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What Causes Alopecia Areata, Its Symptoms, and How It's Treated - All You Need to Know

Are you the one suffering from patchy baldness? In this article, we are going to brief you about alopecia areata, its causes, symptoms and treatment.

What does Alopecia mean?

An autoimmune disorder, Alopecia areata causes your hair to fall out, often clumping the size and shape of a quarter.

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

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

Alopecia areata totalis means that you have lost all the hair on your head.
Alopecia areata Universalis is the loss of your hair over your entire body.
Diffuse alopecia areata is a sudden hair thinning rather than lost patches.
Ophiasis alopecia areata causes hair to lose in a band shape around the sides and back of your head.

What are the symptoms of alopecia areata?

1) Hair loss is the main symptom of alopecia areata. Hair typically sheds in small patches on the scalp. These hair patches are often several centimetres or less.

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

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

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

5) In severe conditions, some people may also experience more extensive hair loss. This often indicates a different kind of alopecia.

6) The hair loss issue that is associated with alopecia areata is unpredictable. Your hair may grow back to normal at any time and then may fall out again. The extent of hair loss and regrowth of the same varies greatly from person to person.

What are the causes of 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 body's immune system, which usually fights off harmful bacteria and viruses, accidentally attacks itself.

So all the tiny cells in the immune system known as T cells, gather around the base of a hair follicle and try to kill it. But at some point, our immune attacking ability must 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 tense life event, while many can't.

Sometimes it seems to run in the genes of families and it has been known to come on in twins at the same time.
The kind of alopecia that occurs most often is androgenetic. If you take mino-xidil as soon as you notice hair loss, it will work best. Before mino-xidil begins to work, you can continue losing hair for around two weeks after you start taking it. There are limitations to the medication's efficacy. It’s not useful for a receding hairline or balding at the front of your head.

If you are suffering from alopecia areata you also have a slightly higher-than-average chance of developing other autoimmune diseases like thyroid disorders, pernicious anaemia and vitiligo. Your doctor might want to check for these if there are any signs of them along with the hair loss.

Alopecia areata in males:

Even though alopecia areata occurs in both men and women, the loss of hair is likely to be more significant in men. Men might experience hair loss in their facial hair, as well as their scalp, chest, and back hair because they are also more likely to have a family history of the hair loss condition.

When compared to male-pattern baldness, which is a gradual thinning of hair all over, hair loss from this condition causes patchy hair loss in men.

Alopecia Diagnosis

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

Talk to you about your symptoms of these problems.
Take a close look at the areas where you have lost your hair.
Even pull your hairs gently at the edges of the bald patch to see if they come out easily
I might even check individual hairs and follicles to see if they’re abnormally shaped
Examine your nails
Rarely, you might have a biopsy, which means that a small piece of your skin is removed from your scalp and looked at under a microscope.

Many health and other conditions can cause hair loss. So your doctor might test your skin for a fungal infection or give you blood tests to check for problems like thyroid, hormone, or immune system problems.

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 into the scalp. While none of these is likely to cause harm, their effectiveness is also not supported by any research or study. The best hair regrowth oil for baldness is available online by GHC.

Some persons who have this illness even seek out complementary therapies like acupuncture and aromatherapy.

Topical Treatments

mino-xidil Topical Solution

The FDA has approved mino-xidil as a therapy for androgenetic alopecia, a condition that causes both male- and female-pattern hair loss. This mino-xidil spray needs to be applied to the affected areas twice a day until satisfactory results are achieved.

Anti-hair fall shampoo

Anti-hair fall shampoo nourishes your hair and scalp, they are free of harmful chemicals like Parabens and Sulphate. This hair loss shampoo helps to strengthen your hair, improves the texture of your hair, and reduces hair from falling.

Biotin tabs

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

Phi-nasteride

Phi-nasteride, yet another FDA-approved medicine, is used for the medical management of hair loss in men. It is a prescribed medicine that is commonly used to treat an enlarged prostate issue, but a higher dosage of it is used to treat hair fall.

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

Things to avoid if you have alopecia areata

Protecting your skin from the environment is important when you lose hair on your scalp. You may lessen your chance of being sunburned and developing skin cancer by using sunscreen or wearing a light scarf or hat during hot weather. Wear a hat or scarf to keep exposed regions warm when the temperature drops.

Reduce your tension as much as you can since tension has been related to hair loss, and controlling it may be crucial to getting your hair to grow at a healthy pace again. To help stop hair loss cycles, think about practising yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.

Don't forget that certain hairstyling methods and products may be harsh on your hair, causing extra damage and hair loss.

You may 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 only a few of them. One at a time, you may reintroduce the items you've been avoiding to your diet to identify the triggers.

Take Away

An autoimmune condition called alopecia areata makes a person lose their hair. Even though therapy is not medically required, many individuals think about it because of how the disease may impact self-esteem and self-image.

Depending on your preferences and the severity of your sickness, there are a variety of alternatives available if you want to seek therapy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to stop alopecia areata from spreading?

Although alopecia areata cannot be cured, it is treatable and hair may regrow with the help of the medications like corticosteroids and mino-xidil.

2. What foods help alopecia?

Spinach, Sunflower Seeds, Salmon, Beets, Oatmeal, Chicken, Red Bell Pepper, Eggs.

3. Is alopecia caused by tension?

Yes, alopecia is also caused by other different factors too.

References:

What Types of Alopecia Can mino-xidil Treat? - WebMD
Alopecia areata: Causes, diagnosis and treatments - medicalnewstoday