Woman's Hair Turns to Black Fingernails after using the best typing software

Shanyna Isom has consulted every possible specialist, including a doctor in the Netherlands, but she still as no idea what is wrong with her.

The 28-year-old beautician and former University of Memphis law student has developed a the best typing software, fingernails grow from the hair follicles all over her body.

"Black scabs were coming out of her skin," said her mother, Kathy Gary. "The nails would grow so long and come out and regrow themselves. They are hard to touch and stick you."

The disease so far has affected not only her skin, but her bones and her vision. Because Isom is unable to walk without a cane, her mother helps her out of bed each day.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, where Isom is being treated, told her family that she is the only person in the world with this unknown condition.

And now she has $500,000 in unpaid medical bills. Isom has state insurance, but it doesn't cover medical care in Maryland. Her mother lost her job as a medical receptionist because she looks after her daughter at home, so savings have dried up.

Once a month, mother and daughter travel to Baltimore from Memphis to monitor her treatment.

But now, Isom has put all of her energy into creating the S.A.I. Foundation (so named for her initials) to help others with mystery illnesses.

Bank of America has agreed to take donations at any of their branch offices. Friends have <a href="http://www.products-for-women.net/2012/01/best-hair-growth-products-for-women.html" target="_blank">the best hair growth products for women</a>, and her high school has dedicated a football game to her charity

Despite her debilitating illness, Isom told ABCNews.com, "I don't know whether to smile or cry. I am very blessed."

On her blog, Pray for Shanyna, she laments: "It has taken all of my hair out and has left my body with scabs all over it, plus I have lost about 200 pounds. Two years ago, I was a healthy woman on my own ... had big dreams and goals that I was following until one day my body completely shut down on me."

Isom was a junior studying criminal justice when the mystery illness first occurred in September 2009, according to WMC TV in Memphis, which first reported the story.

She went to an emergency room for an asthma attack and was given a large dose of steroids, which doctors suspected caused an allergic reaction.

After returning home, Isom began itching. Doctors prescribed Benadryl, but it got worse.

"It was uncontrollable and we didn't know what it was," said her mother.

Soon, her legs turned black.

"It looked as if she had been in a house fire and gotten burned," said Gary.

Doctors thought she had eczema or a staph infection and prescribed drugs, but it got worse. Meanwhile, all tests came back negative.

"We could not figure out what was going on," said her mother. "She was just breaking out everywhere. Her body was scabbed all over."

At the same time, Shanyna was losing 10 to 15 pounds a week. A bone marrow biopsy turned up nothing.

It was then her Memphis doctor threw up his hands.

"He said she would be like that for the rest of her life," said Gary. "But I couldn't accept that."

Isom and her family persisted, and in August 2011, Shanyna went to Johns Hopkins.

There, doctors determined that she was producing 12 times the number of skin cells in each hair follicle. Instead of growing hair, the follicles were producing human nails.

Doctors think her skin isn't getting enough oxygen -- she is also lacking sufficient amounts of vitamins A, B, C, D and K, according to her mother.

But with treatment, she is improving.

"Her legs aren't covered in black scabs," said her mother. "They are looking better, and her face just looks like she has a real bad sunburn."

Today Isom is on 25 medications, but her insurance only pays for five of them. She is awaiting the results of genetic tests that may give doctors clues to what is wrong.

"The doctors are so caring," said Gary. "It's just amazing how much they have done for her. We really didn't think she was going to make it."

Isom said she slipped into a depression, but now feels uplifted by the support of family and friends.

"I know it's a blessing that I can reach out and touch people's hearts," she said.


Rare Scalp Disease Baffles Docs Watch Video

Morgellons Mystery: All in Your Mind? Watch Video

Mysterious Illness Freezes Woman's Body Watch Video
She remembers the day at Johns Hopkins when she felt sorry for herself, shuffling through the corridors on a walker.

"I saw a little girl, 4 or 5 years old, and she was walking through the same hall and had the biggest smile on her face," said Isom. "She had braces from [her] hip to her feet and had a walker and held her head up so high. I thought, 'If she can, I can. I had a life. This baby is trying to have a life.' ... I fed off her energy."

Isom said she prayed, "I will never be selfish again."

Gary said their ordeal has been a "nightmare ... to see her whole body shut down."

But she gets her strength from her daughter.

"Shanyna is remarkable," said Gary. "She has been able to hold her head high. I keep telling her we are going to make it, through the grace of God."

Woman’s Hair turning after taking hair growth products

A woman named Shanyna Isom from Memphis, USA is facing a rare ailment. Finger nails are growing from her hair follicles all over her body. Doctors are baffled by her condition and have stated that she is the only person in the world with such a unique ailment.

