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The seven stars mallet

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According to the Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology  the Chinese mallet http://woodlibrarymuseum.org/museum/item/503/moxibustion  (also known as qixingzhen and plum-blossom needle tapping) is a Chinese ancient practice related to acupuncture. The mallet is made out of flexible plastic and it has typically seven needles in the head.

One has to grab the mallet by the handle and repeatedly tap the area of the body where the acupuncture points are. The library goes on to say that “the force and speed with which the tapping is applied varies, based on the purpose and location of the therapy. It may be used for a number of conditions including headache, arthritis pain, dysmenorrhea, stomachache, insomnia, constipation, and certain skin diseases,” including alopecia.

Chinese Mallet

Chinese Mallet

I was kind of surprised by the lack of information on this device on the Internet and I only learned about it because of my nephew, who learned about it through his mom (my wonderful sister in law, Laura).

Laura is the wife of my brother the neurologist, they met in medical school long time ago. And while he pursued a career in neurology, she did it in natural medicine. She has a huge knowledge in homeopathy, acupuncture and other natural alternatives to medicine. She even went to China to study acupuncture.

Well, now I know that when my nephew was diagnosed with alopecia areata and looked for the help of traditional medicine, Laura insisted on trying the mallet. Finally he agreed (he is already an adult… so no easy to tell him what to do) and, according to him, after the first couple of weeks of using the mallet he started to see hair re-grow.

So, I started, everyday for three minutes that I split between the bald spots. The spots ended up covered with blood, but apparently that is how it is supposed to be. Then I cleaned the spots with alcohol and  repeat the following day.

On my last trip to Mexico I met with Laura and she asked me to bring it out the mallet to show me the correct way to do it. She did it harder than I ever did giving me some breaks to recover from the pain. That session with Laura draw a lot of blood… I could see the faces of my brother and sister sitting in front of me quite impressed. She told me that I didn’t have to use it every day, I could take breaks but I have to tap more strongly.

In one of the few websites that talk about this therapy I found a link in  http://www.ehow.com/how_5771914_use-acupuncture-treat-hair-loss.html

I have seen some hair re-grow. But I have to confess that by know I have no idea what has worked and what not of the many things I have done. I will talk more about my incipient (but precious) hair in a following post.

The almighty Chinese mallet

Martillo chino

As I have mentioned in previous postings, it turns out that now that I have alopecia areata I have found out that a bunch of other people have had it too. One of those affected by the disease was one of my nephews, who told me that he has had two bouts of bald spots and no recurrence in the last two years.

 

When he found out that I had Alopecia he got in touch with me and he told me: “I really recommend you to use the Chinese mallet.”

 

“What is that?” I said, and he explained that it was a little mallet with little needles in one end. To use it one has to basically hammer the area affected with the needles and one has to expect blood to come out.

 

After a few inquiries here in Cuba I realized there was NO way that I could find such a mallet in here. I got in touch again with my nephew and asked him if I could use a fork for the same purpose. He said “no,” it had to be the Chinese mallet. So he sent me his with my sister.

 

In the minute I touch the device I knew the procedure was going to hurt, but my nephew told me he started to see hair in his bald spots very soon after starting to use the mallet. He also sent me by email a link to a video that show how to use it:

 

 

You saw the video? You saw that BaldieGirl saying that it is painful? Well, let me tell you something: it is painful and bloody.

I am using it, although right now I am taking a break from it. In a future entry I will talk more about it and more about how my nephew got his hands on this mysterious device.

What is Minoxidil…?

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Rogaine's 3 month treatment costs 53 dollars in one of the U.S. more popular pharmacies (Walgreens), compared to the 16 dollars I paid for the same amount under the generic Kirkland brand.

Rogaine’s 3 month treatment costs 53 dollars in one of the U.S. more popular pharmacies (Walgreens), compared to the 16 dollars I paid for the same amount under the generic Kirkland brand.

Well it turns out that the magical power that Minoxidil has to re-grow hair was found by accident. Yes, by accident!

