Alopecia Areata: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Are you the one who suffers from patchy baldness? In this article, we will inform you about alopecia areata, its causes, symptoms and treatment.

What does alopecia mean?

An autoimmune disease, alopecia areata causes your hair to fall out, often clumping in size and shape by a quarter.

Everyone has varying degrees of hair loss. Some people may lose only a few strands, while others may lose a lot. Sometimes your hair grows back but later falls out.

There are different types of alopecia. Alopecia areata is one of the most common in its main form, but there are other rarer ones:

Alopecia areata totalis means that you have lost all the hair on your head.
Alopecia areata Universalis is the loss of your hair all over your body.
Diffuse alopecia areata is a sudden thinning of the hair rather than loose patches.
Ophiasis alopecia areata causes band-like hair loss on the sides and back of the head.

What are the symptoms of alopecia areata?

1) Hair loss is the main symptom of alopecia areata. The hair usually falls in small patches on the scalp. These patches of hair are often several centimeters or less.

2) Hair loss can also occur on other parts of the face, such as eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard, as well as other parts of the human body.

3) For starters, you may first notice clumps of hair on your fingernails or in the shower. If these spots are on the back of your head, someone may even point them out to you.

4) Other medical conditions can also cause hair loss in a similar pattern. Hair loss alone is not used to diagnose alopecia areata.

5) Under severe conditions, some people may also experience more hair loss. This often indicates another type of alopecia.

6) The problem of hair loss associated with alopecia areata is unpredictable. Your hair can grow back at any time and then fall back. The extent of hair loss and regrowth varies greatly from person to person.

What causes alopecia areata?

As mentioned above, alopecia areata is also known as an “autoimmune disease”. This is one of those annoying conditions where the affected person’s immune system, which usually fights off harmful bacteria and viruses, accidentally attacks itself.

So all the tiny cells of the immune system, called T cells, gather around the base of a hair follicle and try to kill it. But at some point our immune attack ability has to come to an end and the hair grows back to normal.

A recent illness like a viral infection or certain medications for other medical conditions can trigger alopecia areata.

It has also been observed that some people can link the onset of their alopecia to a stressful life event, while many cannot.

Sometimes it seems to run in the genes of families and has been known to show up in twins at the same time.
The most common type of alopecia is androgenetic. If you take minoxidil as soon as you notice hair loss, it will work better. Before minoxidil starts working, you may continue to lose hair for about two weeks after you start taking it. There are limits to the effectiveness of the drug. It is not helpful for hair fall or baldness on the front of your head.

If you have alopecia areata, you also have a slightly higher than average risk of developing other autoimmune diseases like thyroid disorders, pernicious anemia and vitiligo. Your doctor may want to check them if there are any signs of them with hair loss.

Alopecia areata in men:

Although alopecia areata occurs in both men and women, hair loss is likely to be more severe in men. Men can experience hair loss in their facial hair, as well as their scalp, chest, and back hair, as they are also more likely to have a family history of hair loss.

Compared to male pattern baldness, which is a gradual thinning of hair all over, hair loss due to this condition causes patchy hair loss in men.

Diagnosis of alopecia

If you think you have alopecia, you may want to see a skin specialist called a dermatologist. They will:

Do you talk about your symptoms of these problems.
Take a close look at the areas where you have lost your hair.
Even gently pull your hair around the edges of the baldness to see if it comes out easily
I might even check individual hairs and follicles to see if they have an abnormal shape.
Examine your fingernails
Rarely, you might have a biopsy, which means a small piece of your skin is removed from your scalp and examined under a microscope.

Many health and other conditions can lead to hair loss. So your doctor may test your skin for a fungal infection or give you blood tests to check for issues such as thyroid, hormone, or immune system issues.

Treatment:

home remedies

Although conventional treatments for alopecia areata are extremely limited, studies show that there are several natural remedies that people can try to treat alopecia.

Some experts recommend rubbing onion or garlic juice, cooled green tea, almond oil, rosemary oil, honey, coconut milk or bhringraj on the scalp. While none of these are likely to cause harm, their effectiveness is also not backed by any research or studies. The The best hair regrowth oil for baldness is available online by GHC.

Some people with this condition even seek complementary therapies like acupuncture and aromatherapy.

Topical treatments

minoxidil topical solution

FDA approved minoxidil as a therapy for androgenetic alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss in both men and women. This mino-xidil spray should be applied to the affected areas twice a day until satisfactory results are obtained.

Anti-hair loss shampoo

Anti-hair loss shampoo nourishes your hair and scalp, it’s free from harmful chemicals like parabens and sulfate. This hair loss shampoo helps strengthen your hair, improves your hair texture and reduces hair loss.

Biotin tablets

The Biotin The tabs are enriched with multivitamins which help in hair growth and improve metabolism. Biotin tablets contain a total of 10 vitamins. These tabs reduce hair fall, improve scalp health, promote hair growth and make your hair stronger and healthier than before.

Phi-nasteride

Phi-nasteride, another FDA-approved drug, is used for the medical management of hair loss in men. It is a prescribed drug that is commonly used to treat an enlarged prostate problem, but a higher dose is used to treat hair loss.

If you want to purchase any of the above prescribed products and many more, you can visit our Mars by GHC website.

Things to avoid if you have alopecia areata

Protecting your skin from the environment is important when you are losing hair on your scalp. You can reduce your risk of sunburn and developing skin cancer by using sunscreen or wearing a light scarf or hat in hot weather. Wear a hat or scarf to keep exposed areas warm when the temperature drops.

Reduce your tension as much as you can, as tension is linked to hair loss, and controlling it can be crucial to getting your hair to grow back at a healthy rate again. To help stop cycles of hair loss, consider practicing yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.

Remember that some styling methods and products can be harsh on your hair, causing further damage and hair loss.

You can learn which foods to avoid that can cause autoimmune symptoms and reduce inflammation by using an elimination diet. Eggs, coffee, alcohol, sugar and food additives are just a few of them. One at a time, you can reintroduce the items you avoided into your diet to identify triggers.

Carry

An autoimmune disease called alopecia areata causes a person to lose their hair. Even though the therapy is not medically required, many people consider it because of the impact the disease can have on self-esteem and self-image.

Depending on your preferences and the severity of your illness, there are a variety of alternatives available if you wish to undergo therapy.