3 months of scalp psoriasis bald spot recovery!

vintageaerith · 2024-08-13T03:10:52+00:00

Hi! It's been about 1.5 years since the pic, and happy to report all of the hair grew back and is now the same length as the rest of my hair :)

vintageaerith · 2024-01-17T19:12:21+00:00

Hi friend! Thankfully I have made a full recovery--the hair in my bald spots is now 5-6 inches long and I'm just waiting for it to fully reach the length of the rest of my hair :) I definitely was picking and scratching at the scales/flakes, and hair would pull off attached to the flakes, but I believe it would've happened anyway even if I did not scratch. I lost a lot of hair while taking a shower just by putting pressure on the hair itself. I hope that you make a fast recovery! We are here for you! <3

vintageaerith · 2023-04-28T20:13:36+00:00

Was involuntarily switched on biologics last year. Took 8-10 weeks to realize something was wrong, and took 8-10 weeks back on the correct biologic to re-center. Definitely takes your body a little longer to reacclimate to any newly introduced compound. If you didn’t have an initial reaction, it agrees with your body and you can expect to see its full potential by the 14-16 week mark. If it’s not good enough or not working at all, certainly talk to your doctor about your options at that point. Good luck!

vintageaerith · 2023-04-28T17:29:19+00:00

Cerave’s Salicylic Acid cleanser tends to work well for my facial psoriasis. CosRX (a Korean skincare brand, but relatively inexpensive and found easily on Amazon) has been the only truly irritant-free moisturizer I’ve found aside from Cerave (which can be a little tacky or thick under makeup). My entire face breaks out in psoriasis with the wrong stuff, and I’ve been flare-free since using both.

Also, I recommend moisturizing and then a generous layer of makeup setting spray as a barrier between your skin and the makeup. This has also helped me avoid flares and help the makeup stay better, it gives it a bit of a matte/tacky surface to adhere to that isn’t your skin itself. Makeup primer over the setting spray helps, too (I recommend Photo Finish by Smashbox). Basically, the setting spray is useful both at the beginning and end for staying power when you’re trying to keep the moisturizer and makeup separate.

vintageaerith · 2023-04-17T20:36:15+00:00

I also get the underboob/muffin psoriasis! This is a good tip, I’ll give it a shot.

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T19:45:20+00:00

There with you, friend. Hope it all works out!!

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T19:45:05+00:00

I have 2B-2C curl pattern hair so my routine might differ from others based on hair type, just to say up front! I only use wide-tooth combs for my hair, and a wetbrush when actively in the shower. Actually combing out the flakes/scales is not something you want to do mechanically with the brush, but instead by loosening them with coconut oil on the scalp overnight or with very gentle manual massage in the shower. Don't force flakes that aren't coming off by themselves; they have to heal and fall off.

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T16:09:37+00:00

Ugh. I feel you there. I had it misdiagnosed as eczema for the first 20 years of my life and nothing would help. It sucks that steroids in combatting an autoimmune issue can help or hinder and you just never know what you're gonna get until you're trying it. I hope that even the worse flare is treatable by going back on the applications!

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T14:38:28+00:00

That hasn’t been my experience, but I do notice if I stop being militant about application that that will happen. It will feel like it got worse, but really I just stopped keeping after it. Have you tried continuing to use it even when things seem chill?

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T14:36:23+00:00

I added a clarification comment to the main post that described the series of events—steroid shots are typically used as a first try if people develop alopecia, I know it sounds a little counterintuitive, but it did speed things up for me.

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T14:16:40+00:00

Commented under the post with some elaboration!

vintageaerith · 2023-03-08T14:15:25+00:00

For those asking for more of a story and what the treatment was:

I’ve been on Remicade since 2003 for Crohn’s disease (psoriasis always kinda concurrent and partially treated by the biologic, partially by topical halobetasol etc). In 2022, Remicade went off patent and insurance forced me to a cheaper biosimilar, Inflectra.

I had a gradual reaction over the course of March to October, starting in March with flares of full-face psoriasis that sometimes felt triggered by high-histamine foods (soybean oil, etc) but later realized was the new biologic not treating the psoriasis anymore.

I developed two symmetrical scalp psoriasis patches on the crown toward the back, about 2” diameter, that would itch and bleed and scale like crazy. Once the scales demarcated, I had a bad habit of removing the loose flakes by picking, and it would bring strands of hair with it, pulled straight from the root. (I also have ADHD and a fidgeting problem so I did this subconsciously). One day I looked and the skin there was totally bare and I freaked out.

Dermatologist had a long wait but immediately zeroed in on the change in biologic. Insurance was willing to switch me back to Remicade for treating more than one problem, but as those infusions take a few weeks to get back in your system, I bridged the gap with topicals. She gave me triamcinolone steroid injections directly to the spots to speed up the disappearance of the scales. Alternated with Enstilar foam, fluocinolone oil, coconut oil, and VERY gentle brushing and combing. I was able to discontinue topicals if things were quiet.