Reading through the internet I found that Minoxidil (the generic name of the drug) was sold first with the commercial name of Loniten as a medication to treat high blood pressure. Nevertheless the patients taking this medication started to notice that their hair was growing, or re-growing, or an excess of hair in parts of the body other than the scalp (such as facial hair).

Minoxidil is hardly the only medication found by accident; drugs such as valium, penicillin and even Viagra were also discovered by accident.

After being approved to treat hair loss in the U.S. Minoxidil was commercialized with the name of Rogaine, the treatment was somewhat expensive but in the mid 90s the patent expired and nowadays one can find Minoxidil in a generic version for less than half of what Rogaine used to charge.

The treatment is only recommended for people with hereditary hair loss (androgenic alopecia), and as said in the last post the label says that one should not use it if the hair loss is patchy and sudden (as it is in the case of alopecia areata). Nevertheless I have found on the Internet (and with my own dermatologist) that Minoxidil tends to work in order to stimulate hair grow in cases of alopecia areata.

Most of the documents I read that talk about this drug and its use for androgenic alopecia, say that in order to maintain the hair one has to continue to use it indefinitely. It is stopped the hair loss will return. But I have also read that this is not the case for alopecia areata. Once the follicles have been stimulated and they start to produce hair again one can stop the medication and the hair won’t fall out.

I have to say that I don’t feel comfortable stopping the Minoxidil anytime soon. I am starting to see some re-grow of very fine white hair and I don’t want to loose the little I have gained! Not now and not ever.

Minoxidil… for men?

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This is the Minoxidil I am using with a dropper, 1 ml twice a day.

This is the Minoxidil I am using with a dropper, 1 ml twice a day.

As mentioned in previous posts my sister arrived to Cuba from Mexico for a short vacation on April the 15th. She brought with her two main things that were not available in Cuba and that I have been using since then: one was the antidepressant (that I already talked about in http://mydearhair.com/2013/05/22/not-depressed-but-in-need-of-antidepressants/), and a bottle of Minoxidil 5%.

I think I mentioned before that when I discovered the first two bald spots I started using the Minoxidil 2% immediately. I had bought it time ago when I started noticing an overall thinning of my once abundant hair. However I never got to be disciplined with the required “two times a day” application. The instructions say that it would take at least 4 months to notice some progress. I don’t think I ever passed from one week of continues used.

Nevertheless I had it here and I started immediately. But also, during those first days of my alopecia areata I read that the Minoxidil 2% (which is the one for women) was not really effective in the treatment of this disease. So I asked my sister to bring the 5% solution with her.

In Mexico, by the way, it is pretty expensive. A small bottle that lasted less than a month was about 40 dollars. Nevertheless I was surprised to see that my medical insurance covered the cost of it.

I also order some from the U.S. and a few weeks after it was brought to me by a “mule” (someone that makes his living bringing things from the U.S. to Cuba) for a small 15 dollar transportation fee. The one I bought in the U.S. (via Ebay) was 16 dollars for a three month treatment (something I can afford for the rest of my life, if needed).

Since then I have religiously used the Minoxidil twice a day (1 ml each time as indicated) and I am starting to see some changes but I am not sure if I should attribute this to the Minoxidil or to any of the many other things I am doing or to all of them.

Anyway I will talk about the changes in a later post.

In the warnings included in the label of this mediation it says that it should not me used if (among other things) one is a woman, has patchy hair loss, and has no family history of hair loss… (check, check, check…).

Nevertheless the dermatologist said that I should continue to use it since it has proven to be effective in the treatment of alopecia areata.

I will report any changes, although I am doing so many things now that I will not know to what to attribute them to.

Not depressed… but in need of antidepressants

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This is seratonin, the neurotransmitter that Zoloft inhibits and that plays a role in the persons mood.

This is seratonin, the neurotransmitter that Zoloft inhibits and that plays a role in the persons mood.

Since the very first day I discovered my bald spots and I called my brother (the neurologist) in panic, he suggested that I should start an antidepressant regime. He said that for my case the best medication was Sertraline (commercially sold by the name Zoloft).

