One of our readers who is in her 30s has asked about Alopecia Areata or AA.  She says she has been using may different treatment either medical or herbal for her patchy hair loss in the last 20 years. She continues as: Hairs goes in patches from all over the body including eye brow and eye lashes, but additional thing with me is that I feel itching on the place from where hairs are going to fall with pain on the itching area too, then consequently within 1-2 days hairs falls and leaves red patch behind pains also gets disappeared.

After that I start using Diprovate lotion twice daily on affected area.  Hair comes within month then I stop using Diprovate.  But normally hair length goes to only 8-10 inches and then again hair loss same process going on since 1980. One thing I observed is that places of hair loss patches are almost fixed. One thing I also used some hormonal injections too but as usual no permanent remedy. Do you also feel pain before falling of hair on the place of hair fall on the scalp?  Generally I felt pain on scalp only though hair loss periods. Pain is only on scalp.

Having the episodes of patchy baldness could be the first sign of alopecia areata.  Although hair loss in a patchy form is usually considered alopecia areata or AA, the condition of this hair loss patient is not a typical one.  Alopecia areata is usually painless and the changes in skin shape and color is not that noticeable except for the hair loss.  There are some other hair loss conditions that may present themselves as patchy hair loss such as Cicatricial Alopecia in which an inflammatory reaction causes hair loss.

A hair loss diagnosis could be established through direct examination and biopsy of the scalp from hair loss lesions. My recommendation to this hair loss patient or anyone with similar balding problem is to visit a good dermatologist to confirm the diagnosis of this patchy hair loss condition.  Hair transplant is generally not indicated in many types of patchy hair losses, but a hair transplant doctor can discuss it further after examining patient’s scalp and hair or possibly scallp biopsy results.

We had a patient from a different hair restoration clinic that had a few concerns about his hair transplant results. He underwent hair transplant in September of 2008 and mentions that sometime in November he started trimming his hair avoiding the transplanted area and then started trimming all areas to help him monitor his progress. He also stated that he has curly hair which can make it relatively hard to really notice his growth. He fears that because he never asked how many grafts he had received that maybe he had less done than he had hoped for.

He asks, “Does transplanted hair regrow at different rates?”. Generally, transplanted hair goes through a few changes. First, the transplanted hairs will shed in about 9 out of 10 people and you will probably see some or if any results in about 3 months after your hair transplant surgery. This is the most obvious result for patients who had little to no hair in the first place.

Most patients who already have existing hair don’t usually see or notice results until about 6-8 months after the surgery. The hair is growing but visually it does not compare to the existing hair and can be easily mistaken as a bad hair transplant. Once the transplanted hair becomes long and thick enough you can easily distinguish the results.

We understand the importance of results to our patients but results after hair transplant cannot be rushed. As for a follow up or additional procedure, US Hair Restoration does not recommend having an additional hair transplant procedure within less than 6 months of the initial procedure because many of the grafts may not even be out at that time. With patience and time you will see the results of your transplanted hair in a few months or sooner.