HAIR DERMATOLOGY – INTRODUCTORY ARTICLE

Very often when you begin to notice some hair problem you go into a panic and sometimes you end up in the hands of self-styled centers offering the prospect of miracle regrowth from those posing as experts in hair dermatology and spending thousands of euros.

If you are lucky you can spend a few hundred dollars in products that promise improvements, but in the end they only leave you with empty pockets.

As is often repeated in many articles, even in this case, information is critical to not end up in one of the numerous traps.

Let’s start with the most important concept, the person to whom you should turn to if you have an hair problem and we want to start with a therapeutic approach and the dermatologist. The professional must be proficient in hair dermatology. He must be a trichologist.

A precise diagnosis of the causes of the fall and an adequate therapeutic approach can be a valuable support to those who decide to undergo hair transplantation as an alternative solution, especially in those cases where thinning can be solved with targeted treatments without the need for surgery.

It must be always remembered that an hair transplantation does not solve the problem of native hair loss, and so, if you don’t want to be chasing baldness over the years a synergistic approach is important between surgery and therapy. Hair dermatology studies show how and when to intervene to keep one’s native hair. It is therefore important to consult a competent dermatologist who will usually propose a series of tests to offer us a clear diagnosis of our situation.

HAIR DERMATOLOGY – VIDEODERMOSCOPY

Videodermoscopy: Allows taking both global and magnified photos of the scalp that allow you to view the stem of the hair very well, as well as the skin’s capillaries.

Enlargements are progressive and can reach 70x.

Videodermoscopy allows to assess many situations that can lead to the diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia as it can change the diameter of the hair, affecting more than 20% of androgen-dependent areas, the presence of empty follicles (yellow dots).

The presence of Peripilar Halos, changes in pigmentation of the scalp and erythematous-type inflammation.

HAIR DERMATOLOGY – TRICHOGRAMMA

TTrichogramma: Is a morphological investigation of the hair that allows to obtain diagnostic conclusions about the health of our hair. It’s classic examination is used in trichology and it’s quite simple.

Consist in ripping about fifty hairs from at least 2 areas of the scalp that are then subjected to microscopic observation and divided into anagen (hair growth phases), catagen (follicle in stasis phase) and telogen (fall phase).

Relations between these morphological aspects in different sampling zones can get diagnostic indications even if sometimes the seasonal incidence plays an important role in making the results provided by this method more or less reliable.

HAIR DERMATOLOGY – LABORATORY TESTS

Laboratory tests: are especially useful when the causes of alopecia are not clear.

Non-hormonal tests may show such as deficiency syndromes due to an inappropriate diet or incorrect kidney and liver function.

Hormone levels in plasma can be very useful in diagnosing pathologies that can lead to hair loss. It is important to assess the values of DHEA, Delta5-17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, prolactin and gonadotropins, and thyroid hormones.

HAIR DERMATOLOGY – GENETIC TESTS FOR ANDROGENETIC ALOPECIA

The genetic test for androgenetic alopecia (Hairdx): A simple test is to remove the DNA with a sterile swab from the mucosa of the oral cavity in the cheeks.

In the male the test provides information of the presence of the androgen receptor located on chromosome X.

The presence of A Variant is associated with a lower risk of developing male pattern baldness, the presence of the G variant is correlated with a 70% risk of going into early baldness.

The response is positive or negative for the variant G.

Hairdx is a screening test to identify those at risk of androgenic alopecia but it is not a diagnostic test.

For more information I recommend you to visit the official website of S.i.tri: http://www.sitri.it/