Causes and Treatment of Alopecia

Alopecia means loss of hair or hair loss or baldness. There are several different causes and patterns of alopecia. Alopecia areata is one type of hair loss. Alopecia is a type of virus and can be caused by stress. You can go to a dermatologist and he can help you with this problem. In about 6 in 10 cases the first patch of hair loss develops before the age of 20 years. Males and females are equally affected.

Alopecia areata itself won't damage your general health and so not treating will not lead to any general health problems. When deciding on whether to treat or not, you should take into account the possible side-effects that some of the treatments may have. Rarely, complete loss of scalp hair and body hair occurs. The hair loss often comes and goes—hair will grow back over several months in one area but will fall out in another area.

As for alopecia totalis or univesalis all the hair on the body would fall out including eyelashes and eyebrows and there are lots of treatment available like Topical steroid, Minoxidil solution, Steroid injections, Dithranol, etc but medical science is constantly changing. Cortisone injections in the affected areas of the scalp have been effective for me. However, this is a slow process. I am trying a new drug treatment, to no real results.

I would not advise the use of harsh chemicals such as color, perms or relaxers, especially since you have alopecia. This could cause even more hair loss than you are already experiencing.

There is more than one type of alopecia, some can be corrected with the right scalp treatment. You may want to have your family physician check yours and confirm that it is hereditary. Some can be caused from wearing tight ponytails or braids. Others may be due to medical issues, such as hormone imbalances, problems with the nervous system (the nervous system affects our blood flow), sometimes massaging the area to increase the blood flow will help to improve hair growth.

Contact immunotherapy may be the most effective treatment for severe alopecia areata. A medication is painted on the scalp once a week. Hair growth may appear within 3 months of beginning treatment. Wear hairpieces or hair weaves. Hairpieces are made from human or synthetic hair that is implanted into a nylon netting. Hairpieces may be attached to the scalp with glue, metal clips, or tape. Hair weaving involves sewing or braiding pieces of longer hair into existing hair.

The most common treatment for patchy hair loss is many injections of corticosteroids into the scalp, about 1 cm (0.4 in.) apart, every 4 to 6 weeks.