Alopecia: causes, symptoms, treatment

Alopecia, or simply baldness, is a rather unpleasant disease in which a person’s hair falls out and new ones stop growing. This disease occurs in both men and women and often causes the formation of psychological complexes and a decrease in the quality of life.

Causes of alopecia

This disease is quite widespread. Hair may begin to fall out not only on the head, but also on other parts of the body. The disease can begin even in a child as a complication atopic dermatitis.

Alopecia is a complex pathology that is caused by a wide variety of reasons:

• In the presence of hormonal imbalance. This condition is typical for diseases of the endocrine system, fungal infections of the skin, menopause or pregnancy in women.
• A variety of skin injuries resulting from mechanical damage, burns, exposure to chemicals or radiation.
• Hereditary predisposition.
• In men, baldness can be caused by too much testosterone in the body.
• Constant exposure to stress, depression, nervous breakdowns, etc.
• Excessive smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as poor and unbalanced diet.
• The reaction of the immune system to any irritant. However, the mechanism of alopecia in this case remains unclear. Hair resumes its growth after the irritant ceases its effect.

Alopecia symptoms

Signs of this disease can manifest themselves in different ways. Most often, the specific picture depends on what caused the disease. Hair may begin to fall out suddenly and very quickly, but this process may also occur slowly. Sometimes alopecia spreads not only to the scalp, but also to other areas of the body. In some cases, baldness is temporary, while in others the hair does not grow back.

The most common symptoms of alopecia are:

• Bald spots of various types. They can be in the form of spots, with round or smooth edges. Moreover, their size can be more than 2 centimeters in diameter. These bald spots usually appear on the head, but sometimes they appear in the beard or eyebrow area. In some cases, a person may experience itching and pain.
• The hair gradually but very quickly becomes thin. This type of baldness occurs most often. In men, this type of alopecia is manifested by hair loss on the head in the shape of the letter M. Women notice baldness only in the temple area.
• Hair quickly becomes weak and are easily separated from the scalp. Most often this occurs as a result of emotional shock. In this case, the hair becomes weak and thin over the entire surface of the head. Bald spots do not appear.
• When there is a serious health effect, such as receiving an excessive dose of radiation or chemotherapy, hair falls out all over the body. In this case, even eyelashes fall out. However, after the person is no longer exposed to the irritating factor or treatment, the hairs grow back.

Types of alopecia

There are several types of baldness. In this case, the external symptoms of the pathology, its causes and the mechanism of development must be taken into account.

If the hair follicles are seriously damaged, scarring alopecia occurs. Most often, this disorder appears as a result of inflammation, scarring or atrophic changes in the scalp. A scar forms on the skin, and the hair follicles die completely. This process, unfortunately, is not reversible.

In women, as a result of hormonal changes during menopause, pregnancy, and the onset of puberty, diffuse alopecia sometimes occurs. In this case, hair begins to fall out over the entire surface of the head. This process happens quite quickly, but complete hair loss does not happen.

In some people, hair loss becomes patchy. Usually, small round bald spots form in the back of the head. They gradually grow and merge with each other. Then the hair loss stops, and after that it begins to grow again.

Most often, baldness is androgenic in nature. In this case, a combination of alopecia and oily seborrhea is very often observed. This condition is hereditary.

Treatment of alopecia

Hair loss is very difficult to treat. But if you seek help in a timely manner, it is possible to restore your hair. An experienced trichologist will help determine the cause of alopecia and prescribe the necessary treatment. It will depend on the type of disease.

To eliminate androgenetic alopecia, it is necessary to suppress the effects of androgen. For this purpose, the drug Mnoxidil is prescribed. In this case, men are prescribed this drug in a 5% concentration, and women should have a concentration of 2-5%. This remedy is used twice a day. Regular use of the drug for 4 months allows you to stop the disease and even resume the growth of new hair.

Treatment of diffuse hair loss should be associated with identifying the cause. So, if there are endocrine diseases, they need to be cured. If your hair is falling out due to taking medications, then you need to think about replacing them. If you have an unhealthy diet, diet or vegetarianism, you should restore proper nutrition and drink mineral complexes. When the cause of baldness has been eliminated, various means can be used to stimulate new hair growth. This could be shampoos, tonics or physiotherapy.

To cure focal hair loss, complex therapy is used. It is appropriate to use glucocorticosteroids, irritating topical drugs, as well as drugs that stimulate hair growth. In addition, you can use a variety of physical procedures.

To eliminate scarring alopecia, there is only one effective treatment method - surgical. In this case, hair is transplanted either in patches or in the form of individual follicles. In the first case, skin flaps are taken from the back of a person's head. After engraftment, the hair begins to grow on its own. If baldness occurs in a small area, then it makes sense to transplant hair separately. In this case, the transplant is experienced less traumaticly.