Re: Several hairs from one follicle-again

Posted By Thomas on August 09, 1999 at 11:34:21
Dr.,
   Thanks for replying and sorry to bother you again. I guess I am still a little confused. I had heard that diseases such as "follicular degeneration syndrome"-"Folliculitis decalvans" can cause "tufted folliculitis" and the occurence of more than  one hair coming out of a scalp follicle. I guess the question is; are there other symptoms besides the "several hair thing" or can it be asymptomatic ( I did get checked out by a dermatologist who said the scalp itself looked fine)?
Regards,
Thomas

[Derm-MD-ASR]

Posted By Derm M.D. ASR on August 09, 1999 at 20:18:30
Thomas:
Having multiple hairs from one follicle can be seen without folliculitis decalvans.  That diagnosis is a variety of scarring baldness, which has not just multiple hairs but severe scarring (lumpiness, depression of the scalp, big bald patches, etc.)  Your dermatologist would have seen these at a glance.
I'm puzzled: who put the idea of such an exotic diagnosis in your head?  It certainly doesn't sound like anything remotely related to what you've got.
Good luck.
Dr. R
keywords: alopecia, scarring folliculitis decalvans, Rockoff
Disclaimer: The information provided in this forum is presented for general educational purposes only.
Specific questions you have pertaining to your health should always be directed to your
personal physician.

[Thomas__0]

Posted By Thomas on August 09, 1999 at 21:59:39

Dr. Rockoff,
    Thanks again for your reply. I guess what you are saying is that two or three hairs growing from a scalp follicle(at most there are three) is nothing per se but needs to be accompanied by other symptoms. It is just weird that my follicles would produce this. I have noticed the hair on my arm is similar (some follicles produce two or even three terminal hairs) and this seems weird because I thought a follicle could only produce one hair(textbook definition). There are many follicles on my scalp that produce only one hair(most) ..but many produce more. My derm could not see anything but male pattern baldness. What did you mean by saying this phenomenon was a "curiosity"? As for where I got the idea about scarring alopecia...I found the two links below;

http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic439.htm
http://www.derm.ubc.ca/hairinfo/09.html
Thanks again for all your help!
Regards,
Thomas
p.s.- I guess they call this "internet paranoia"     :)










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