Tsaphiel

Hi. I'm a twenty-four year old female with alopecia areata. I've had it as far back as I can remember. The spots generally appear one at a time, are somewhere around the size of a quarter or a silver dollar, last around five years and then fill in completely. I'm generally able to hide these spots under the rest of my hair as it's rather thick, but they bother me none-the-less. I've also been graced with the unfortunate genetic trait of an extraordinarily high hairline, resulting in a very high, wide forehead. I'm sure this is purely genetic, and has nothing to do with the alopecia.

I've had injections once before to fill in a spot and it worked miraculously, but because I'm currently earning minimum wage part-time and do not have health insurance, it's not so much an option. I was wondering if anyone here knew of a product I could get over the counter? I tried Minoxidil 2% when I was very young with no success, though it might just be that as a tot, I wasn’t quite so diligent as would be required with such a treatment. A hairstylist recently informed me that hydrocortisone cream would do the trick. She seemed quite certain, but I haven't found any research to confirm this. The alopecia I can live with for now, but I really want to lower my hairline about an inch. It'd be lovely to be able to wear my hair up without feeling self-conscious for once in my lifetime.