My first response at that time was that I was not depressed; actually I was very happy having just returned from a very nice vacation. Still he said that such medication would help control the anxiety that was causing the alopecia areata and the panic and the extra anxiety that resulted from the hair loss.

The following morning before going to the beach I looked unsuccessfully for the medication in two pharmacies close to our place. They didn’t have it. Then I talked about it with Carlos (my psychiatrist) at the beach that morning and he recommended waiting, not to take medications right away. I decided to wait.

But four weeks after the diagnosis I decided that I was going to find and take the medication. My mood swings were not many but they were very drastic. I could easily go from happy and optimistic, to sad and devastated, to anxious and terrified in any day.

After three very bad days I told Carlos that regardless his opinion I was going to follow the recommendations of my brother. At that moment he agreed that taking the drug could be beneficial in my case.

So I called every pharmacy in Cuba just to find that there was no Sertraline at the time in the coutry. Nevertheless my sister was visiting in a few days and she brought it with her.

The first few days after taking 50 mg of Sertraline in the morning I struggled with some nausea (pretty severe the first day) and also with some drowsiness.

But after more than a month on Zoloft I feel fine, the side effects are gone and I haven’t felt sad or anxious in several weeks, I feel optimistic and happy. My husband says that he could immediately tell when the drug was taking effect, because overnight I stopped talking about my hair all day long.

Got to run!

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maraton

Me, crossing the finish line of my first (and so far only) whole marathon, in 2005.

The same Saturday of Veronica’s wedding (March 23) I called my mom at night. She told me that se had talked to my brother (the neurologist) about my situation, about the Alopecia Areata. She told me that my brother had said I needed to run.

I have been a runner for a good part of my adult life. For many years I ran every single day, even if it was just for 15 minutes. Something lacked in my day when ever I missed a run.

Nevertheless for the last few months I haven’t run much and I have actually let weeks and months go by without doing it.

The reason I gave myself for not running was the cough I battled and that apparently was a result of a strep infection (the one I am treating with penicillin), an injured toe (now healed), the pounds I gained and that made me feel heavy while running, and the fact that I was overall out of shape mainly because… I was not running.

It is a vicious cycle: not running made me a worst runner and made me want to run less.

Havana doesn’t help either, I live in a city where there are no good places to run. My favorite is the esplanade of 5th Avenue (5ta Avenida), but there is no shade, lots of smoke coming from old cars, traffic noise and very hard ground.

The issue here, according to my brother, is the endorphins. Basically I have got my body used to this morphine-like substance for years and then just stopped.

Endorphins (“endogenous morphine”), according to Wikipedia, “are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food, love and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.”

So, my body could be resenting that daily endorphin “high” and therefore getting stressed and reacting in a way that was making my hair fall out.

Marathon

Me, finishing a half marathon, some years ago.

This is actually a well researched fact: runners do experience a “high” and one can assume that if a regular runner (like me) stops running (like me) he or she could experience withdrawal symptoms.

It made perfect sense. After the talk to my mom I called my brother and he told me: “you got to run again.” Immediately after hanging up I put my running shoes on and I went out for a three mile run. It was difficult, I had to stop several times and walk, but since then I have been doing it every day, even if it is just for 20 minutes and I have to say that after a month I am starting to feel again the benefits of the exercise: that daily energy, the regular doses of endorphins, a slimmer and stronger body, a clearer mind, and an overall sense of wellbeing. This may help my hair grow back.

 

Cryotherapy

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432px-Cryogun

Cryotherapy bottle, like the one used by my doctor. (Photo: Warfieldian)

The following Thursday after the first visit with my dermatologist, Dr. Silvia, I went back to her for my first cryotherapy. It is and odd concept, at least for me. She puts liquid nitrogen in an aerosol device, while pouring it you can see something like a white gas coming out of the containers and if you stand by it you can feel the very cold sensation that such gas gives to your feet and legs. Once the liquid nitrogen is in the can, the doctor sprayed it over my scalp for about 2 or 3 minutes, moving my hair around and making sure that the whole head had been spray with the freezing gas.

