Hair Loss Diagnosis

There are many ways to diagnose hair loss and disease or reason associated with it. To treat hair loss completely, doctor needs to determine the exact cause of hair loss. A physical examination of the area affected and the complete medical history as well as family history helps to diagnose the hair loss. Examination of surrounding hairs and other symptoms is important for diagnosis.

When no apparent cause of hair loss is found by physical examination, then some tests are recommended. There may be any underlying condition, responsible for hair loss.

Hair Pull test:

In this test several hairs, about 25 to 50 hairs, are gently pulled to watch out the extent of hair loss. This may tell about the stage of hair shedding. It also helps to rule out telogen effluvium. Ends of these pulled out hair strands are examined under the microscope to study the condition of hair shaft and the bulb.

Phototrichogram and hair window are the variations of hair pull test. Hairs of particular area are clipped or shaved and are photographed consecutively for 3-5 days to determine the pattern of hair development. In hair window, hairs of particular area are shaved and examined for 3 to 30 days.

Skin Scraping :

Skin is scraped slightly by scraping tool to get the samples from the skin or samples may be taken from the hairs plucked out from the scalp. This test is done to determine whether there is any infection on the scalp.

Punch Biopsy :

This is rather difficult test but is very helpful in cases such as alopecia Areata or scarring alopecia. In this test, doctor removes a small section of deeper layers of eth skin with the help of a circular tool.

Screening tests For Underlying Diseases:

Hair loss may be due to any medical condition like diabetes, lupus or eth thyroid disease. Doctor may perform screening tests to find out any such cause. Sometimes hair loss may be due to any medicine you are taking like for treating gout, arthritis, high blood pressure, depression or heart problem.