Have you ever been told that you are missing a piece of hair when you have your hair cut? Or is he combing his hair beautifully in front of the mirror when he suddenly finds a skinny scalp? It’s like being shaved quietly by [ghosts]. Your first reaction must be: [Who moved my hair, is it a ghost? ]
Calm down, [ghost shaving] is not terrible, don’t believe it, you continue to read.
[Ghost Shaves] Is It what Ghost?
The folk common name is “ghost shaving”, which is called “alopecia areata” in medicine. Alopecia areata is a sudden alopecia in a local area. What you see on your head is a well-defined round or oval scalp without hair, and the hair around this scalp will also loosen and be easily pulled out.
Patients with alopecia areata often have no obvious feeling of their own, and when they suddenly find out, they have become pieces of alopecia spots, giving people the illusion that they have been shaved by [ghosts].
Alopecia areata has different conditions. People with mild conditions may have alopecia in only one place, and many may have several places. The heavier one may lose all his hair. The hair of the most serious patients, including eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit hair, etc., will fall off.
What should I do if I have shaved my head by [ghosts]?
In fact, alopecia areata is not as terrible as everyone thinks. Doctors still have some methods to treat this problem.
1. Psychotherapy
The most common inducement of alopecia areata is actually excessive mental pressure. Therefore, the treatment of alopecia areata, the first thing to emphasize is to adjust the mood and work and rest regularly. In most cases, do relax, pay attention to rest, alopecia areata can heal itself.
In order to reduce the psychological pressure of patients, for patients with severe alopecia, wigs and Wen Mei can be worn to cover the alopecia area.
2. Local treatment
For local alopecia, some external drugs are used, including hormone, capsaicin ointment, anthracene, minoxidil, etc., and even hormone needles can be given locally.
3. Systematic therapy
When alopecia area is large and progress is fast, glucocorticoid can be applied for systemic treatment, oral administration or injection. However, improper application of glucocorticoid will have certain side effects, so it is necessary to seek the help of experienced doctors in regular hospitals, and never use or arbitrarily adjust the hormone dosage.
In addition, more participation in some outdoor activities, let the scalp directly bask in the sun, will also play a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect.
How long does it take for hair to grow?
The most concerned question of alopecia areata patients is, can hair still grow? How long will it grow? Will it fall again?
In fact, the prognosis of alopecia areata is very good, and most of them can heal themselves. Patients with severe alopecia may be more difficult to recover than others when they are younger or even children.
However, as to how long it will take to fully recover, there is a big difference between patients. Most of the mild patients can heal themselves within 3 months, while the severe patients can not heal for a long time. Most patients take effect within 3 months of effective treatment and will recover within 6 months to 2 years.
Will alopecia areata relapse?
Unfortunately, alopecia areata is likely to recur. There are mainly the following reasons:
1. Incomplete treatment
Reduce or stop taking drugs too early, and stop taking drugs before the disease is controlled and stable. Therefore, the reduction and withdrawal of drugs must be carried out under the guidance of doctors.
2. The inducement has not been removed.
After some patients recover, alopecia areata may occur again under the stimulation of inducing factors again, for example, the work pressure becomes very high again.
It is generally believed that alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease, that is, the patient’s own immune cells attack hair follicles, resulting in hair follicles not working normally and alopecia. Mental stress is a common inducement leading to this immune disorder. Many patients have mental trauma or excessive pressure before the onset of the disease, such as family misfortune, lovelorn, academic work tension, etc.
3. There are other diseases that have not been treated.
According to data, 7% ~ 27% of alopecia areata patients are accompanied by thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, etc. If there is such a situation, doctors need to check thyroid function and autoantibodies to diagnose. If the diagnosis is made, it may be necessary to treat thyroid problems first.
A thousand possibilities of alopecia
Alopecia areata is actually a very wide topic. Alopecia areata is only one of many forms of alopecia. Other diseases that may cause alopecia include the following:
1. Cicatricial alopecia
Refers to alopecia secondary to local scalp injury, causing permanent destruction of hair follicles, such as folliculitis, discoid lupus erythematosus, lichen planus, etc. This kind of alopecia often has visible inflammation and scales on the local scalp, while alopecia areata local scalp is normal and smooth.
2. Syphilitic alopecia
Some syphilis patients have alopecia spots, which are often wormlike. If it is a short-term occurrence of multiple alopecia spots with irregular edges, we should be alert to the possibility of syphilis and go to the hospital for examination in time.
3. Trichodermia
This is a kind of alopecia spot caused by mental and behavioral abnormalities, which is caused by the patient’s repeated pulling and rubbing of hair. Preschool children and early adolescents may occur.
4. Androgenic alopecia
This kind of alopecia is quite different from alopecia areata, but the most common alopecia disease is characterized by chronic progressive reduction of hair density, involving forehead and top scalp, and eventually leading to [Mediterranean] baldness.
Therefore, there are many possible causes of alopecia. Please go to the hospital in time after finding out, and let the doctor judge and treat for you.
To sum up, if you or your family and friends are unfortunately shaved by the [ghost], there is no need to panic. First of all, you must adjust your mind, relax your mood, and then work with the doctor to defeat the [ghost]!
Responsible Editor: Fei Fei