Opting for protective hairstyles for traction alopecia can help. This means choosing styles that allow hair to be natural and loose and foregoing tight ponytails, buns, braids or hair extensions.
If you are experiencing traction alopecia from tight hairstyles and over manipulating styles, try and leave your hair alone as much as possible. Soft styles like braid-outs and twist-outs that do not require much manipulation once the style is set are a good option.
Certain hairstyles such as braids and weaves may increase the risk of a irreversible type of baldness called Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia (CCCA) that starts at the central part of the scalp and spreads out toward the edge of the hairline.
If your alopecia areata is always patchy, you just never know when or where another bald spot will arise. Shaved head spots give you control. You take a pro-active approach to a neater look rather than waiting for hair to fall out randomly.
On the AIP elimination diet, you will avoid grains, legumes, nightshades (such as potatoes and peppers), dairy, eggs, coffee, alcohol, sugar, oil and food additives. After a few months, you can work the excluded foods back in one at a time to figure out which foods trigger an inflammatory reaction.
Ketoconazole shampoos help treat Alopecia by cleaning the skin area around your hair follicle of sebum, or the skins natural oils that are produced. Getting rid of these oils can allow your hair follicles to receive more nutrition and release for your hair to regrow.
Causes of Alopecia Areata
In alopecia areata, the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing inflammation. Researchers do not fully understand what causes the immune attack on hair follicles, but they believe that both genetic and environmental (non-genetic) factors play a role.
Dye doesn't reach the hair follicles which is the part of the hair we are most concerned with when looking at alopecia. However, dyeing hair can cause hair loss if the hair shaft is weakened with prolonged treatments (most commonly damage occurs when taking hair from a very dark colour to a very light colour).
Ways to Stop Alopecia Areata from Spreading or Worsening
Avoiding unnecessary hair or scalp trauma, reducing stress and analyzing your diet are all worthwhile endeavors when attempting to prevent alopecia areata from spreading.
Hair additions (pieces and wigs) can be attached to existing hair and blended to achieve the look of a full, natural head of hair. Accessories like scarves, hats, bandanas and turbans are also good at concealing bald spots when a less time-consuming option is needed.
Alopecia in its own right is not classed as a disability in legal or employment terms. For something to qualify as a disability, it means it has to have a substantial and adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Alopecia itself does not limit abilities but the mental health impact can.
Alopecia Areata
Hair from the scalp typically falls out in small patches and is not painful. Hair in other parts of the body, including the eyebrows and eyelashes, may also fall out. Over time, this disease may lead to alopecia totalis, or complete hair loss.
A hair mask can help, provided that the reason for the loss is mainly due to lack of nutrients or the overuse of hair care products. In the case of androgenetic alopecia, spot baldness or anagen effluvium, a hair mask for hair loss will be inefficient.
If you are experiencing thinning or balding, our Bosley experts recommend washing no more than three times a week.
Thankfully, mild cases of alopecia areata often get better without treatment within a few months to a year. In some cases, patchy baldness may come and go over many months or years. The size of the bald patch or patches and how long they last are quite variable.
When you have alopecia areata, cells in your immune system surround and attack your hair follicles (the part of your body that makes hair). This attack on a hair follicle causes the attached hair to fall out. The more hair follicles that your immune system attacks, the more hair loss you will have.
Calcipotriol, a vitamin D analog, has been reported to be topically used in treating alopecia areata with promising results. Combination therapy of vitamin D analogs with corticosteroids might also be used in treating alopecia areata.
The first sign of alopecia areata is often a round or oval bald patch on the scalp.
Amla juice
One of the best antioxidants to add to your diet is vitamin C. “Amla juice is loaded with vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that fights free radicals. It will reduce cell damage, thus promoting new hair growth and effectively control hair loss,” explains Dr Goel.
ANTHRALIN CREAM OR OINTMENT
This synthetic, tar-like substance — also widely used for psoriasis — is a common form of treatment for alopecia areata.