Seborrheic Alopecia - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Seborrheic alopecia

Content:

• What is seborrheic alopecia?
• Symptoms of seborrheic alopecia
• Causes of seborrheic alopecia
• Seborrheic alopecia treatment

What is seborrheic alopecia?

Seborrheic alopecia is a type of baldness caused by a painful condition of the scalp, namely, hyperfunction of the sebaceous glands. Their activity is disrupted as a result of malfunctions in the neuroendocrine and nervous systems. There is evidence that this type of alopecia is more common among the male population.

It should be understood that seborrhea does not always lead to hair loss. According to statistics, only a quarter of people with seborrhea will be affected by this pathology. In addition, it is believed that seborrhea is only an additional factor provocateur of baldness, but cannot be the only cause of hair loss.

It is customary to distinguish between oily and dry seborrhea. Each of them can become an indirect cause of alopecia. So, with insufficient production of fat, the scalp becomes more vulnerable to various kinds of damage. Hair becomes thinner, breaks and then falls out. When the production of sebum, on the contrary, is increased, this leads to the fact that the dead cells of the epidermis are not able to normally be rejected, and fungi can begin to develop in places of their accumulation. It also leads to malnutrition of the hair shaft and hair loss.

Baldness with seborrhea usually manifests itself in puberty and reaches its maximum clinical manifestations by the age of 25-35, naturally, in the absence of any therapy.

Read more: Seborrhea (seborrheic dermatitis) of the scalp - oily and dry

Symptoms of seborrheic alopecia

Among the main symptoms of seborrheic type of baldness are:

• Itching that spreads all over the head;
• The stratum corneum of the epidermis thickens;
• An oily sheen appears on the hair and skin;
• The skin begins to flake and flake off. The scales are grayish-yellow in color and can easily detach from the surface of the head even with slight scraping. As a result, they are constantly found not only in the root zone of the hair, but also on the shoulders;
• An unpleasant specific odor emanates from the head;
• Profuse dandruff appears;
• Hair loss occurs, but it does not fall out immediately, this is a gradual process;
• The vessels dilate, the horny masses are deposited in the mouths of the hair follicles and cause their degenerative changes. As a result, this leads to the impossibility of producing new hair;
• Dry seborrhea is manifested in the fact that the patient's skin becomes thinner, becomes tender and sensitive to the slightest effect, there is a tendency to increased trauma. The dandruff is dry and fine;
• Accession of eczema is a common concomitant symptom of seborrheic alopecia. This is a chronic skin lesion with characteristic rashes in the form of small nodules, which gradually transform into plaques.

Symptoms of seborrheic alopecia vary between men and women. In the male population, the peak of baldness occurs at 30 years. Hair thinns in the fronto-parietal region, the remaining hairs become thinner and dry. Baldness goes in the direction from the parietal zone to the frontal, or from the edges of the frontal part of the head towards the back of the head. In addition, there is evidence of a decrease in libido in some men against the background of existing seborrhea.

In women, seborrheic alopecia occurs as a diffuse type of alopecia. Hair is lost gradually and evenly over the entire head. Most often, a decrease in the level of estrogen is found, and amenorrhea can also bother.

Read more: Amenorrhea - causes and symptoms

Causes of seborrheic alopecia

There are several reasons leading to the development of seborrheic alopecia, among them:

• Hormonal changes in the body during puberty. It is this reason that determines the age at which the disease most often manifests. However, physiological seborrhea usually goes away on its own, in rare cases leading to alopecia;
• Violation of the ratio of estrogens and androgens. Androgens, when in excess, stimulate sebum production. Most often, women with seborrheic alopecia have a lack of progesterone and estrogen and an increase in the level of androgens in the blood;
• In men, an increase in androgen levels and an acceleration of their metabolism also leads to baldness. Sometimes this pathological process is caused by a tumor of the testicles;
• Parkinson's disease, lethargic encephalitis can cause seborrheic alopecia;

• Diseases of the mental sphere can provoke the development of the problem. For example, seborrheic alopecia is a frequent companion of people with schizophrenia, epilepsy, psychosis;
• Taking certain medications can trigger the development of the disease. In this regard, long-term therapy with glucocorticosteroids, anabolic steroids, vitamin H, hormonal drugs with testosterones and progesterones is dangerous;
• The pathological activity of yeast-like fungi, which are normally always present on the skin, can provoke the development of alopecia. At the same time, the fungi themselves are activated against the background of exacerbation of chronic infections, with stress, a drop in immunity.

