Case Presentation
A case of a 42 year old female, from Delhi. She presented with alopecia areata and tinnitus in the left ear. She is a housewife and was referred to me by another homeopath. There was also scanty menstruation and vaginismus since 6 months.
As I got to the details of her mental state during the homeopathic interview, she described how she felt alone and un-supported by her husband. She is usually unable to express her emotions in front of her husband and feels like he does not give her the attention that a wife deserves. She also feels he is not attracted to her. The husband is outgoing and she, not so much, being introvert and also feels like she is inferior to her husband. She feels hesitant to start a conversation with others. She said she finds herself weeping when alone and does not know what exactly is bothering her. Also there is breast tenderness, before menses.
To cut the long story short, after careful consideration of her physical symptoms and mental condition, I made the first prescription for her. Only after 4 months of treatment, the condition of the alopecia is as shown in the pictures here. The tinnitus got much better in the 1st two months but it is still present, only on some days, to some extent, so that needs further treatment. Only 2 remedies were used in these months until and she is still under my treatment, for some other symptoms as well as alopecia. The treatment needs to be carried on for a while as I do not want the symptoms to return and I need her to improve on the mental level as well, in addition to physically.
Introduction
Alopecia areata is considered to be an autoimmune disease. This can lead to hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere. When the hair is lost entirely from a small patch or an entire part of the body like head, eyebrows, eyelashes etc., this condition is called alopecia. Alopecia areata is a common, inflammatory non-scarring type of hair loss. Significant variations in the clinical presentation of alopecia have been observed, ranging from small, well-circumscribed patches of hair loss to a complete absence of hair on body and scalp. It can affect all age groups and shows no predilection for any particular sex or ethnic background.
Alopecia totalis and universalis are rare conditions.
ETIOLOGY
The patients are usually socially affected by this disease. This does not cause any physical pain or symptoms other than the bald patches. There might be increased incidence of atopic eczema, allergies and asthma in these patients.
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MY HAIR TO GROW BACK?
The pattern of alopecia has found to be very variable in each individual case. Sometimes the hair has grown back, and fallen off again as well. Sometimes, only a particular part is affected and then it stops there. In rare occurrences, the hair continue to form bald patches in different parts of the body. Even in those patients who lose all of their hair, the possibility of re-growth is very much there. In some cases, the initial hair growth could be of a lighter color but ultimately, the hair regain uniform color and texture once the treatment is complete.
With homeopathic treatment, there are good chances for the hair to grow back and become healthy again as is shown by various practitioners already and this current case of mine, gives more positive hope to patients.
CONVENTIONAL DRUGS
Although they may lead to temporary improvement, they are incapable of preventing further patches to develop or they are unable to effect the etiology of any particular case.
HOMEOPATHIC APPROACH IN ALOPECIA
The difference in the homeopathic approach is we try and treat the whole person, who has
developed the condition, and not the patches only or the hair symptoms only. There can be different approaches in homeopathy as well but I have personally talked about my case here and how I treated her. It is very important for a homeopath to know the person he is treating and not just the symptoms of the disease. Not only do we have to address the pathology of the case, but also the person and how he or she is affected by the disease. Every case of alopecia can be prescribed an entirely different remedy, depending on the individual presentation.
Not only do we have to consider the present symptoms, but also the personal and family history of the case, to be able to take care of the predispositions of a particular case. We call it the ‘miasmatic tendencies’.
MY PERSONALLY DEVELOPED INDEX TO HAIR PROBLEMS
For falling off the hair on other parts of the body are:
☆ In the eyebrows: Agar, Bell, Causticum, Kalmia
☆ When the hair falls off on the sides of the head: Graphites, Phosphorus
☆ On the forehead: Arsenicum, Nat m, Phos
☆ On the vertex: Baryta c, Graph, Lyc, Sep, Zinc
☆ On the occiput: Carb veg, Petrol, Phos, Silicea
☆ On the temples: Calc, Kali carb, Lyc, Nat mur
Externally: Spirtus phosphoria, few drops to a pint of distilled water, and after shaking, moisten well the scalp with it. Or dissolves a teaspoonful of table salt in a pint of water and rub it well over bald spaces.
Falling off of whiskers: Calc, Graphites, Natrum mur
Falling off of mustaches: Kali, Natrum mur, Plumbum met
Falling off of mons veneris: Helleborus, Natrum carb, Nat mur, Rhus tox, Sil
Most indicated Remedies in alopecia generally are:
HAIR (in general)
Hair (specific symptoms)
To summarise, Alopecia is not a condition for self-treatment as a
series of remedies will be needed to address the causation and
recurrence. A professional homeopath can really help you sort the
condition, after a treatment period of anywhere between 3-9
months.