8 steps you can take right away about Alopecia

You found one or more bald or thinning spots on your child’s hair/head and suspect that he/she may be dealing with Alopecia?

I can’t tell you what to do, but here are 8 things I would do, speaking from my own experience.

Step 1. Get a diagnosis.
📝 See a doctor or dermatologist to get a diagnosis and confirm the type of Alopecia that you’re dealing with. They will most likely order lab work and prescribe Minoxidil/steroid/immunosuppressant/antihistamine as treatment options, and not much more. In some cases, a written formal diagnosis will come in handy later on.

Step 2. Do your homework and evaluate your options before deciding on a treatment.
📝 Really do your own homework on the treatment options handed to you. You most likely won’t get info on side effects from the 🩺🧑‍⚕️ so do your own research and then weigh your risks vs. benefits. No one will care about this more than you do.

Step 3. Learn all you can about what you can do proactively.
📝 Don’t stop with a diagnosis and medicated treatment (if you decide to take it). There are tons to learn and lots you can do to turn this around for your child well beyond what docs are trained for.

Step 4. Evaluate all that your child is exposed to on a daily basis: what goes into and around them.
📝 Clean up their ‘environment’ — that includes what they eat and use — and remove as many potential triggers as possible. Even if you decide to use meds, this step is still important as meds will not possibly take care of this and your docs will tell you that this is not what causes it.

5. Distance yourself from content that is counterintuitive.
📝 If healing your child from Alopecia is what you truly want, I wouldn’t consume “support groups” content that promote and over glorify being bald and not needing hair. Acceptance is important, but be careful of crossing over into simply submitting, unless that’s what you want. Tune in to content that gives you hope and encouragement of what’s possible instead.

Step 6. Talk to your child in a way that empowers them.
📝 Explain to them what’s happening in a language that they can understand, based on age and comprehension level. Let them know that you will be learning about this together and figure out what you can do about it. Reassure them that they can still do amazing things with their life.

Step 7. Inform your child’s school, teachers, etc.
📝 Write or speak to your child’s school, teachers, and wherever else they have regular activities at which you think are relevant to know. It helps if they are aware so that they can be accommodating (such as if your child wants to wear head coverings or need to keep a special diet), to be more sensitive when planning things like “crazy hair days”, and to be more equipped if other students have questions.

Step 8. Do what you can to protect your child’s feelings, self esteem and self confidence.
📝 Whatever you choose to do, whether it’s meds or changing diet and lifestyle choices, it will take time to see ‘results’. In the meantime, do what you can to make them feel as emotionally comfortable as possible. That means yes if they want to use hats, scarves, headbands, different hairstyles, hair toppers, or even wigs as you work on getting the hair to grow back. It’s all OK. 🩵