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 Dr. Alan J. Bauman is the Founder, Medical Director and Chief Surgeon of the Bauman Medical Group, P.A. located in Wharfside at Boca Pointe in Boca Raton, Florida. His practice is dedicated exclusively to treating male and female pattern hair loss. Dr. Bauman uses state-of-the-art medical and surgical techniques to help his patients maintain and/or restore their scalp hair.
Janice
2009-06-23
hair loss
Last September my hairdresser noticed that I was losing some hair. I went to a dermatologist and I was diagnosed with seboria and told to wash with medicated shampoo 3 x/week. My head was very itchy but hurt if I scratched. I went back in Dec with more hair loss and in April had a biopsy which suggests Androgenetic Alopecia and perifollicular chronic inflammation. About 6 weeks ago I started Hair club for men since I could not get an appointment with a dermatologist who is a specialist in hair loss. At first I had lots of oil in my hair which has subsided and the hair loss with minoxidral has slowed. At 2 weeks they started to see new growth (which cannot be attributed to the minox. At 4 weeks they are seeing more new hairs but the itchy/pain is still there which is driving me crazy. There is no hair loss on my father's side of the family and very little loss on my mother's side and non with any females. I am crazy with this and have gone to s hair restorer who says my hair loss is atypical. Do you have any thoughts? Thank you in advance. Janice
Janice,
Thank you for your question regarding your hair loss concerns. It is not uncommon for patients to have more than one condition affecting their hair. Sometimes, a skin or scalp condition (like seborrhieic dermatitis for example) which causes inflammation, itching, redness, flaking, etc. can 'reveal' or exacerbate an underlying tendency toward hair loss.
Board-certified (ABHRS.org) hair restoration physicians will mostly follow similar evaluation steps, although sadly, many prefer not to treat female hair loss.
The first phase is making the proper diagnois with an examination, a biopsy, a microscopic examination and photos of the scalp, genetic hair loss testing, etc. if needed.
The second phase is making a 'plan of action' which addresses the problems. You are on the right track by treating the inflammation first to control the sebbohrea.
For hair loss, minoxidil remains an important treatment, but can have itching/irritation as a side effect--which is why you want to treat the inflammation from the dermatitis first! Improvements with minoxidil are typically seen within three to six months.
Other treatments, like low level laser therapy, can also be used. There is good evidence that laser therapy helps decrease inflammation as well as improve hair quality--which is a good thing for both your concerns.
Eventually, if the hair follicles are 'beyond repair' and coverage decreases, you might need some degree of hair transplantation to restore hair into the thinning area.
Personally, here at Bauman Medical Group, I prefer to work with the least-invasive treatments first for our patients (half of whom are women by the way) in order to help them enhance or maintain the hair they have.
Please keep me posted on your progress and with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Dr. Alan J. Bauman, M.D.
Medical Director
Bauman Medical Group -- Boca Raton, FL
Hair Restoration for Men and Women
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