Recently Diagnosed with Lichen Planopilaris (scalp)
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Hello all. I'm a 30 year old male hoping to gain some valuable knowledge and insight from this community, as it's been a major struggle dealing with this disorder.
I've been fighting with the following symptons on my scalp for ~2 years now: red, inflammed skin, no flakes or scales, mild itching but nothing terrible, and noticeable hairloss in the affected areas. The areas affected are my frontal third, two thirds, crown and also my right side above my ear. There are still areas of my scalp that are unaffected and retain a proper neutral color. I previoulsy have never had this issue on my scalp before and there are no signs of it anywhere else on my body.
After visiting 3 different dermatologist, I finally had a scalp biopsy performed. The results were that I had lichen planopilaris of the scalp. My previous two dermatologist were treating it as possibly seborrheic dermatitis. I never quire agreed with this though as I did not have the typical signs of SD: dandruff, flakes, scale, etc--just persistent redness and inflammation. Even so, I tried every known dandruff shampoo and active ingredient available on the market to no avail. In fact, these generally just exacerbated the condition.
So far I'm been put on the following meds:
--Minocycline (bacterial)
--Clobetasol (corticosteroid)
--Fluconazole (Fungal)
--and my most recent derm wants me to start on immunusuppresants CellCept and Plaquenil
In terms of natural remedies, I've tried applying pure aloe veral gel, coconut oil, avocado oil, apple cidar vinegar...None of these really have done anything for me, sadly.
The Clobetasol topical liquid does midly help. It seems to improve the areas least affected and brings my skin tone back to almost normalcy, but has little affect on the more pronounced zones. I also have reservations on being stuck using a steroid for my entire life for two reasons: 1. it's detrimental to the skin (thinning). 2. It's not treating the cause but seemingly only the symptom.
As of right now, I'm working on making some dietary changes (no dairy) and more of a "paleo diet" regemin.
I have not yet tried the immunos as I've very hesitant to go down that route. My current derm states I need a baseline eye exam before starting up on these drugs. Quite intimidating.
I've heard a number of people report very good progress from holistic methods, such as Oriental medicine coupled with acupunture. Wondering if anyone can comment on this?
I'm very much so at an impasse with this skin disorder. It has come out of nowhere and totally taken control of my scalp's health, and, well, my entire life to a large degree. It's extremely draining and does not allow you to focus on other parts of your day-to-day living; Instead, you're looking for "the next treatment of the week to try out on your scalp" hoping that you can finally get some relief.
Thank you to those who read my post and looked at my photos attached. I value any input user's here might provide to help me fight this terrible skin disease off.
1 like, 126 replies
rhoda30391 Coligion
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ashley08351 rhoda30391
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rhoda30391 ashley08351
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rhoda30391
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ashley08351 rhoda30391
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rhoda30391 ashley08351
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sandy3737 rhoda30391
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rhoda30391 sandy3737
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ashley08351 rhoda30391
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sandy3737 ashley08351
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alan87734 rhoda30391
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HI IM A MALE 55 just found out through biopsy that i have this in its early stages hair thinning but not too bad yet started on HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE YESTERDAY AND GONNA DO THE SHOTS starting next week i had such a head of hair ao you feel like the shots really help?
THANK YOU! im a little freaked out
sandy3737 ashley08351
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how is your treatment going? gas it stopped the hair follicles from dying?
sandy3737
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*has
rhoda30391 alan87734
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The shots help a little and the betamethasone lotion helps but it is an incurable condition
rhoda30391 alan87734
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The shots help a little and the betamethasone lotion helps but it is an incurable condition
RAS1010 alan87734
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Did the hydroxychloroquine work?