Cicatricial Alopecia
Posted by Health articles on November 26th, 2009
There are two main groups of alopecia: scarring alopecia and non-scarring alopecia.
Non-scarring alopecia
Non-scarring alopecia often involves alopecia variants where the hair falls off without inflammation or scarring. When a doctor tugs at some hair and the hairs come off effortlessly, a person mostly likely has non-scarring alopecia.
Non-scarring alopecia often heals on its own. Hair reproduction usually continues when a pre-existing condition has already been taken care of.
Cicatricial Alopecia
Cicatricial alopecia or scarring alopecia doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have ugly welts and scars on top of your head when the hair loss ceases. It simply means that a significant amount of alternation or injury is taking place inside the scalp. When the scalp is harmed from within (not the surface), scar tissue will emerge.
When scar tissue emerges, the membranes responsible for reproducing hair cells to replace fallen hair shafts are damaged permanently. The scarring from within causes the skin outside to appear shinier than usual. Therefore, the next time you see someone with a shiny pate, remember that the shininess might have been caused by scarring.
Characteristics Of Scarring Alopecia
Scarring alopecias have very similar physical properties. This is how a routine scalp examination at your general practitioner’s can yield accurate results regarding the state of your hair and your scalp. Doctors follow certain ‘clues’ to find out whether someone is suffering from the scarring variant of alopecia.
1. Skin’s physical appearance - normal skin is supple and regularly traversed by hair shafts. When the skin exhibits inverse characteristics, something is wrong.
2. Hair’s behavior – scarring alopecias almost always affect only the hair located at the very scalp. The rest of the body might not exhibit any symptoms of alopecia.
3. Blistering – if for no particular reason at all the scalp shows signs of blistering and extensive inflammation, coupled with hair loss, this may be a strong sign that active scarring alopecia is already present.
4. Evolution of the disease- a dermatologist would be able to identify scarring alopecias in any of its stages of development as a disease. You may find out that your disease may already be in an advanced stage, or it may still be in its ‘infancy’.
5. Genetic predisposition – a doctor may compare medical histories in your family to trace whether similar occurrences occurred years or decades before you were born. This might give the dermatologist a clue of what exactly you’re afflicted with.
What It Does
Take note that some alopecia may cause just the stoppage of hair reproduction. The roots and follicles may still be intact; it’s just that the genes of a person inhibit the further normal growth of hair.
Scarring alopecias are another thing altogether. They’re destructive at the level of the hair follicles. If the hair follicles are the main target of your particular disease, doctors will categorize this as primary cicatricial alopecia. When the follicles are not completely harmed, the condition is called secondary scarring alopecia.
Secondary scarring alopecia often occurs in cancer patients that have to undergo regular treatments. Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells and inhibits the normal reproduction of the body cells. In some cases, radiation destroys the sensitive membranes in the scalp.
Tags: alopecia, cicatricial alopecia, Hair loss, scarring alopecia, secondary scarring alopecia