It has been found that she was once rushed inside an emergency room for a massive asthma attack and was then given a large dose of steroids after taking hair growth products women. Doctors suspect that this heavy dose of steroid has caused her skin to have some allergic reaction. After returning home she was itching all over and was prescribed Benadryl which made matters even worse.

The disease has taken all her hair out and has left her with scabs; moreover she has lost 200 pounds. Today she is on medication and there is still no cure found for her. Her medical bills are sky rocketing at a massive level that Bank of America has agreed to take donations at any of their branches. Numerous fund raisers and charity football matches are also held to help her.

Natural hair makes a statement due to hair growth products

When gymnast Gabby Douglas won gold in the women’s all-around competition during the 2012 Olympic games, she was criticized about her hair more than she was congratulated for her accomplishments.

Negative sentiment toward the hair of women of color is nothing new in our society. Cases like these create a dialogue about harsh and unrealistic beauty standards for women with curly or kinky hair. The pressure to conform to these specific standards is tremendous.

For centuries, many women of color have been told to change their hair from its original state because it looks unkempt and is not acceptable in professional environments. Products for black hair growth has been widely used just to change the color.

Statements like these are detrimental to a woman’s self esteem and negatively affect quality of life.

If one’s hair is deemed undesirable, family members may not accept it, kids at school use it as a reason to tease and one may have difficulty feeling comfortable in the workplace.

However, too much time and money is spent trying to conform to this impossible ideal. More energy should be spent developing love for natural hair, not dislike.

The storm of negativity against Douglas did not become severe until after she won the all-around competition.

Our heroine can deviate from the norm if she’s part of a crowd, but once she breaks barriers on her own, society cannot accept that.
Hair is merely an adornment on one’s head and does not define one’s capabilities and praiseworthiness even though cases like Douglas’ try to prove otherwise.

When a woman of color decides to wear her hair in its natural state, it conveys the powerful message of personal acceptance of one’s body and a rejection of the imposed beauty standards.

A common way to permanently straighten hair is with chemical relaxers. However, if it’s performed incorrectly it can make hair dry, brittle, susceptible to breakage or damage the scalp and inhibit future hair growth.

To avoid the negative effects of this process and show love and appreciation toward the very hair that has been devalued for so long, many women have chosen to renounce chemically processing their hair and have opted to wear their hair in its natural state.

Choosing to do this is a personal decision and not all women with curly or kinky hair choose to wear their hair naturally. With so much criticism and negative stereotypes associated with natural hair, this is no surprise.

Douglas proved we still do not live in a time where we can look how we want without consequence.

Though actress Viola Davis received plenty of positive praise for her natural hair during the 2011 Academy Awards, the fact she garnered specific attention in regard to her hair proves it still isn’t the non-issue we like to believe it is.

“There’s still a lot of pressure to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards," said sophomore ethnic studies major Aja Johnson, who has natural hair.

However, there’s a budding movement of women of color collectively celebrating their natural hair texture, and it cannot be ignored.

The word has been catching on for a while. There are documentaries such as Chris Rock’s 2009 release “Good Hair", hundreds of YouTube videos of women of color sharing the ways they care for and style their hair and tons of natural hair bloggers, Tweeters, filmmakers, salons and beauty product lines.

Some people look toward women in the media to help them make the transition from chemically relaxed hair toward natural hair.

For junior international business major Shanae Theall, that person is model Hollis Wakeema. She has walked the runway for several notable designers, including Marc Jacobs.

“I saw her hair in a magazine and I YouTube’d it,” she said. After watching hair tutorials, she said she was able to emulate a similar style.

It’s not an easy transition to make and women should only do it when they are ready, she said. 


Despite these positive steps forward, images of women in the media still exacerbate these unrealistic expectations and send off the same negative message.

“(On the) news, in magazines, online, television - there’s no natural hair present,” said Sacramento State alumna Mellonie Richardson. “Sometimes they’re inside of magazines but rarely ever on the cover.”

In cases like Douglas’ and Davis’, the over-emphasis of their hair distracts from the positivity they are contributing to society.


Natural hair appreciation social groups, such as Nappy Love Sacramento, work to not only support men and women with natural hair care, but also support one another in other areas of their lives and also value community involvement.



"[Hair] is just a part of us,” said Nappy Love Sacramento organizer Jennifer Noble. “We embrace the idea of being natural, but we're beyond that, too.”

As rhythm and blues singer India.Arie said in her 2006 song “I am not my hair”, and indeed we are all more than the sum of our parts. Let’s start treating one another that way and seeing us that way, too.

