Posts Tagged ‘Alopecia’

Alopecia is a condition or ailment which generally affects human beings, and it occurs when hair is lost from some or particular areas of the body, such as the scalp. Alopecia causes bald spots to appear on the scalp, and this usually transpires in the initial stages. This condition is known as spot baldness. In very rare cases, Alopecia can affect the entire scalp area or to the total epidermis, known as Alopecia Universalis. This particular ailment, AA, can also be suffered by other species.

Alopecia is inflicted upon between 0.1% to 0.2% of people, including men and women. It can occur even when the individual is healthy and has no previous skin afflictions. Alopecia usually starts to show when a person is in his late teens, early childhood, or young adulthood, but it can also happen to people who are elderly.

The most ordinary forms of alopecia affects hair loss is in a singular or multiple spots on a person’s scalp area. Hair may start to disappear over the whole scalp, which is known as diffuse alopecia areata. If baldness occurs primordially in a single area, then it is known as alopecia areata monolocularis. A person will have alopecia areata multilocularis if hair falls off in a multitude of areas. For some men, hair loss is concentrated in the beard area, which is known asalopecia barbae. When a patient begins to lose all the hair on the scalp, the condition is referred to as alopecia areata totalis. In some very unusual case, hair falls off everywhere, including the pubic area, this condition is called alopecia areata universalis. Alopecia areata and alopecia universalis is so rare that they have not been any new cases in recent years.

Even affected with alopecia, statistics have shown that there will be steady hair re-growth within a year without the aid of any specific treatment. If the area in question is within a minute region, it is normal to look at the illness without much worry because more often than not, the problem will regress and hair will steadily grow again.

In scenarios where hair loss is severe, there has been several experiments conducted with little success, such as treating alopecia areata using clobetasol or fluocinonide, specific creams or steroid injections. For hair loss contained at the eyebrow areas, steroid injections are normally employed. Other medication utilized includes minoxidil, steroid cream, anthralin or topical coal tar and topical immunotherapy cyclosporine. These medications can be combined to fight specific alopecia conditions.

Oral corticosteroids do decrease symptoms of alopecia, but only while the medication is taken; some studies have shown that some side effects can be observed. For minute alopecia patches located on the head or beard, these conditions can be alleviated using tacrolimus ointments like Protopic, but the symptoms may appear to be dormant until brought about by terrible stress.

Treatments for Alopecia can also incorporate specific treatments based solely on ayurvedic concepts which utilize herbal oils, herbal powders, herbal gel and herbal paste. These are all medication applied topically and made from the freshest herbs. Ayurvedic treatment does not have any oral medication.