On hair

So I'm at the salon sitting waiting for the color on my head to finish doing what it does. 
I love coming to the salon.  I like the smell and enjoy watching the ladies do their magic on peoples heads.  Its fascinating and I'm a bit jealous..  I wish I could make hair look fantastic.

So as I sit here I also get a little sad.  I see all these lovely people in here doing hair, getting their hair done and I sit here and wonder what it is like to not have a skin disorder on my scalp.  It's tough.. a girls hair is a huge part of what makes her feel pretty or attractive.  At least for me it is...

I see mine as this mess of hair with areas where it is so thin from where a lot of hair has fallen out. And damage from the medicated oils and shampoos I use.  I want to love my hair again. I want to enjoy playing with different looks and styling my hair. 

I recently came upon an old photo where I had my long hair. It looked healthy and even a bit thick.

I have very thin and fine hair which can make matters worse when my scalp gets bad.
I hope that some day this skin issue will just disappear and one day this feeling of not liking how I look because I hate my skin and I only see the flaws and problems fades away.
Some day I hope to feel pretty again.

a journey (on my head): days 3 & 4

Sorry I didn't get to posting day 3 yesterday.  We have had a busy weekend with work on the house.

So here is day 3 and 4 all in one post!

Day 3:
I can tell it's really starting to break up and the scabs are breaking loose from my scalp.  I was able to comb quite a bit out of it however there is still quite a bit to go.

I've been wearing hats a lot lately because the meds are so oily so it looks as if I haven't washed my hair in weeks.. Kinda gross actually.
So here are the pics.

You can see all the little bits that are breaking up.

Still looks nasty and my hair is still mostly plastered to my scalp.  Because it is breaking up and not quite so attached to my scalp it has been harder to put a comb through it.  The pick/comb will end up under one of the scabs which is quite painful.  Still been loosing quite a bit of hair but I still have high hopes!

Below are the scabs that seem to be the hardest to break up.  I have large ones on each side of my head close to my temples.

Tonight we are going to make sure we soak them good with the overnight oil and hope that it helps break them up!


Day 4:
I let the overnight meds sit on my head a little bit longer than normal.  Mostly because I'm lazy and I stayed in bed really late because I was tired and sore from working on the house on Saturday.
I finally got up around 11am and took a shower using the T/Sal shampoo and after put the other oil on my head.  Gosh I hate that stuff..  again oily hair = gross.   I miss being able to do my hair and not feel like I need to wear a hat to cover it up!

But later in the day I was feeling around and i could tell that those scabs by my temples had loosened up and were no longer attached to my scalp!  Sweet!!

So early in the evening I took a fine tooth comb and starting removing the scabs that it would let me.
And you know what?....

I got almost every scab off my head!!  Holy Cow!  Check these pictures out!

You can still see flaking but that is just loose stuff in my hair that will wash out in the morning.  I got all but maybe a few tiny bits off my scalp!  I can comb my hair without it hurting or catching on something, and my hair is no longer plastered to my scalp from all the buildup!  I can see where I had lost hair early on and new hair had tried to grow in but I just couldn't see it under the scaling!  it's short but at least it there!

I'm super excited!

We will do another really light treatment of the oil tonight and I'll wash my hair with the medicated shampoo again in the morning.  I will assess then if I'm going to put the other oil in my hair as I hate to use it and I have to go to work.. and it would be nice not to have to have gross oily hair.

I am super happy I finally got this taken care of!  My Husband has been wonderful in helping me put all the meds on my scalp!  Many mucho thanks!

Now it's all about prevention and growing my dang hair back!

More updates later!

a journey (on my head): day 2

So today my head itched like crazy and it is flaking really bad.
So that is good news.. means it is working. I'm already seeing a lot of it breaking up! I am beginning to think that this WILL be cleared up by next Wednesday!
How awesome would that be to have all this cleared up by Thanksgiving. Now that is something I can be thankful for!

So I have some pictures. You can see that it is flaking quite a bit.


I won't bore you too much with this.. but here is a close up of my scalp today. Though it looks bad it is really breaking up and a lot of the scaling came out today. Though a lot of hair fell out today also.


I really hope in the next few days I have pictures that don't make me feel sick to my stomach.. cause these just look nasty. Aren't you happy I am so sharing!?...



Oh.. and here's Poe.. just can't stay out of anything.. even my blog.

Till tomorrow!

a journey (on my head)

So I want to take you on a journey. Perhaps you will join me?

This is not a journey that will show you pretty places or things to do. Does not involve driving or walking for that matter.. Actually this is a journey about healing.

See.. ever since I was 22 I have been battling psoriasis on my scalp. This is a hereditary disorder of the immune system. My scalp essentially creates new skin cells faster then it sloughs them off. My understanding is that my body is creating new skin cells in 6 to 8 days vs the normal aprox. 30 days. (now don't take my word on that.. this is just from what i remember reading.. thought i suppose i should look it up.. but naah). Oh.. and it's not contagious. phew..

Over the years I have had this psoriasis come and go. I had an instance in my early twenties where i lost a lot of hair on the crown of my head because of the scaling from the disorder. I have used a lot of creams, pills, ointments, oils and shampoos. That is really the only way you can treat this problem. There is no cure.

Well recently my scalp has exploded again. It's almost as if i have a wide headband of psoriasis scaling across my head. I had been avoiding going to the doctor. Not sure why.. money was an excuse, I guess i also just thought it might go away if I use some special shampoo.. I think some of the stress in my life just got the better of me and i just didn't take care of the problem as soon as i should have. But I went to the dermatologist on Wednesday this week. He seems to think with proper treatment that it will be cleared up in a week. 1 Week People! I have been suffering with this for months and he says it will take 1 WEEK!.. Yes, I may feel silly at the end if it does only take a week but it is what it is. So If you would like to join me and you don't have a super weak stomach.. lets go!

This is me:



HI Guys!!

Right now because of the problem I always wear my hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail and a little head band to hold some of the shorter hair and to hide some of the scaling.


Hair up & Hair down

You might already be able to see some of the damage. I've lost a lot of hair so it's really hard to hide now.

More pictures:
You can see the scaling a bit and some of the hair loss. This stuff itches and is pretty uncomfortable.


The right side of my scalp. The hair can clump in the scales.


Top view.. I have lost quite a bit of hair.


A view from the back.


Happy girl i am not.. I miss my hair.


You may have noticed a bit of flaking in my hair. That is because on Wednesday night I started my treatment that the doctor gave me to get this cleared up. So all these pictures are after one treatment. He said 1 week.. so I'm going to try and chronicle the healing process.
I had to take the pictures tonight by myself as the husband was out slaying dragons or something like that. So hopefully the pictures will be better since I won't be trying to contort my arms in weird ways to take pictures of my own head.

Aaanyway.. I will take pictures and post them everyday right before the next treatment. So tomorrow evening I will post pics after two days of the treatment and so on.. Lets see if this will actually clear up in a week.

My arsenal:


Left to right: Neutrogena T/Sal Shampoo: have to wash my hair every morning with this leaving it on for 3 to 5 minutes. Fluocinolone blah blah and something else (I have no idea how to pronounce that stuff): is a oil drop i have to put on my scalp after i get out of the shower in the morning. Derma-Smooth/FS: Another oil i have to use on my scalp at night. I have to dampen my hair and scalp, put this stuff on it then cover with a shower cap and leave on over night.

It's not fun but I'm already seeing flaking so that means it is breaking up already after only one treatment.

Wish me luck..