Alopecia Areata
- Article
- 2021-01-29
Alopecia areata is a disease that causes round patches of hair loss. It can lead to total hair loss. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease. That means that your immune system, which normally helps protect the body against infection and disease, is attacking hair follicles.
In most cases, the hair falls out in small, round patches the size of a quarter, leaving a few bald patches. Hair loss is more common in some people. In rarer cases, the disease can cause total hair loss on the head (also called alopecia areata totalis) or the whole body (alopecia areata universalis).
Your doctor cannot predict whether your hair loss will stop or grow back at some point. This is often the most difficult and most frustrating part of the illness. You may continue to lose hair or your hair loss may stop. The hair that you have lost may or may not grow back, and you may or may not continue to develop new bald patches.
Symptoms
Alopecia areata is not painful and does not make you feel sick. People with the disease are generally healthy. In most cases, the hair falls out in small, round patches the size of a quarter, leaving a few bald patches. In some people there is more hair loss. Although not common, the disease can cause total hair loss on the head (also called alopecia areata totalis) or loss of all body hair (alopecia areata universalis).
Therapy
There is no cure for alopecia areata, and there are no drugs to treat it. However, medications approved for other purposes can help regrow hair, at least temporarily. However, these drugs cannot prevent future hair loss. Talk to your healthcare provider about the best option for you. A combination of treatments may work best. Ask how long you will need to take medication, how long it will take to see results, and what the possible side effects are.
Your hair can grow back with or without treatment, but it can also fall out. No one can predict when it will grow back or fall out, as the disease varies from person to person.
In most cases, the regrowth hair will eventually have the same color and texture as the original hair. In some, the initial hair regrowth is white with a gradual return of the original hair color.
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