Hi doc,
How do you tell the difference between Telogen Effluvium and Diffuse Alopecia Areata?
Diffuse alopecia areata can look very similar to telogen effluvium. The only way to tell these two diagnosis apart is by performing a series of biopsies of the scalp. Alopecia areata can be diagnosed histologically.
Dear Sir, My wife is 1 month pregnant . She is alopecia patient & complete bald since at the age of 5 years old. Her 2 other sister are also bald and having the same disease. They all wear wigs.. But her parent is having full grown hair.
My worries is that will it affect our future children ? Will my future child inherit this disease from her mother. how can i be assure for that. What test can be done to confirm it. Please advice.
Regards
Alopecia totalis sounds like the diagnosis and in one form of inheritance, the problem starts appearing in the very young at between 3-4 years old. Once the process starts, all of the hair falls out within months. Angela Christiano, Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York researched this in a town in Pakistan where the population was inbred. She found that many of the children in that town lost their hair at ages 3-4 and it fell out in a distinct pattern. She took samples of their genes, and tested them at the university, finding a connection between their disease and some of the genetic patterns in our more common form of alopecia areata, a disease which she has. Your child may very well inherit the condition. See our previous post on this subject here.
Doc,
A while ago I asked if a Heb B jab could cause hairloss (here)You replied that it could in rare circumstances. What I wanted to ask is what kind of hairloss are we talking about? Would all the hair fall out because of alopecia? Or is it possible that the jab could kickstart male pattern baldness speeding up my hairloss or is that just impossible from a jab? Thank you for a very informative blog!
Diseases of any significance can bring on hair loss. For men who have genetic hair loss, a disease and the associated stress can make it worse. In women, it is even more the case, as the connection of diseases and hair loss is more common.
Is it normal for a hair under an inch long to be noticably thinner towards the root? i see hairs that fall out that look kinda like an exclamation mark, thick at top and thin at the root. my hair is around 2cm long.
The exclamation point hair you’re describing usually points to a variety of conditions, such as allergic disorders, thyroid disease, vitiligo, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis (see Exclamation point hair). Normally hair is uniform in width.
I would like to know that the hair which are growing after the chemotherapy are healthy , should they be kept or should it be discarded and let the new ones grow after sometime , i am really confused . also the hair which are growing are all grey , what to do , pls answer my query. waiting for the reply. thanx
All the hair that survived the chemotherapy should continue to grow. The hair that is in your hands that has already fallen out is not worth keeping, but new hair should grow to replace what has fallen out in less than a year.
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about a month and a half i was diagnosed with alopecia areata and since then my hair has become alot thinner and i have about 5 main bald patches and a alot of small ones! small hairs have started to grow around the bald patches and i have started to grow white hairs on the patches! is this normal?
At one and a half months, there is not much you can say about the resolution of your alopecia areata. If you see hair growing inside the bald areas, that is good news (even if it is white hair). Maybe the process will burn out on its own. Good luck.
Hi Doc,
My hairline appears to be following the pattern of my grandfather’s whose hairline stopped at a NW 3 with a persistent forelock. However, my hair appears to also be falling out equally throughout the scalp, even in the permanent zone. I’m looking at the pictures of my grandfather, and he still had thick hair in his 60’s. Is it possible to have my grandfather’s hairline, while still having hair fall throughout the scalp even the permanent zone?
I suppose anything is possible, but it is rare to have hair loss from your permanent zone unless you have diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA). If you feel you are losing hair diffusely, you may not have genetic male pattern baldness. You would need to see a doctor for a good diagnosis.
If I haven’t beat the following concept enough to a point of sounding like a broken record… a miniaturizationstudy would be helpful to see what is really going on. You can even map your own scalp using the tutorial I wrote, provided you have the proper tools.
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DR Rassman, can I first congratulate you for having the pre-eniment hair loss site on the internet. My problem is that I suffer from a Congenital Anomaly of the Cranio-cervical junction at the skull base, and this coupled with Occipital Neuralgia and Trigeminal Neuralgia is causing me intense pain all over the Head and Scalp. The pain is of a Stabbing, Burning, Lancinating and Compressive character, and at first I was just worried about the severe pain and it’s impact on my quality of Life.
However, Three years ago the pain got progressively worse, and my hair started falling out in clumps. It did not appear to follow the pattern of MPB, as the loss was sudden, and diffuse on the top and sides, and not affecting the back. Lately it has affected the back as well and I am left with very fine hair on the sides and back, and little hair on the top almost like DUPA. Despite attending my Doctor for the past 3 years, I have not even been referred to a Dermatologist, despite numerous requests on my part. Consequently , I am left at a complete loss at where to turn and am in great distress. Please can you help me, as my pain, combined with the hair loss is making life unbearable.
Many good hair transplant doctors are able to tackle problems like yours without offering a hair transplant. Many of them are dermatologists as well. This is where you might go for more advice.
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I was diagnosed with scarring alopecia. It has caused a dramatic amount of hairloss mostly located on the back of my head. Is there ANYTHING I can do about it? Please help, I’ll do anything!!
You need to discuss this with your doctor. Scarring alopecias (also known as cicatricial alopecia) have many causes and your doctor knows what is happening to you, certainly better than I could without seeing you or knowing more about your history. Unfortunately, I can not advise you over the Internet.
For more general information, you might want to check out the Cicatricial Alopecia Research Foundation frequently asked questions page.
I am a 19 year-old male living in Turkey. At age 13 I’ve been diagnosed with depersonalization / derealization disorder and was prescribed half a dose of a sertraline-based anti-anxiety drug (known as Lustral here) daily.
I used it for about two years and since then used it on and off for a few weekly periods, including for about two months when I was 17. I heard about antidepressants causing hair loss and in the periods that I used the drug, I noticed that my hair strands were generally thinner and weaker, but no balding visible. And when I ceased using it, my hair returned to its normal strength and thickness. So my question is that, do these antidepressants really cause irreversible harm to hair (thinning / balding) or is it always “back to normal” when medication ends?
Thanks Doc, I’m really curious about this.
The medication you know as Lustral (sertraline) is also commonly known as Zoloft. And as you may know, many antidepressants (including Zoloft) can cause temporary hair loss, possibly even permanent loss in those genetically inclined to lose hair. I can’t say for sure whether the stop/start method you’re using with the medication will always continue the same hair loss/regrowth you’re seeing.
The consumer drug information for sertraline mentions hair loss as a side effect when overdosing, but I suppose it is possible to see loss with normal dosing as well (possibly even half dosing like you were prescribed), depending on how sensitive your body is to it.
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