The way your hair looks plays a big part in your self-esteem. You may use special shampoo, conditioner, gel, mousse, and hair spray just to get the look you want.
But if you have a chronic autoimmune condition called alopecia areata, you will experience sudden hair loss in circular patches on your head and body. You may feel shocked to see this hair loss, but it’s actually a very common condition – and it can be treated.
Let’s talk about alopecia areata and what can be done to help repair this sudden hair loss.
What Is Alopecia Areata?
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that causes the hair, whether on the scalp or elsewhere on the body, to fall out in round patches. While some or all of the hair may grow back eventually, the hair loss may last for a couple of years or more.
You might think that hair loss happens only as people age, but that is not necessarily the case. Sudden hair loss can also happen to younger people, and this is one of the reasons why that can happen.
In alopecia areata, the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. This attack is what causes the hair loss. It can also cause the nails to be brittle and pitted.
Symptoms of Alopecia Areata
There are several common symptoms of alopecia areata, including the following:
- Bare, round, and smooth patches of skin where hair once was
- Several short hairs at the edge of the patches, getting narrower at the bottom
- Thinning nails with tiny pinpoint dents or white spots
Surgical Hair Restoration
One type of surgical hair transplant is the follicular unit excision (FUE) method. With this, only two or three hair follicles are extracted at a time, and they are then transplanted to the various patches on the scalp.
Alternatively, there is also the follicular unit transplant (FUT) method. In this procedure, a strip of hair is taken from the back of the scalp, toward the bottom near the neck, and relocated to the bare patches in the scalp. Hence, it is also called the “strip-harvest” method.
Either method, when done correctly by a skilled surgeon, will soon look as if the patient never had surgery at all.
Non-Surgical Treatments for Alopecia Areata
There are a number of therapeutic hair-loss treatments that do not require surgical intervention, and they have produced excellent results in people who have hair loss.
Hair Loss Treatments in Seattle and Spokane
At Northwest Hair Restoration, we provide our customers with the most innovative solutions for hair loss treatment. Our dedicated team is here to offer their expertise and to help you achieve outstanding results.
Dr. Robert Niedbalski has decades of experience in cosmetic surgical and non-surgical treatments, and his past experience as a family doctor laid the groundwork for his clinical understanding of the human body and the person as a whole.
Contact us today by calling (253) 572-2949, or request a consultation now. We look forward to helping you love what you see in the mirror!