Seborrheic alopecia treatment

After seborrhea has been identified as the cause leading to alopecia, it is necessary to start treatment. So, if the patient suffers from oily seborrhea, then after a day or even several hours after bathing, his hair regains a greasy shine, so you have to wash your hair every day or every other day. For hygiene procedures, you should use special shampoos for oily hair and anti-dandruff. However, you should not wash your hair too often, otherwise the hair shafts will become even more thinner, break and fall out.

Trichologists recommend that their patients periodically change the shampoo with which they wash their hair. The effect in case of oily seborrhea can be obtained through the use of medicinal solutions based on medicinal herbs containing ethyl alcohol. They are rubbed into the scalp. It is worth performing the procedure twice a day in the morning and evening hours. If you do massage in parallel with the rubbing, then this will be a good addition to the treatment of seborrheic alopecia, as it will saturate the hair follicles with oxygen due to blood flow. The course of treatment with such solutions is 5 days, then for two weeks the head is washed with a therapeutic shampoo. Thus, it is worth treating the head for at least 8 weeks.

Sulfur, tar and salicylic acid - these are the three components that should be included in shampoos for shampoos for shampoos with oily seborrhea. These substances can dry out oily skin and rid hair of greasy shine.

Vitamin complexes are prescribed as means for oral administration. It is important to stick to an appropriate diet. So, you should exclude marinades, preservatives, salty and spicy foods from your menu. To achieve a therapeutic effect, it is worth limiting the intake of fats, this is especially true for saturated fats and carbohydrates that are easily digested (sugar, baked goods, sweets and confectionery). In this case, priority is given to bran and fiber-rich foods.

In addition, a component such as ketoconazole must be present in preparations for topical treatment of seborrhea. It is he who contributes to the irradiation of the fungus from the scalp, the rest of the substances are only auxiliary in relation to the treatment of seborrhea. With its dry variety, keratins, proteins and amino acids should be included in a therapeutic agent based on ketoconazole.

It is advisable to treat seborrheic alopecia with ketoconazole once or twice a week, depending on the severity of seborrhea. The rest of the time, therapy is carried out with the help of shampoo and solutions based on ethyl alcohol according to the above scheme.

Here is a list of other popular treatments for alopecia:

• Hair loss (alopecia) treatment at home - 5 most effective methods
• The best shampoo for hair restoration and growth
• Medication for alopecia (complete list of medicines)
• The drug Minoxidil for hair loss
• Finasteride for baldness
• Hair transplant: answers to basic questions

After you manage to get rid of the cause of alopecia, you can start stimulating hair growth. For this, it is recommended to use drugs based on Minoxidil. They reduce the amount of androgens and reduce their pathogenic effect on hair follicles. However, use Minoxidil only if recommended by your doctor. First, this remedy has certain side effects. Secondly, after eliminating the main problem in the form of seborrhea, seborrheic alopecia can not only stop, but also regress without any additional treatment.

It is important to use only a personal comb during and after therapy. When there is a fight against the disease, it can be additionally treated with any disinfectant solution, for example, Miramistin. This should be done once a day.

If local treatment does not give the desired effect and seborrheic alopecia recurs, then it is worth looking for the cause in other organs and systems. So, baldness can be a consequence of endocrine pathology. In this case, the patient will need to take hormonal drugs.

Special attention should be paid to the treatment of oily seborrhea, leading to alopecia in young men. The most common cause of such a pathological condition is an increase in the level of male sex hormones in the blood. Therefore, to treat this problem, drugs with female sex hormones are prescribed.

If alopecia is caused by dry seborrhea, then the patient is recommended to wash his head no more than once a week. It is also mandatory to use drugs from the azoles group. This can be ketoconazole or bifonazole. The choice should be made only after microscopic examination and bacterial culture. These analyzes will make it possible not only to determine the type of causative agent of seborrhea, but also the sensitivity of a particular fungus to the drug.

When problems with the ovaries are found, the woman is often prescribed hormonal contraception.

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The means aimed at general strengthening of the body include vitamins of group B, A, D, E, ascorbic and niacin. Selenium, calcium, sulfur, copper and zinc preparations are used. As for the diet with dry seborrhea, the patient must definitely include healthy polyunsaturated fats in the menu. These are a variety of oils, nuts, fatty fish.

Despite the possibility of completely getting rid of seborrheic alopecia, the patient will need to follow preventive measures in the future. They boil down to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, excluding junk food from the menu, and observing work and rest. Refusal of bad habits, timely treatment of all diseases and taking medications under medical supervision are also preventive measures to prevent the development of seborrheic alopecia.

The prognosis for this type of baldness is favorable, relapses occur if treatment has not eliminated the true cause of the problem. In this case, a deeper diagnosis will be required.

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The author of the article: German Olga Leonidovna, trichologist, specially for the website ayzdorov.ru