Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata can cause sudden patchy hair loss when the immune system disrupts the normal hair growth cycle. Our team helps patients better understand this condition and explore treatment options designed to support scalp and hair health.

woman outside smiling with short curly hair

Understanding Alopecia: How It Looks and How To Treat It.

Alopecia Areata is a form of female hair loss and is an “autoimmune” disease, meaning the body causes inflammation around the hair follicle preventing it from growing. Most often it presents as a coin-shaped lesion or discrete patches of hair loss with sharp borders. Less commonly, it can be more diffuse.

Types of Alopecia

Women with Alopecia can have hair loss in other areas besides the scalp, including eyelashes and eyebrows. While considered a rare type of hair loss, Alopecia Areata still affects almost 7 million people in the US. While we often speak of Alopecia in general terms, there are actually a few different types of it.

Alopecia Areata

The most well-known is Alopecia Areata, which presents as coin-shaped lesions on the scalp, although the loss can occur in other areas of the body.

Alopecia Totalis

Alopecia Totalis presents as total loss of the hair on the scalp.

Alopecia Universalis

Alopecia Universalis presents as total loss of hair on the scalp, face, and body.

Less Common Forms

Less common forms are Diffuse Alopecia Areata, which is very sudden loss and thinning across the entire scalp, and Ophiasis Alopecia, which has a unique pattern of loss on the sides and lower back of the scalp.