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Alopecia areata or hair loss is not a life-threatening disease and it does not cause any physical pain. People with this condition are generally healthy otherwise. However, for most people, a disease that unpredictably affects their appearance the way alopecia areata does is a serious matter. The effects of alopecia areata are primarily socially and emotionally disturbing, but also because loss of eyelashes and eyebrows and hair in the nose and ears can make the person more vulnerable to dust, germs, and foreign particles entering the eyes, nose, and ears. Alopecia areata often occurs in people whose family members have other autoimmune diseases. Examples of such diseases include diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, pernicious anemia, or Addison’s disease. People who have alopecia areata do not usually have other autoimmune diseases, but they do have a higher occurrence of thyroid disease, atopic eczema, nasal allergies, or asthma.
Can improper care cause hair loss?
If you do not care properly about your hair, it is also possible for you to start loosing your hair. If you wear pigtails or cornrows or use tight hair rollers, the pull on your hair can cause a type of hair loss called traction alopecia. If the pulling is stopped before scarring of the scalp develops, your hair will grow back absolutely normally. However, scarring can cause permanent hair loss as well. In the same time, hot oil hair treatments or chemicals used in permanents, may cause inflammation of the hair follicle, which can result in scarring and hair loss.
What is common baldness?
Common baldness means male-pattern baldness, or permanent-pattern baldness. Male-pattern baldness is the most common cause of hair loss in men, where men who have this type of hair loss usually have inherited the trait. Men who start losing their hair at an early age tend to develop more extensive baldness, although hair loss typically results in a receding hair line and baldness on the top of the head. Women may develop female-pattern baldness, in which form of hair loss, the hair becomes thin over the entire scalp.
How to stop hair loss?
Perhaps it is possible to do something, for example, the doctor will probably ask some questions about diet, any medicines you are taking, whether you have had a recent illness and how you care for your hair. If you are a woman, your doctor may ask questions about your menstrual cycle, pregnancies, and menopause. Your doctor may also want to do a physical exam to look for other causes of hair loss. Finally, blood tests or a biopsy, which means taking a small sample of cells of your scalp to examine under a microscope, may be needed as well.