Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 10:13:20 -0500
Subject: Re: [Alopecia Areata Support Group] aromatherapy

Hello,

I used the aromatherapy approach along with vitamins Ester C, Moducare (which regulates the immune system) as well as Probiotic 8 (for yeast) during my last episode of AA. I had complete regrowth in six months. Just prior to this, I was getting cortisone injections, gaining lots of weight and having no success. My mother took me to a nutritionist who asked me to give this a try. This was kind of an expensive option but seemed to have worked for me..I say 'seemed' cause you never really know if it's the treatment that made your hair come back or if it just came back on it's own. I currently have a dime sized spot that I am treating the same way...we'll see..

D

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 11:06 PM
Subject: [Alopecia Areata Support Group] aromatherapy


> Has anyone out therer tried this? I got it from keratin.com. I am
> willing to try anything at this point.
>
> Aromatherapy
>
> In 1998 double-blind study published in the Archives of Dermatology
> (Hay 1998) found that 44 percent of participants who massaged their
> scalps with a mixture of essential oils daily for seven months showed
> growth in bald patches. The tonic was composed of active essential
> oils described.
>
> 2 drops thymus vulgaris (88-mg)
> 3 drops lavandula angustifolia (108-mg)
> 3 drops rosmarinus officinalis (114-mg)
> 2 drops cedrus atlantica (94-mg)
>
> and used the carrier oils:
>
> jojoba oil 3-ml
> grapeseed oil 20-ml (NOT grapefruit seed oil)
>
> While the original paper gives only limited detail about the nature
> of the essential oils other scientists have given more detailed
> recommendation to keratin.com. There are several
> different "chemotypes" for the essential oils used in the original
> study. Specific recommendations include:
>
> For rosemary : Rosmarinus officinalis CT cineole
> For thyme: " sweet thyme " such as Thymus vulgaris CT thujanol or
> linalol or geraniol or terpineol (but never " red thyme " such as
> Thymus vulgaris CT thymol which is pretty caustic for the skin)
> For cedarwood: Cedrus atlantica (which is not Texas cedarwood. Under
> this generic name, Juniperus species are safe, but never use Thuya
> species)
>
>
> In the published study 86 volunteers with alopecia areata massaged
> oils into the scalp each evening for a minimum of 2 minutes; followed
> with warm towel wrap to aid absorption of oils for about an hour.
> Half of them received the complete tonic and half of them received
> the carrier oils alone as a control.
>
> The results were that 19 (44%) of 43 patients in the active group
> showed improvement compared with 6 (15%) of patients in the control
> group (P = .008). An alopecia scale was applied by blinded observers
> on sequential photographs and was shown to be reproducible with good
> interobserver agreement.
>
> The investigators concluded that the results showed aromatherapy to
> be a safe and effective treatment for alopecia areata. Treatment with
> the essential oils was significantly more effective than treatment
> with the carrier oil alone.
>
>