folliculitis

James · Post by **James** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 10:08 am

I just visited a derm and I received the diagnosis of folliculitis. I was relieved to find out that I do not have folliculitis declavans which is scarring and Morphollica has. The doc actually prescribed me anti-biotics to treat this scalp condition which is an inflammation of the hair follicle.
Hopefully this treatment will work. I have another appointment in 6 weeks with the same doc.

Post by **HairLossFight.com** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:38 pm

Blueshard,

I'm glad you know what it is you've got now. A few questions:

1. Did your derm do a biopsy?
2. Did he give any indication as to whether the anti-biotics will completely cure the folliculitis, or whether you would have to repeat them at some point in the future?
3. What type of anti-biotic did he prescribe, and how much.

Also, I've mentioned this before, but see if you can get your hands on some Tersaseptic to use as a shampoo. It comes in a white plastic square container. It has really helped me keep my folliculitis under control.

Maybe you'll be able to start using Xandrox 15 again once you've got the folliculitis problem nailed.

Regards,
Sam

James · Post by **James** » Tue Nov 23, 2004 8:45 am

Hey Morphollica. I inquired about a biopsy with the doctor and he said that what I had was definetely folliculitis, he even had another doctor come in because he could tell I was so apprehensive about the situation and the other doctor also said it was folliculitis and absolutely not the scarring kind.

The anti-biotics that were prescribed are doxycycline 100 mg tablets.

The doctor talked of how some people end up having to take the pill two or so times a week to keep the folliculitis at bay, as it sometimes does not go away. Also they talked of alternating the internal antibiotic with a topical antibiotic just so that I was not on it for extended periods of time.

I would "jump for joy" if I could ever use X15 again as I believe that is the best topical out right now, for me anyway.

I am going to look into getting some of that tersaseptic that you speak of. I would rather get it online though even if i costs a decent amout because doctors visits stress the hell out of me.

But thanks Morphollica so much for your input. I hope these anti-biotics do something! How is your head feeling lately. I was showing my mom some stuff online and she said that you have nice hair! I was wish I had your hair!

Post by **HairLossFight.com** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:42 pm

Hey Blueshard,

How's the folliculitis doing now that you've been on the anti-biotics for a while? I have an appointment with Dr. Shapiro on Tuesday as mine seems to have come back again... It seems to come back either in times when I am under stress or during periods of cold or winter time.

Regards,
Sam

James · Post by **James** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:20 pm

I can no longer use any type of topical because my scalp gets really really bothered by it. Since stopping topicals the folliculitis has gotten a little better but it is not gone.

My scalp still sometimes feels like someone has punched me in the head and it is sore.

I have this inflammation around the hair follicles that is visible and sometimes red.

I have visited two different dermatologists who can not see anything wrong with my scalp do not know what the problem is.

I will be seeing a huge minoxidil shed coming from not using minoxidil.

Everything sucks. The only thing that I can use is propecia. And I was going to get some FUE but the doctor would not do it because of my scalp condition.

Everything is against me controlling my hair loss and I am severly depressed and hate everything about life.

That is my current situation. Sorry that it is not more positive.

Jacob · Post by **Jacob** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 6:03 am

It's expensive...but have you tried Equisomin? I'm not saying it's going to perform miracles....but it contains ZERO alcohol. Uses nanosome technology along with some other delivery vehicle/mechanism. They also have a prct for scalp problems: http://www.elsomresearch.com/shopping/p ... ar-027.htm

Ingredients: oil/water extracts of botanicals in aloe vera gel (green tea, witch hazel bark, grape seeds), phosphatidylcholine *Nanosomes, medium chain triglycerides, ascorbyl palmitate, cyclodextrin, triclosan, ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate, malic acid and sodium malate, inositol hexanicotinate, retinyl acetate, salicylic acid, xanthan gum, climbazole, essential oil of clove bud

Notice some of the ingredients are used in various hairloss products these days. (green tea..grape seed extract..etc)

Jacob · Post by **Jacob** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 6:23 am

I just noticed you're taking anti-biotics. I hope you're taking probiotics as well?? It probably should have been the first thing you did(but I'm not a doc): http://informedbeauty.com/gut.shtml

Here's a page that mentions Folliculitis as a symptom of Candidiasis ...which may respond well to probiotis:

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:Qt ... tics&hl=en

This is why I say it's prob the first thing you should have done: "Oral antibiotics kill off the "good" bacteria in the intestine, which allows candida to proliferate."

