Hair loss
Are you suffering from hair loss? There are many different causes of hair loss presenting to a dermatologist office.
Non-scarring alopecia:
- Anagen hair loss: decreased hair growth; short broken hairs are seen
- Causes:
- Autoimmune disease (severe alopecia areata)
- Medications: hair growth resumes 3-6 months after withdrawal of offending medications
- Loose anagen syndrome: inherited condition
- Telogen hair loss:
- increased hair shedding, usually 2-6 months after an event that stops hair growth
- Causes:
- Pregnancy/Child-birth
- Weight loss
- Fever, severe illness, surgery or stress
- Medications
- Androgenetic alopecia:
- thick terminal hairs become thin vellus hair. Common with age.
- Male pattern: affects temples and vertex of scalp
- Female pattern: affects frontal scalp
- Hair shaft abnormalities (congenital or acquired)
- Causes: excess hair injury from pulling (trichotillomania), chemical relaxants, bleach, others
- Systemic diseases
- Iron deficiency anemia, hypothyroidism, lupus, syphilis, severe illness
- Scarring alopecia– due to Inflammatory skin disease
- Infections: Staphylococcus aureus, fungal infections (tinea capitis), viral infections
- Inflammatory skin diseases: discoid lupus, lichen planopilaris, localized scleroderma, others
Diagnosing the cause of your hair loss often requires a careful history and examination by a dermatologist. Woods lamp examination, cultures, skin scrapings and blood tests may be necessary. Your dermatologist will target the treatment towards the underlying cause.
