Hi,

Like many, I have tried everything (rogaine, etc.). I think I have stumbled upon something that is working a bit for me. The jury is still out but basically I have been using tazorac to treat another skin condition (I think I have every skin condition out there) and applying it to the eyebrows as well. I believe it is helping a bit, any UO sufferer knows every little bit helps, at least to help feel better!

I have some pictures from recently and two months ago. I think they show improvement. I will look them over and try to post if I find clear evidence of improvement and a way to crop for confidentiality! In the meantime, I would like anyone's recommendations on how best to accurately capture eyebrow detail with a digital camera. My camera, a Sony DSC-V3, has lots of features, including RAW, macro mode, internal flash AND a hotshoe, ISO 100-800, a polarizer, blah, blah, but I am not use to these for the best closeup shots. If I can get a some helpful settings and stick with them, comparisons will mean much more.

Thanks and good luck to my fellow UO suffers.

sorry can't help you with the camera stuff but interested to hear about tazorac.

I am guessing your UO is till in its inflammatory stage??? and that you are in your twenties???

I use retin-a cream (by Roche) which is similar to tazorac apparently - see Annuu's (pharmacist) explaination on thread below:

Anunu - a question for you if you are out there!

At 45 my UO is past the inflammation stage and the outer third of my eyebrows are all gone - I just have redness from scarring in that area now. The retin-a cream helps get rid of the odd KP bumps still lingering around the eyebrow area every so often.

I am thinking if your skin tolerates this cream it should be helping to stop the hair follicules from blocking with keratin and the hair follicule utimately dying.

Hopefully someone else can help you with the camera tips - let us know how you get on with the Tazorac cream.

anne, thanks. Tazorac is indeed like retin-a, except it is much more powerful for most people. Of all the topical retinoids, it is regarded as the most profound. I have used retin-a, differin, finacea, accutane, AHA, and BHA in the past. With tazorac I have had to increase the frequency of application very slowly since it is so much more powerful. I think I started putting in on once every 10 days or so and I still peeled a lot, more than I ever did from daily retin-a. Now I am at a higher frequency and I am increasing that slowly. With each increase in frequency, I get new peeling.

I am actually in my thirties, but I am not really sure about whether I am in the inflammatory stage or not. My whole face has been kind of inflamed, basically due to the KPRF and my vellus hair cysts. Part of my enthusiasm comes from the fact that I believe my face is much less inflamed than it used to be. Even though my skin hurts from the tazorac, it seems much less red to me than it has in a while.

With the brows, I see denser growth, but they are still sparse in the out third. I think they have improved shape as their most visible improvement, but even that can be hard to see from some angles since what I believe to be new hair starts out quite fine and quite short.

I will work to figure out a way to track progress and then try to keep people updated, if possible.

Hi Somedude and Anne -

Just a few dumb questions about UO....

I think my toddler son may have it and I would like to stay updated on all possible treatments. He has slight KP bumps on his brows and the derm perscibed salex (6% salicylic acid). Do you think if one can keep the bumps under control with a cream, that will help with preventing hairloss? Do the bumps or the inflamation prevent hairloss? Does putting a retionid or salicylic acid on the brows make the hair fall out? I was hesitant to put the salex directly on the hair - worried that the medication may make the hair fall out as it makes the skin peel...??? Have either of you ever tried Salex?

I am gald you are finding some relief. Thank you for posting - it is so helpful for other people.

Quentin

Quentin:

Issue 1: there are no dumb questions about UO, KP, KPRF, etc. I have worked with some of the most highly respected dermatologists in the world and they did not have definitive answers. Trial and error really is where it is at.

I think the salicylic acid might help stop hair loss, but that is just my guess. I think the thing to realize is that these disorders are all the result of abnormal keratinization and most of these acid or retinoids work to change keratinization.

For my own example, I haven't (as far as I can tell) experienced hair loss from salicylic acid, retin-a, AHA, or tazorac. Yes, every now and then a single hair is stuck to my finger after application, but that really is rare. And I also have peeled a lot and mostly the skin just looks less bumpy.

I think you are probably doing the right thing by starting early. I think my problem got worse with age. I would consider starting slowly, at first these preparations can be quite painful. Even once a week is probably enough. Gradually increasing it over a period of months will mean less severe reactions.

Good luck!

Hi Quentin

I agree - an AHA is a good place to start. I can't see why it would make the hair fall out.

As UO is quite rare it is often not diagnosed until all the damage has been done i.e. I saw 6 different derms from age 14 - 37 and it was only the 6th that finally correctly diagnosed me. Unfortunately by then the hair loss and scarring were complete.

With UO prevention is better than cure. If you can keep the KP bumps and subsequent inflamation from blocked hair follicules under control it follows that this should prevent the hair follicule being destroyed.

The trouble with AHA's and other creams mentioned above is that they can cause irritation if used too much so slow and steady is the best way. Apply a bit at night before your son goes to bed and see what it is like the next day.

At this stage it is very much just watch and see what happens to your sons skin. If their is any irritation from the cream it is best to wait until the skin calms down again.

If the cream you have doesn't seem to help after a few weeks perhaps talk to your doctor about trying some of the other products mentioned here (especially those on the mom's forum).

Did you manage to get in touch with Annuu? - I know he has had success with his mixture of AHA's for children.

Wishing you and your son all the best.

I encourage you to keep asking questions. If your son does have the early stages of UO I know that many people on this forum will be more than happy to help your son from going through the stages they have gone through.

I promised tazorac photos to show my 'progress'. I would strongly caution everyone that the lighting and camera angles make an apples to apples comparison tough. And as all UO suffers know, a seemingly small difference means a lot to our self esteem, so the margin of error on the photo quality does worry me a bit.

The first part of the image is from 3/26/2007 and the second is from 5/18/2007. The first photo was from a 640x480 pixel image, whereas the second is from a 1 mega pixel. I think some of the resolution difference is canceled out by the greater contrast in the first photo, but I don't know for sure.

I am getting a macro lens and I think this will help with closeups. I also think I will try to hold as many parameters constant as possible in the future. Hopefully I can put together a series of these that will be somewhat illustrative of my results.

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