What Is Alopecia Areata?

I can remember the day, I was driving home from work on afternoon and running my fingers through my hair and noticed this little “spot”. I sure thought it was strange and wired, I had always been the guy with “the great hair”. Weeks later I learned the word: Alopecia Areata

So just what is Alopecia Areata?

Alopecia Areata (”baldness in spots”) is a form of hair loss from areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Because it causes bald spots on the head especially in the first stages, it is also called “spot baldness”. Hair loss can extend to eyebrows, eyelashes, facial and nasal hair and create more bald spots elsewhere in the body. Alopecia areata monolocularis describes baldness in only one spot, alopecia areata multilocularis refers to multiple areas of hair loss. If the patient loses all the hair on his/her scalp, the disease is then called Alopecia areata totalis. If all body hair, including pubic hair, is lost, the diagnosis then becomes Alopecia areata universalis. The disease may also be limited only to the beard (alopecia areata barbae).

Alopecia areata is thought to be a minor autoimmune disease that makes the body to treat its hair follicles as foreign tissue and suppress or stop hair growth. It is not contagious but may be hereditary - there are a few recorded cases of babies being born with congenital alopecia areata. Stress has not been prov-en to be a crucial factor.

Taken From: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

So their you have it, the drawn out web definition from the encyclopedia site. Personally I have struggled with this “hair loss disease” for years now. It comes and goes day to day and month to month. Right when one spot finally starts to fill in and usually find another spot somewhere else.

It is not uncommon for spots to grow in white and the disease does a number on pigment making the hair colorless. I myself have one such spot that is about the size of a dime near the back of my head next to my ear that is completely white (my wife calls it “my spot”).

For those of you just learning about alopecia always remember that it is only your hair and not your smile

Posted in Types Of Alopecia