Bleached hair, Hair loss, itchy pink scalp

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I'm a 20 year old male. Over the past several months I've noticed My hair starting to thin out. My scalp Turns pink and blotchy throughout my scalp and is irritated and itchy sometimes mostly around the front and top. The thinning seems to mostly be on the top and in the front, but has thinned out a bit throughout the entire head as well. Hair loss does not run in my family at all on either side. I've changed shampoos as I thought it was a shampoo allergy. The irritation has subsided a bit since I changed to genteler shampoos but still flairs up often. Also, I am a cosmetology student and I have done alot of things chemically to my hair. I started bleaching it about 2 years ago and retouch it accordingly. I've never had any discomfort or pain during the bleaching process. After really noticing the troubles with my scalp i've since stopped bleaching it. (My roots look crazy, but it's worth saving the integrity of my hair and scalp..) Is coloring it the cause or a contributing factor to my irritation and hair loss or could it be some kind of infection? Is there any way to stop the thinning and irritation? Will I be able to color my hair again?

Thanks,

~Marc

Thank



ANSWER: You could have what is called male pattern hair loss which is genetic and the only medication that has been scientifically tested for this condition is Rogaine for Men and Propecia.  This condition is genetic.  The other possibility is that you have overprocessed your hair and that the hair is breaking.  If you pull on your have and it breaks easily then you have an overprocessing problem and you would need to use a conditioner.  A dermatologist can help with male pattern baldness.  Other causes of hair loss include: oral medications, severe stress, thyroid disease, anemia, hormonal abnormalities, infections, infestations or other.



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QUESTION: Hello again, and thanks for the quick reply. Another thing I wanted to add, my scalp is flaky. Kind of like a wet dandriff because my hair gets overly oily and I get random scabs on my scalp. When I examine a hair when it comes out it sometimes has a build up of something on it. Also about the male pattern baldness, can I have that even if it doesn't run in my family? It's only a genetic thing right? With my symptoms I feel like there is something more to it than just male pattern baldness.




Answer
The flaky scalp is called seborrheic dermatitis.  You can try over the counter T-Gel which is usually effective for this scalp condition.  If T-Gel does not work then you would need to visit your local dermatologist for a prescription shampoo. Male pattern hair loss is genetic.  You could get the genetics from a great grandparent.  If you feel their is more to your hair loss then get blood work to look at ferritin, DHEAS, Total testosterone, Comp metabolic panel, CBC + Diff, ANA, RPR, Thyroid profile.  To get this lab work you would need to visit your local dermatologist.  You can also have a dermatologist do a biopsy of your scalp to make sure of the diagnosis.