Alopecia Disease: Symptoms and Causes

What Is Alopecia?

Alopecia areata is an autoimmune illness that causes your hair to fall out, frequently in quarter-sized clumps. Everybody experiences hair loss to a different degree. Some people only occasionally lose it. Many other people lose. Sometimes hair falls off and then comes back. Others experience permanent hair growth.

This disorder comes in various forms. The primary variety of alopecia areata is the most prevalent, although there are additional, more uncommon varieties:

• Alopecia areata totalis denotes complete baldness of the head.
• Alopecia areata Universalis is the loss of hair on the entire body.
• Diffuse alopecia areata is characterised by a rapid thinning of your hair rather than lost patches.
• Ophiasis alopecia areata is defined by hair loss in a ring around the sides and back of your head.

Alopecia Symptoms

Hair loss is the primary sign of alopecia, and frequently the only one. You might observe:

• Your scalp or other parts of your body may have a few minor bald spots.
• Patches could enlarge and merge to form a bald spot.
• You lose a lot of hair in a short period because hair grows back in one place but falls out in another.
• Greater hair loss in colder climates
• The nails on your fingers and toes turn red, brittle, and pitted.

The skin around the bald spots is smooth; there is no irritation or redness. But just before the hair falls out, you might experience a tingling, itchy, or burning feeling on your skin.

Alopecia Causes and Risk Factors

When you have an autoimmune disease, your body is attacked by the immune system. It is the hair follicles that are affected in alopecia areata.

Doctors are unsure about the cause. However, they believe those who contract it have a genetic predisposition that increases the likelihood. Then the cause of the hair loss occurs. Find out more about the alopecia causes.

Alopecia areata is more likely to develop in people who have:

• Family history of alopecia
• Asthma
• Down syndrome
• Pernicious anaemia
• Seasonal allergies
• Thyroid disease
• Vitiligo

Alopecia Diagnosis

You might want to consult a dermatologist if you suspect you have alopecia areata. They will:

• Talk to you about your symptoms
• Look closely at the places of your head where you are losing hair
• To test whether the hairs at the bald patch’s edges are easily removable, gently pull on them
• See if any individual hairs or follicles are shaped oddly
• Look at your nails

Rarely, you might undergo a biopsy, which entails the removal of a small portion of scalp skin for microscopic examination.

The causes of hair loss are numerous. In order to screen for thyroid, hormone, or immune system issues, your doctor may have you undergo skin testing for fungus infections or blood tests.