about how bad it is getting and that nothing has worked. He has had blood tests done in the past to rule out other problems. He is not a "stressed" person by nature, but does have a stressful job. I am trying to help him take time off, enjoy hobbies, and not add to his stress with the daily "stresses" of the house and kids. Thank you all for listening and for offering advice. I am just hoping that something will work for him and he can stop stressing about this part of his life.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, September 1, 2004 - 11:12 pm:

My DH has genetic balding and he's only 23!! In all reality, I dont think its that bad. He now just shaves his head (actually I do it for him) and we save a ton of $ in barber shop visits since he had a haircut 1x/week being a Marine. I dont have any medical advice but in a personal level I would reassure him that you think hes sexy no matter what. Thats what helped my DH a lot.

By Christylee on Friday, September 3, 2004 - 07:34 pm:

We've recently went through this... Chuck's hairline just kept receding and receding and then a spot in the back. Finally around Christmas of last year, he did it. He shaved it all off. I've always been attracted to bald guys so it didn't bother me one bit, he's kept it that way ever since and I can't imagine him with hair now. lol...

I have to agree I would be nervous about doing it that first time (Chuck and I BOTH were) because you just never know what your head truly looks like. lol...

By Amyj on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 11:36 am:

Just thought I would update everyone. My husband shaved his head Sunday night! He finally decided that it is just hair (or lack of) and that being bald is less stressful than lossing more each day. He had six large balding spots by last week. I think he looks great! He actually looks much younger now. Everyone has reacted very positivly, except our son. He was very upset when he saw Daddy without hair and still hasn't really looked at him. He'll get use to it in time. I believe that now that he has done it, it will probably start growing back. Less hair and less stress. If is doesn't, he looks great this way. My DH had been talking about doing this since Thursday and on Friday a friend of ours showed up with a mowhawk! He had shaved his head for a school function (he's a teacher). My husband couldn't believe that he would do that and decided that if Paul could do it, so could he. Now they are both bald! Thanks for all the stories. It really does help to hear about other going through similar things!

By Happynerdmom on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 11:40 am:

That's awesome, Amy! I'm glad he took the plunge, and that it actually looks good! (I think it can look very sexy!) You're right...your son will get used to it eventually!

By Mommyathome on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 01:29 pm:

My DH shaves his head as well. He had a receding (sp) hairline at age 21. Now, he has the "David Letterman" style if he were to let his hair grow out. He's been shaving it with a razor for a couple years now. It looks so much better than showing off a receding hairline IMO

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 03:12 pm:

Well, nature has shaved hubby's head for him! LOL! I wouldn't want him all the way bald, though. He is bald enough as it is! I know it looks nice on some guys, but I don't think it would look good on him.