Anti-biotics are WAY over prescribed IMO.

Post by **HairLossFight.com** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 12:01 am

Blueshard,

I'm sorry to hear the news. Hang in there though.

I think I should update you on my own situation. I am also quite upset today after I got some bad news about my own situation from my derm. I visited him today about my own folliculitis problem as it seemed to be coming back again worse than before. Only it wasn't on my scalp.

I noticed a patch of hair loss on my thigh and didn't really think much of it, but it started getting worse over the last couple of months so I decided to get it checked out. My dermatologist is Dr. Jerry Shapiro. He's a world renowned specialist in hair related conditions. He almost instantly diagnosed it as a form of scarring or cicraticial alopecia called Lichen Planopilaris. Scary name...

Anyway, apparantly it's an auto-immune condition of unknown origin and is very difficult to treat and it could cause scarring hair loss all over your body.

This scared me big time. I'm now really worried myself and starting to do some research on it...

The symptoms that you are telling me about with the red spots and the soreness are similar to my own. You should ask your derm if it could be the same thing.

In my own case, he took a biopsy today and will let me know soon what needs to be done.

It's interesting, but after hearing that I probably now have something that could cause me to lose hair all over my body I would GLADLY trade that for good old fashioned androgenetic alopecia ANYDAY. I'd rather be just a normal bald guy than lose all my hair everywhere.

In fact Dr. Shapiro said that between Alopecia Areata and this Lichen Planopilaris thing the LPP is worse because it actually causes the follicles to be destroyed.

I a extremely worried now.

I'll be expanding the site soon to have a ton more information on inflammatory hair diseases because I think this is an area that not a lot of sites focus on, and it's probably a lot more common than most people realize.

Anyway, I think your plan of staying away from the topicals for now is a good one.

I may have to do the same. I find this extremely disappointing, but my priorities may soon shift depending on the outcome of the biopsy.

Regards,
Sam

James · Post by **James** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:12 am

Sam I know this does suck so badly. Part of coping with hair loss is doing your regimen knowing that you are actually doing something. I hate waiting for this minoxidil shed, I hate not knowing what is wrong with my head even after visiting two dermatologists.

You had an appointment with Shapiro? Hair transplant Shapiro? If it was the same guy how the heck did you get an appointment with him? The wait must have been 2 years or something.

Did he suggest stopping topicals because it could be aggravating the situation?

Hang in there Sam, it looks like we both might be in the same boat. And the boat is sinking.

Post by **HairLossFight.com** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:07 pm

Hey Blueshard,

The Dr. Shapiro that I'm talking about is Dr. Jerry Shapiro. He's written several books and done numerous studies on all manner of hair related illnesses.

I've been really freaking out about the new diagnosis, but over the last 24 hours I've put things into a bit more of a realistic perspective.

I don't know what has triggered the folliculitis, and I think part of it is probably genetic susceptibility. But I've decided to take some of my own advice to you guys to take care of your health, as well as your scalps.

I saw some pictures of people with advanced Lichen Planopilaris and it scared the living daylights out of me. Somehow, I don't think that will happen to me, but I do have a minor case of it on my legs... So far it's just a bit of hair loss and some inflammation. My wife wouldn't have even noticed it if I hadn't brought it up.

But I'm going to do my best to be optimistic and treat it. In the meantime, because of the inflammation of the scalp I have decided to stop all the great treatments I have been using. This was not a direct recommendation from my doc, but he seemed to suggest that since we don't know what is causing the inflammation, and since I have a history of seborrheic dermatitis and other skin-related inflammation, we should rule out even the slightest possibility.

I am very disheartened by this because the treatments have made a big difference in my appearance, BUT I'm not completely down and out because if I can get the inflammation under control then I always have the option of getting a hair transplant in the future. I have never ruled out the possibility of doing that.

My one wish though when it comes to my own hair loss is that I didn't have such oversensitive skin. I really don't like the thought of quitting the treatments.

Anyway, we are indeed in the same boat Blueshard, but I wouldn't say the ship has sunk just yet. There's always the possibility of a good hair transplant. That's sort of what I am resting my hopes on at the moment.

Regards,
Sam

James · Post by **James** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:34 pm

Sam if only we could accept this crap and just live again. I would shave my head but it takes away any good looking feature that I have. I have been taking some prescribed tranquizers lately because this has made me suicidal.