The sensation went from refreshing, to good, then cold and, finally, almost painfully freezing. It is really cold, like when you leave an ice over your skin for a long time. I was just hoping that the rest of my hair wouldn’t freeze up and fall down as a result. It didn’t.

The purpose of this therapy, my doctor explained, is to stimulate the follicle. With Alopecia Areata the follicle usually stops producing hair for some time because of an autoimmune reaction (a mistake from you immune cells, basically), and the objective is to keep that follicle alive through stimulation so when the immune attack is over, the follicle would be ready to produce hair again.

I read some studies published on the Internet and they mentioned a success rate of the cryotherapy for Alopecia Areata, they were of less than 50%. So, I think it is worth it to keep it going. So far I have had 5 treatments and no hair has re-grown yet. There are many other things that I am doing in order to stop this disease and get my hair back. I am convinced something has to work.

Human placenta… in my head?!

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cira garcia 011

The Placental Histotherapy Center, in Havana, Cuba, where the human placenta shampoo and lotion are sold.

Right after the visit with the dermatologist I headed to the PlacentalHistotherapyCenter which is just two blocks away from the Cira García Clinic (where most foreigners in Cuba get medical treatment.)

At the center they required the prescription issued by Dr. Garcia and they gave me a new prescription from the doctor in site so I could buy the Piloactive Placenta Lotion at the pharmacy in site.

The lotion is sold along with a shampoo for 20 dollars per set (200 ml of each). Both products are made with human placenta and they are the result of research done in the island in the 70s primarily to cure vitiligo, another skin disease which main symptom is the discoloration of the skin.

The research was done by Dr. Carlos Miyares Calo, a physician specialist in Gynecology, Obstetrics and Pharmacology, and professor from MedicalSchool of the University of Havana, Cuba, explains the Center’s website. (http://www.histoterapia-placentaria.cu/)

From the mid 1980s people from many countries were coming to Cuba to look for a cure for the vitiligo and the Center was created.

In the 90s the Cuban scientists created other medications made of human placenta to treat other diseases such as psoriasis, osteoporosis and alopecia.

The lotion and the shampoo are said to stimulate hair growth and regeneration, they increase blood circulation to the scalp and regulate the sebaceous secretions. They are also said to improve the protein synthesis that happens normally inside every hair follicle.

On top of all those things neither the shampoo nor the lotion have secondary effects. I am using them now (it has been a month), so far I have seen no results but as my doctor said it is too early for any results… patience!

Relaxing at the beach

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Sunday March the 10th, the next day after the discovery of the bald
spots I decided to go to the beach. It was a beautiful day and every Sunday a
group of friends go over there. So I figured out that if what I needed was toNothing more ralaxing.
relax there was no better way to do it than sitting by water to contemplate the
waves, enjoy the breeze and talk to my friends.

Sure enough it was really helpful. I first talked to my friend Yolanda and told her about the newly discovered problem. She told me about a friend that has the same thing: alopecia areata. In the case of her friends she has bald spots that come and go constantly depending on her level of stress. It was reassuring to know that those spots “go,” but not so reassuring to know that they may come back.

Then Francesca, another friend at the beach, told me about a friend of hers that also had a bald spot once, a really big one. “What you have is nothing compared to what she had,” Francesca said, and most important “the hair eventually grew back.” I thought at that moment that I would focus all my energy in that: in knowing and believing that my hair will eventually grow back.

And then there was Carlos, another friend that usually goes to the beach on Sundays and who is a psychiatrist (officially MY psychiatrist, now). He told me he has had several patients with the same problem, and that they all eventually recover their hair.

He also told me that he would prepare for me a concoction of Bach Flowers to help me relax. According to Wikipedia, these flower dilutions were developed by a bacteriologist called Edward Bach and are believe to have healing properties, primarily for conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress.

That day, the second day of my life with Alopecia Areata, was good day. I came back from the beach relaxed, optimistic and tanned!