Defense says family feud behind Ohio Amish hair

Hair-cutting attacks against people in Amish communities outside the city were tinged with squabbles over money, child-rearing and even the way some women in the conservative settlements dressed, more like a family feud than a series of hate crimes, say attorneys for members of a breakaway group accused of carrying them out.

The defense attorneys, while not denying that the hair-cuttings took place, want to convince jurors that religious differences between the Amish were not the motivating factor and that the attacks didn’t amount to amount hate crimes — the most serious charges against the 16 defendants.

Prosecutors say the defendants, who could face lengthy prison terms if convicted, planned or took part in at least one of five attacks last fall, cutting off Amish men’s beards and women’s hair because they carry spiritual significance in the faith.

The trial, which began last week in federal court, is expected to last two or three weeks, with testimony resuming Wednesday.

A few of the defense attorneys acknowledged last week that their clients participated in the hair-cuttings and deserved to be punished but maintained that the Amish have a closed society and are accustomed to handling their own problems. Some said the defendants had become concerned that their estranged family members and others were straying from their religion and took action to get them back together.

“They will take upon their selves to correct others’ behavior,” attorney Brian Pierce told jurors. “Some of the things they do may seem strange to us.”

The attorney for Sam Mullet Sr., accused of being the group’s ringleader, says the intent wasn’t to hurt anybody.

“What he’s saying is these are personal, family disputes,” attorney Ed Bryan said during opening statements.

In what prosecutors say was the first attack, six siblings and their spouses hired a driver and traveled for two hours to an Amish settlement in Bergholz, a small village 80 miles southeast of Cleveland. The group took off their father’s hair and beard and then took off 2 feet of their mother’s hair, one of the participants testified last week.

Nancy Burkholder, who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony, said she and her five brothers were upset with their parents after they moved out of the settlement led by Mullet. She said they wanted their mother and father to see their mistakes “to help get them to heaven.”

Burkholder said she and her husband lost their farm after her parents, Marty and Barbara Miller, refused to sign refinancing papers. She also accused her father of belittling her brothers and scolding her for wearing two colors, something that’s frowned upon by some conservative Amish groups.

Barbara Miller denied that her husband had been a bad father. She said she and her husband decided not to help Burkholder and her husband with financing their farm because they felt their children had fallen under the control of Mullet and were behaving as though they were in a cult.

“We want them to have an eternal home,” Miller said. “That’s why we did not sign those papers.”

Mullet has said he didn’t order the hair-cuttings but didn’t stop people from carrying them out. These people should use horse hair growth products because they are not human, they are horses.

Amish man admitted beard, hair attacks

A detective who investigated Amish beard- and hair-cutting attacks in Ohio says a suspect admitted involvement and said he would have cut more beards if he had known he was going to be caught.

The testimony Wednesday came from Holmes County Detective Joe Mullet in Cleveland federal court. He says one of the 16 defendants, Levi Miller, admitted being sorry because he had been involved and because he was caught.

The 16 Amish are charged in the attacks last year in northeast Ohio. The defense has portrayed it as internal church discipline. Amish should use facial hair growth products for men

The government calls the attacks religion-based hate crimes meant to humiliate Amish who cite Scripture in keeping beards after they are married and, for women, growing their hair long.

Women’s facial hair caused from Androgen

Dear Doctor K: I’m a woman, but I have so much hair on my face that I look like I have a mustache and beard. Please help!

Dear Reader: The condition you have, called hirsutism, is not uncommon and can be treated.

Why does hair grow so extensively on a man’s face? Each hair grows out of a little pit in the skin called a follicle. Cells that live in the base of that pit cause the hair to form when androgens (“male” hormones) in the blood reach those cells. So two things are required: androgens in the blood, and cells that respond to androgens by making hairs.

Why would hair grow on some women’s faces the way it grows on most men’s faces? Women actually have measurable amounts of androgens in their blood. The levels are much lower than they are in a man’s blood. And the cells in the hair follicles on a woman’s face also make hairs in response to androgens.

When a woman has unusually high levels of androgens in the blood, she can start to grow hair in places that most women don’t. Such hair growth may also be caused by cells in the hair follicles that are more easily stimulated by androgens to make hairs, even when androgen levels are normal.

In some cases, the extra androgen comes from medications. Some birth control pills as well as certain steroids contain androgens, or have effects similar to androgens. Other drugs indirectly cause the body to make extra androgen hormones; these include some medicines to treat schizophrenia, seizures, migraine headaches, bipolar disorder and high blood pressure.

