Alopecia can be a lot of things, and one of the things alopecia can be is expensive. From doctor's appointments to treatments to wigs, hats, and concealers; alopecia takes a substantial bite out of your wallet. Add to that the cost of the items we buy that don't quite work, don't fit, or are of poor quality. And as if that weren't enough, we alopecians are often the victims of those marketers who prey an our hair-loss insecurities.

Well we here at Team Alopecia would like to declare "Enough"! Together we have probably bought every product and shopped at every website. So here is a place where we can share our knowledge of these products and stores, whether they be good, bad, or otherwise. Take a few minutes to look over the products and sites up for review. And if you have experience with any of them, please give your review for the benefit of others who may be considering purchasing.

You may also notice that we have review categories for things that are not really products or stores. But as these things can also be money sinks, we thought it was a pretty good idea to put them out there for us all to talk about as well. There are some treatment areas on the list, (some physician prescribed, and some not-so-much).

Some treatments and therapies can actually contain or halt hair-loss and some can help to re-grow hair. And some are useful for general health, happiness, and confidence. And, okay, let's face it. What works for someone, may not work for someone else. So when you review something, please give as much detail about your experience as possible.

Much of the evidence supporting the use of iodine as a treatment for aa is anecdotal.  Here a couple of reported success stories pulled from a thread on the Homeopathy and Health Forum at ABC Homeopathy:

"My 17-year-old daughter has had alopecia areata since she was three years old. She had total hair loss on her head and it was not until she was in third grade did she get most (95%) of it back. This was a direct result of an elderly lady customer of my mother's (she was a beautician, now retired) who happened to mention in conversation that her family had many members who had suffered with alopecia and they always used colorless (or white) iodine dabbed on the areas to reverse the process and get the hair to grow again!

So we tried it and sure enough... This very inexpensive treatment worked!!! It took about a week or so and we began to notice a light
growth of fuzz and she was growing new hair that stayed! She recovered 95% of her total head of hair and has to this day a slight band that encircles the outer edges or hairline that has had irregular recovery. But
she looks a sight better and feels so good about her hair. Since that original hair loss she has had two bouts where she began to notice hair fallout and we began rubbing the iodine in the first new spots. The fallout stopped within a day or so and she began regrowing hair within a couple of weeks! ..."

And also....

"I have been suffering from hairloss for the last 7 years. I am now 35 years, healthy otherwise. I tried everything from rogain to hormone pills, other sorts of products until I run into this website and decided to follow a recipe Joe De Silva, among others suggested and supplemented it with topical application of decolorized iodine. My hairloss DRAMATICALLY decreased in three weeks of dedicated application. After about 6 weeks, I now have fewer than 15 hairs coming out when I comb my hair (it used to be so much that I dreaded to even look at the amount of hair that used to come out just as recent as 2 months ago. Also, most of the hair that came out was actually broken as opposed to what it was before, falling from the roots. I also saw significant regrowth in my frontal temple area where hair was receding. I havent noticed yet any regrown anywhere else but it is such great relief to see that my hair finally stopped falling out abnormally."

You can read the full thread here. 

A couple of interesting things to note on the full thread.  On is the use of 20 ml. Arnica Mother Tinture and 80 ml. of coconut oil by some of the thread participants.  It's interesting, so we'll throw it up on the alternative treatments section for review.  Also, while there are some who claimed that iodine slowed or stopped their hair-fall, and some who said that it promoted regrowth, some also stated that they experienced no change at all.