New-ish scalp scratcher with thinning hair - will it get better?

Hello all, I am new to this forum, so please forgive me if there is already a thread on this topic. I spent quite a while reading back, but there are way too many pages of content and couldn't find many stories about people who stopped scratching, so I thought maybe I should start the conversation anew. I started scratching my scalp some 6-8 months ago, when a topical solution prescribed to treat to my new, budding alopecia areata began to give me small pimples on the scalp. The pimples were unsightly and painful, so I picked up the habit of scratching or "popping" them while watching TV at night. It was just a distracted "grazing" and searching motion I would do distractedly - nothing too hard, but definitely persistent. Once I switched solutions, the pimples went away... but the scratching habit remained. I never thought much of it, since I would only do it at night, for about an hour or so while watching TV. Didn't think there would be too much harm in it, until I realized this week that the hair in my "favorite" spot (right at the front-middle section on my hairline, where my thick and dark "widow's peak" used to be, and just over and around it). Well, now my peak and all the area just around it had thinned a considerable amount, and I'm scared the damage might be permanent! After seeing myself in the mirror yesterday, I am scared straight and have made a promise to myself to stop scratching. Already last night I was successful, and didn't scratch one single time while watching TV - just the thought of permanent hair loss was enough to kick my vanity into overdrive and keep me from touching my head! Still, I can't shake the fear this thinning is now permanent. So this is my question to you guys out there who used to scratch and then stopped - did your hair ever grow back, or did the thinning/balding become permanent? I have no idea if 6-8 months is already too long and "past the point of no return" or if there is hope for my hair still. Any and all stories and anecdotes are welcome. Thanks!