Alopecia Areata ??? Please Help !!!

02-15-2005, 02:05 PM

Hello everybody.

About three weeks ago an enormous pimple appeared about 3-4 cm above my hairline (on the right side at the back of my head). The pimple was really, really hard and red. There was some puss in it, but it couldn't be popped out. Gradually, the pimple disappeared. About 8 days ago I went to get a haircut. When I got home, I noticed a round bald spot just where my huge pimple had been before it disappeared. While my hair continues to grow normally, the bald spot remains completelly hairless and smooth.

I went to my family doctor today and he immediately said it was alopecia areata. I questioned him by telling him about the pimple that was in the exact same place a few weeks before. He was surprised, because, as he said Alopecia does not produce pimples, but he has never heard about hair falling out because of a pimple either. Well, it was not a regular pimple, but a really, really big pimple, which was hard as a stone. It seems to have burned my hair in that area completelly.

Does anybody have any insight or opinion, please?
I even have a pic of my pimple (before the area became hairless) if it can help anyone...

Should I question my doctor? Does this sound like Alopicia to you?

Thank you very much.

02-15-2005, 06:14 PM

Now that I think of it, I don't know whether I had a pimple or a cyst. Can a cyst in hair cause hair loss? Anyone, please?

02-17-2005, 10:25 AM

If it was a cyst I don't think it would just disappear. My dad had a cyst on his head and it slowly got larger and had to be removed by his Dr. Maybe it was a pimple and because you picked at it you also irritated the scalp and caused hair in that area to come out. If that is the case then the hair will come back in. I get pimples on my scalp a lot and I've noticed that when I pick at them I cause hair in that area to come out. It always comes back in. My mother in law gets small bald spots from stress I think hers is Alopecia but she never gets a pimple. When her stress levels decrease her hair always comes back in. If it continues to bother you maybe you should ask your family Dr. to refer you to a Dermatologist since they are the specialist for hair loss problems.

02-17-2005, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lavenderfields

If it was a cyst I don't think it would just disappear. My dad had a cyst on his head and it slowly got larger and had to be removed by his Dr. Maybe it was a pimple and because you picked at it you also irritated the scalp and caused hair in that area to come out. If that is the case then the hair will come back in. I get pimples on my scalp a lot and I've noticed that when I pick at them I cause hair in that area to come out. It always comes back in. My mother in law gets small bald spots from stress I think hers is Alopecia but she never gets a pimple. When her stress levels decrease her hair always comes back in. If it continues to bother you maybe you should ask your family Dr. to refer you to a Dermatologist since they are the specialist for hair loss problems.

Thank you for your answer Lavenderfields.

I actually uploaded some pictures of how it all happened in my case. Please, follow this link:

http://www.calmapro.com/ciba/ciba.html

Photo #1: The Pimple in my hair, which I did pick a lot indeed.
Photo# 2 & Photo #3: My bald patch which was diagnosed as Alopecia Areata by my family doc. Isn't it weird that the supposed "Alopecia" is in the exact same spot where my pimple used to be?

Any comments are appreciated.
Thank you!

02-20-2005, 11:07 AM

This is EXACTLY what happened to me.

I had a cyst/pimple near the top of my head nearly a year ago now. It was there for probably 3 weeks, and it too was hard, red, and I picked at it a lot.

When it finally went away I noticed that there was definately less hair there. The difference between us was that mine was not total hair loss, it was just thinned out, but you could see the scalp through what little hair that remained.

Now for the bad news... For me the hair has not totally grown back. I think it is a bit better than it was, but I can still tell the difference from other places on my scalp. Nobody else has commented on it, so I hope it's one of those things that only I notice, but regardless, it is only hair.

Alopecia Areata ??? Please Help !!!

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