Have you ever wondered if there was a way to create a "shadow" of hair on a bald scalp, to make it look like we had hair but just shaved it off? If there is a way to do this then we could get some frame to our face and maybe live again. Sadly, I do not think that there is such a thing nor would such a thing even look normal. What do you think?

And as for the transplant, I had been looking into FUE from Armani and was rejected due to the fact that I would not beable to use minoxidil. He said it was becuase it increases the survival rate and that I would not be happy with my transplant unless I used minox. Another thing that he said was that my burning scalp may interfere with the procedure.

One more question.... how big is the scar from biposy?

Thanks Sam. I hope to hear from you soon.

Post by **HairLossFight.com** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:19 pm

Blueshard,

Seriously this does suck, but never to the level of suicide man!

Also, I have never heard of a transplant doctor turning someone down because they can't use minox. That's ridiculous. The whole point of getting a hair transplant is that the hair is supposed to be resistant to DHT and not fall out (at least for a very long time).

If Alvi Armani really said this I'd be concerned.

As for the burning scalp interfering with the transplant. I was told the same thing, and it makes sense because you've got inflammation in that area. I think that part of the inflammation may be from the fact that our skin is so sensitive (and my ironically be why we are such good responders to the treatment, but that's another story for another day). I think our best bet is to get this inflammation under control. Then we can eventually get a transplant.

In my own case, I have a very similar shape to my head as my father, and my recession and hair loss seems to be following his pattern exactly. I asked him recently if he experienced the inflammation and skin sensitivity when he was losing his hair right around my age, and the symptoms he described are EXACTLY the same as mine. Here's the encouraging part. He no longer has any inflammation of the scalp at all! So he would be a perfect candidate for a hair transplant. He even described the same type of hair loss that I am having on my legs -- this Lichen Planopilarus BS that I've been diagnosed with, but it went away for him.... So here are a couple of questions for you: Does your father, or uncle(s), or grandfather(s) have hair loss? If so, do any of them have a similar pattern to yours? Ask them. Find out from members of your family (if you can) whether any of them had the same symptoms as you. Assess where they are with their hair loss and whether they could potentially benifit from a transplant. Cuz chances are you'll be in the same boat.

The scar from the biopsy is relatively new, but quite tiny, unless you look for it you can't see it.

As for whether there is something we can do to create the shadow of hair by keeping our heads shaved... Don't think so. BUT, I use Dermmatch and it works like a charm for me, especially when my hair is kept very short, like in the pictures I have in the Pictures section of this site. The only thing is that I only tend to use it when going to a party or out for dinner as I am ever afraid of causing more inflammation. Although this product has never caused any inflammation for me at all.

I would highly recommend that you check out Dermmatch, or even Toppik, and keep your hair as short as in my pics.

Take care of yourself man! BTW, are you going to the gym at all? I find that excercise helps me a lot.

Regards,
Sam

James · Post by **James** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:34 pm

Yeah my dad is NW 6 and so is my grandfather. I got hit from both sides.

I would love to work out but I have an injury in my pec and I have an achiles tendon problem also. Any type of weightlifthing I do in my upper body causes my pec to become inflammed and it hurts, same with my foot. I have been to several doctors about these problems and have done physical therapy and everything. NOTHING has helped at all.

Not being able to work out caused me much a lot of depression so it hurt really bad when I could not do it anymore. It is like something is determined to prevent me from having any control over my appearance!

It is interesting that having topicals irritate your scalp could bring on new growth, I have heard this theory before about having trauma to your scalp causing new growth. In the end it just isn't good though.

Alvi Armani definetly causes me to be suspicious of their behavior, but it was the only transplant co. that would operate on me because of my age. I understand the age thing and predicting the level of loss thing, but with FUE there are no very visible scars and shaving the head is always an option. I wish I could find a surgeon who would just give me a nice hairline. I don't care so much about the crown, I will use toppik and dermatch there, I just want a hairline and I want FUE!

Tricia · Post by **Tricia** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 10:36 am

Blueshard,

I just wanted to pipe in my two cents. Even if you lost every hair on your head, you'd still look normal and even handsome. I know you guys don't believe it, but it's okay if you lose your hair. Other people don't think less of you for it.

My current boyfriend really only has a tiny bit of hair left on the back of his head and on the sides...I guess a NW6 or NW5. I really don't know the classifications. But, I think he looks great. He hates his hair loss, but I don't even think a thing about it. I think he's very handsome.

Tricia