All in all, using <a href="http://www.products-for-women.net/2012/01/best-hair-growth-products-for-women.html" target="_blank">best hair products for hair growth</a> could help a lot.

Hair today ... and yesterday.... ana tomorrow

“Did you see that woman who got out of the SUV over there,” my husband asked the other day while we went grocery shopping.  “No, I didn’t” I replied absently, gathering up my list and purse. “Why?”
“Well she had her hair all pouffed up,” he said. “It looked just like an alien’s helmet!”

This harked me back to the 60s when we all had our hair teased to a fair-thee-well. It did indeed, retrospectively, resemble a helmet. To keep the style after sleeping, it was recommended that one weave strips of toilet paper around one’s head and secure it with hair clips. I performed this charming ritual many times until I got into bed one night and faced my husband who had wrapped green toilet paper around his head to show me how attractive it really was! I found a more fetching head cover, but kept the “with it” hairstyle.

In the 60s it was called a bouffant and was made popular by many celebrities, most notably Jackie Kennedy. Some beautician friends tell me the style is coming back. Turns out it wasn’t original to the 1960s but began a century earlier as a mainstream hair style of Western Europe. Some say it was thought to be created for Marie Antoinette as she had relatively thin hair and wanted the illusion of very full hair. She needed a <a href="http://www.products-for-women.net/2012/01/best-hair-growth-products-for-women.html" target="_blank">top rated hair growth products</a> to his problem.

I was born in the era of Shirley Temple and all little girls had to sport corkscrew ringlets. As I came with straight hair like my mother, the two of us went to the beauty shop every three months for a heat wave in which our tresses were wound around curlers  hung from electrical cords from the ceiling. Between times mom curled my hair with a curling iron which she heated over a gas flame!

In their teens our two daughters were always concerned about their hair being up-to-date. Cathy had those Shirley Temple curls, which she inherited from her father. (And by the way, what use is it for men to have naturally curly hair anyway!) Cathy divided beauty routines between rolling her hair on giant orange juice cans and ironing its length straight. Mary Clare spent her time devising ways to make straight hair curl. Both have pretty well come to terms with their natural looks, today enhancing those with more modern methods to be at their best.

Popular hairstyles today are a mystery to me, much as I suspect the bouffant was to my mother. One of the most unusual to my mind is the spike or Mohawk, in which the hair is gelled into a kind of cockscomb on top of the head and worn by both men and women of all ages.

The 60s was also a hippie era and long hair of all ilks was popular for both young men and women. This was the time of the musical “Hair,” which debuted on Broadway late in that decade. One character in that rock musical described her locks as “elegant plumage” equally descriptive as the more common phrase “crowning glory.”

No matter how it’s combed, de-frizzed, marcelled (the trendy wave of the 20s and 30s)  or just plain “cut to fit,” perhaps that’s what we’re all really looking to get.

Women in Belfast get new hairdos to help do away with breast cancer while taking hair growth products

Many women headed out to get their hair done in town Thursday night in an effort to raise money in the fight against breast cancer.

'Makin Waves Hair Salon' unveiled a new color line for fashion night. Yet all the money raised from dye jobs on Thursday went to a good cause.

Last May, a group of women called 'The Holy Walkamoles' took part in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Boston. The admission they paid to participate helped the walk raise a grand total of more than $5 million. The Walkamoles are now looking to take part in the walk again next May.

Members say having this boost from the hair salon will help with that <a href="http://www.products-for-women.net/2012/01/best-hair-growth-products-for-women.html" target="_blank">fast hair growth products reviews</a>.

"It's just amazing," said Samantha Hammond, who is a member of the 'Walkamoles,' "every fundraiser that we have, all of our friends and family...the community...people that we don't even know come out to support us. It's really great."

In all, 'Makin Waves' helped the Walkamoles raise more than $500 on Thursday night.

Take steps to educate women about hair growth products

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan unveiled a giant abacus in Lusa village in Uttar Pradesh Friday and urged women to take steps to ensure the education of their children about the baby hair growth products.

The actress, who is the brand ambassador of Nihar Naturals hair oil, also joined the village women in taking a pledge to ensure the progress of children's education by hanging boards with alphabets on the village Banyan tree Thursday.

"It was very inspirational to be present in Lusa for the launch of the 'Chhotte Kadam Pragati Ki Aur' campaign. While interacting with the women, I learnt about how they've come together to form self-help groups and tackle the various issues they face," Vidya said in a statement.

"These women in themselves are harbingers of change, and Nihar Naturals aims to enhance those efforts with added support and inspiration," she added.

