Hi Doc,
I was recently diagnosed with diffuse alopecia areata. I lost a lot of hair on my head, but the hair also got finer. I passed that off to genetics even though I’m only 19. We tried everything including cortisone injections and minoxidil, but nothing worked, so we tried oral prednisone. The hair follicles regrew, but the weirdest part was that the hair actually changed back from fine to relatively coarse. My question is: Does alopecia areata ever change the characteristics of the hair, or was the textural change a bizarre coincidence?
Hair during recovery from alopecia areata may just return to its original texture. Then again, it may not. Diffuse alopecia areata is not fully understood as a disease process. There might be better information (including support forums) at the National Alopecia Areata Foundation site.
Yes, I think it does change hair. I have alopecia, and when my hair first grows back although I have very straight course hair naturally it is extremely curly!