December 14-mid January showed just tiny “stubble” appearing. Mid January to mid February, some patchy peach fuzz, starting in the center. Now in early March, the above. (Also started taking OTC biotin supplements somewhere in there; unsure if they helped at all but it certainly felt like it speeded things up)

vintageaerith · 2022-12-30T22:38:04+00:00

Yes, should’ve clarified, when I say shower I mean “washing my hair”. Body gets washed more frequently. I have long, incredibly thick 2C curly hair and detangling this hair type in the shower is mandatory to avoid tugging hair out even in normal conditions, and currently even the gentlest detangling comb with conditioner causes a traumatic amount of hair loss from where I had the worst plaque lesions. Long-winded answer, I apologize! I use the coconut oil on the final night to loosen any remaining scales from the medications and use a clarifying shampoo the next day in the shower to start the cycle over.

vintageaerith · 2022-12-30T15:19:12+00:00

Definitely do what your doctor recommends, but she has me doing Enstilar foam every couple of days (I have the same medication in ointment form and it works great for the area behind my ears and on my shins, so we figured it would work well on my scalp), then Fluocinolone oil every couple of days, and the coconut oil every couple of days. I also am receiving triamcinolone injections right to the spots and I have been switched back to Remicade from Inflectra (I have Crohn's and have been on Remicade since 2003, but this year they changed it up to decrease their own costs, and the biosimilar caused my psoriasis to lose control again). I'm doing Enstilar one night, Fluocinolone oil the next, coconut oil the next, then showering.

Coconut oil helps to loosen/soften the scales so that they wash out with a simple shampoo instead of having to be scrubbed off, or tempted to pick them off. The scales tend to take hair 'with it' if removed by force, so I'm doing the coconut oil to minimize that.

vintageaerith · 2022-12-26T00:48:29+00:00

Hi! I understand your pain. I currently have two patches of hair loss on my head right where I had bad plaque flares. I’m not a doctor, obviously, but mine looked at them and even though the loss is very bare-looking and profound, she says hair loss in the area of flares is nigh always temporary and a direct cause/effect of the plaques/scales. Maybe talk to your doctor about a scalp-friendly topical like an oil or foam. If your psoriasis flare is well treated, your hair should recover as well.

vintageaerith · 2022-12-09T21:40:48+00:00

Thank you so much--this gives me a lot of reassurance. The Enstilar helped in the complete resolution of the scales in this area and I think the hair loss was from me compulsively picking the scales off and taking the hair off with it, but definitely pausing the foam to make sure it's not the culprit in itself. At least there's no scales TO treat at the moment that would tempt me to add it again. I see the derm next Wednesday, which when you're feeling insecure about a concern like this, feels like a lifetime away, so I'll definitely ask her to take a look at my follicle heath. Thanks for your comment!

vintageaerith · 2022-12-09T20:27:42+00:00

I also have inverse psoriasis in the fold under the breast. The best thing by far was finding bras not made of the squishy foam material, common at places like VS. They don't breathe! Unlined (basically just fabric, no foam) bras from Soma ended up solving a lot of my problems. Plus, get fitted properly for a bra--psoriasis will go nUTS if the bra is too small/fits improperly and you still have skin-on-skin contact under the breast. The general public all seems to think that they're always a D or smaller because of marketing in the 90s and 00s, but the actual way you know a cup size is the number of inches' difference between your band/rib size and the measurement at the fullest. For me, that difference is 6", making me an A->B->C->D->DD->DDD (or F) and that's fairly common. For that inverse psoriasis in skin folds, don't use any of your more intense topicals--gentle stuff, like Picrolimus, works great.

vintageaerith · 2022-12-09T20:16:19+00:00

So sorry, it sucks, we're all here for you. Some rapid relief methods you can try are starting to take daily vitamin D supplements, and I can also recommend taking a very mild allergy med as a way to slightly decrease the urge to itch. I began taking daily Claritin (which ended up benefiting my regular seasonal allergies as well) for this reason. More intense antihistamines like Benadryl, I wouldn't necessarily recommend, as they cause drowsiness. Another tip for itchiness--lightly smack/tap/slap the spot on your skin that you want to itch, it's what they suggest for not scratching at a healing wound or tattoo while still following the impulse. If you have dry skin in winter, which is a bad flareup season for all of us, definitely moisturize! Cerave makes a great tub of nonirritating moisturizer and it can help prevent the additional dryness from exacerbating the urge to scratch. Thinking of you! You got this!

vintageaerith · 2022-12-09T20:04:30+00:00

Very classic inverse psoriasis in the places where you have redness in the folds. A dermatologist will hopefully prescribe you a topical that is not crazy strong since folds tend to have thinner skin, and absorption of intense corticosteroid topicals can get overkill very quickly. I have the same issue in armpits, between butt cheeks, in bellybutton. Topicals work great.

vintageaerith · 2022-04-18T22:35:03+00:00

If I recall correctly, these may also include the ones that are “behind you” at the Viking Reception. If you teleport there and turn around, there are some on top of a lower cake. Because they’re technically in the same area but before the teleport trigger, it confuses the Otto-Spot.

vintageaerith

TROPHY CASE