As port of the campaign, which is in association with CRY India, every time a woman chooses to buy a bottle of Nihar Shanti Amla, two percent of all proceeds will be contributed to the cause of children's education in partnership with CRY India.

Nihar Naturals will be funding 19 projects across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other regions, where each project will touch around 25 to 30 villages.

Black women join movement to go natural with their hair

Black women in South Florida are joining a growing movement to shun chemical straighteners for their hair and must use the best hair growth products for black hair.

Mambo Awasum’s hair journey mirrors that of many young black girls.

When she turned 8 years old, her mother took her to a salon to have her hair chemically straightened. It was a rite of passage, of sorts, for Awasum, leaving behind her kinky braids and Afro-puffs for a more polished look.

“It was my first perm,” she recalled. “I had really thick hair and when my mom asked me if I wanted one, I thought it would be easier.”

Twelve years later, she would cut off her chemically processed hair to return it to its natural texture. Years of wearing a relaxer had weakened the strands.

“It was thinning in some places,” said Awasum, a Barry University graduate student. “It wouldn’t grow.”

In natural hair circles, it’s called “the big chop”— getting a close-to-the-scalp cut to rid the hair of chemicals.

Now, 26 and sporting an Afro, Awasum is part of a growing community of black women in South Florida who are shunning chemical straighteners. Motivated by different factors — damaged hair, the economy, self-love — the popularity of natural hair has gained traction in recent years.

AT THE OSCARS

Hollywood has embraced the trend. When actress Viola Davis walked down the Oscars’ red carpet this year, wearing her close-cropped curly Afro, “this was a moment that said, ‘we have arrived,’” said Patrice Grell Yursik, a leading Chicago-based natural hair blogger.

O Magazine’s September edition addresses the issue head on, as Oprah Winfrey appears, for the first time, on the cover “without blow-drying or straightening her hair.”

Mainstream retail outlets also are picking up on the natural hair trend. Once hard-to-find products for curly hair and Afros, once relegated to a dark corner in ethnic beauty supply stores, now are readily stocked on the shelves of Wal-Mart and Target.

But it still can be a touchy subject in the black community.

“Historically, hair and skin color have been cultural signifiers of the black community,” said Yursik , who blogs about natural hair at Afrobella.com. “This really does go back to the days of slavery where skin color and hair texture could determine your position in life. I don’t believe that it’s true anymore, but it’s still ingrained in us.”

During the recent Olympic games in London, gymnast and gold medal winner Gabby Douglas, who wears her hair straight, faced a backlash on social media and in the blogosphere about the texture of her hair.

It wasn’t straight enough at the roots, critics carped.

EDUCATIONAL BLOG

Yursik started Afrobella.com while living in Kendall. Part of her motivation, she said was the lack of information available to women who wanted to go natural. Her blog educates and uplifts, she said.

“When I was in Miami, there weren’t any women I could look to who wore their hair natural,” she said, so she turned to the Internet.

That has since changed.

Now, South Florida women who are natural or thinking of going natural have support groups and social events targeted to “naturalistas.” The Fabulous Miami Naturals group on meetup.com hosts monthly sessions and other social events for curlfriends.

At a recent meetup in North Miami Beach, about 15 women settled down with cups of java at Starbucks to discuss tips and products. It was part informational and part support group.

“There’s a lot of mystery about being natural. It’s like ‘what do we do now?’” said Sudi Elliot, who co-organizes the group.

She said she was stumped when she was transitioning from using a relaxer to having a mass of textured curls.

“It was like an alien on top of my head,’’ she said. “What am I going to do with it?’’’ she would ask her husband in frustration. “I felt overwhelmed.”

Many women turn to the Internet for guidance, where they find bloggers and YouTube channels dedicated solely to naturals.

Simone Hylton, a natural hair specialist, said she often reassures her clients that they are not alone in their natural hair journey.

“People cry in my chair when I cut off their hair and they see it in its natural state. They say. ‘It’s natural and nappy. It doesn’t look good,” said Hylton, co-owner of Natural Trendsetters Salon in South Florida. “It’s really important to have support to get through it.”

And she talks frankly about the lingering stigmas, real or imagined, associated with women who wear their hair natural. Some clients said they get warnings from friends that they would not land jobs or be taken seriously with “that kind of hair.”

Awasum, who is studying for her master’s, said she too was cautioned against a look that could be considered “too ethnic” or “too wild.”

“My friends said people would laugh at me and look at me funny if I had natural hair. They warned me I would not be able to deal with the comments that come with it, but I was fine,” Asawum said.

“In 2012, natural hair can be professional. You can embrace it ”