Continuing the Hair Loss series, this post is by blogger Ronnie of Sankofa Power who wrote of her experience with CCCA Alopecia. This is Part 2 of her journey to recovery and she mentions a hair growth treatment she used from essential oils.


In my previous post, I spoke about how I came to discover that I had alopecia, specifically Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia (CCCA)- a mouthful! I discovered my condition during a visit to my dermatologist at the Roosevelt Skin of Color Center.

This was after I tried unsuccessfully to tackle the issue with products from renowned European companies such as Rene Furterer, Klorane and Phystospecific lines. I was already primed from my childhood to run to these brands. Growing up in Haiti, my older sisters were avid users of Rene Furterer products and revered any hair product from European laboratories. Rene Furterer Ampoules were very popular in Haiti. My sisters used them to promote hair growth and scalp health. I bought some of those products online and also used the opportunities during my visits to Europe to stock up.  I am sure these products are of the highest quality, but they just weren’t the solution for my specific problem.

On to my dermatologist, his first order of business was to take a picture of my crown and keep it in my chart to track progress. His first “prescription” was for me to stop anything that I was doing to stress my follicles. In my case, there wasn’t much, I had cut my locs and I had a short fro.  The directions are to stop chemical treatments, tight braiding, weaving, chemical coloring etc. The reason for this is to eliminate any hair practice that may be negating the treatment or exacerbating your condition.  At that moment I realized the magnitude of addressing alopecia medically.When I later spoke to other women experiencing alopecia, especially women of color, this was the biggest barrier to seeking treatment.  The majority of women are not ready to really stop weaving, braiding or processing their hair. The sad reality is, unless you were already comfortable to wearing your hair in its natural state with no enhancement or chemical treatment, this first direction of your dermatologist can be a deal breaker.

He then prescribed  a steroid cream that I had to rub on my scalp every 2 days, alternate days with the Rogaine, and an oral antibiotic/anti-inflammatory pill. I made a vow to follow his treatment for a full year. I would go to his office every 3 months to track progress. I stuck to his program, went for my visits and he did see progress on a reduction of the bald spot at my crown. However, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being on antibiotics for that long as it has a tendency to wreck your gut flora, no matter how much yogurt you eat or probiotic pills you take. I also stopped the Rogaine after a few months since it was giving me way too much “baby hair”. Even though I only rubbed the Rogaine on my crown, and made sure that it didn’t leak anywhere else, fine hairs started growing all around my forehead and temples. No Thanks!!

Another Rogaine baby hair shot, US Open 2013

I was a trooper, I kept the steroid and pill treatments up for 9 months.  I felt I had reached a plateau. Although I made some progress, my hair was still dry and brittle and the bald spot was still there. I wanted to switch to more natural options. I credit Dr. Alexis for jump starting me on the path to recovery, for his diagnosis, and direction. But you know me, I had to go to my kitchen, to my roots and heal my body naturally.

Using the diagnosis that CCCA is an inflammation of the follicles, I extrapolated this to mean that I should reduce inflammation in my body as a whole. I know most reading this are like, WHAT OIL did you use????  hehe, I will get to it. Most women dealing with alopecia would only want to hear about the “miracle product” to rub on their scalp so they could be Rapunzel next month ( Ode to my LS who loves to use the word Rapunzel). I understand that, but I wanted to start thinking differently.

Often a diagnosis of inflammation in one part of your body is your chance at preventing inflammation to pop up as another disease in another organ.  Besides a diet hight in fruits and vegetables, some spices that can help reduce inflammation internally are ginger, cayenne pepper ( hot pepper in general), garlic, and turmeric/cumin/curcumin. I started taking curcumin, garlic and turmeric supplements in pill form. I also invested in a pill called Zyflamend which is a proprietary blend containing the most popular natural anti-inflammatory ingredients listed above. This pill is popular amongst those who suffer from Arthritis.

In addition to internally attacking my problem, I also did research to create a hair oil, which I would apply with the same frequency of the steroid cream to treat the inflammation topically. I came up with a mixture of half jojoba and half cold-pressed castor oil mixed with grapefruit and peppermint essential oils.  Jojoba oil, is one of the lightest carrier oils. It mimics the sebum that our hair and skin naturally produces.  It is one of the most absorbent hair oils. I added castor oil because of my coarse texture, castor oil is a wonderful emollient. The grapefruit oil acts as an antinflammatory and the peppermint stimulates the follicles to promote growth. Although many essential oils are anti-inflammatory, I wanted to find a mix that smelled really nice, clean and fresh, thus why I settled on grapefruit and peppermint.

Every two days, I would carefully part my hair and massage the oil into my entire scalp, with extra focus on the bald spots. If you have thinner hair or wear it straight, you can omit the castor ( heavier) oil and just double the jojoba as it is a light oil. The medicinal effects comes mostly from the grapefruit and peppermint essential oils.

Essential oils to reduce scalp inflammation and stimulate growth

I also cowash my hair weekly, sometimes twice a week.  Based on how my hair feels, I know when I need to do a clarifying shampoo to remove buildup. Before washing my hair, I  would also do a prewash massage, similar to the one described by THE hair guru Merary Soto at ManeConcern Pre-wash . The key to takeaway from this, which is also Merary’s advice, is consistency. It’s not so much which oil you use, as there are many essential oils with similar effects, it’s the consistency of your scalp massages that will yield the results.

I have to say, focusing on the health of my scalp externally and reducing inflammation in my body as a whole has gotten my hair in the best health that it can be right now. My goal was to stop the problem from getting worse and be able rock a short healthy fro. Anyone who knows me knows how sad I would be if I had to wear hair pieces or a wig. In fact, I have already mentally come to terms with the fact that if my problem gets worse that I will rock a baldie before I have to wear a wig.  So far I have succeeded and for that I am grateful!

My hope is for whoever is reading this and dealing with any form of alopecia, to know that it is more common than you think, it happens to women of all ethnicities , whether you alter your hair or not. In the same vein of how common this condition is,  there are  pharmaceutical and natural treatments available to you.

November 2014 selfie:-)

In Health and Presence of Mind

Ronnie_Deco

More: Hair Loss Series Part 1 - CCCA Alopecia