Teen hair loss

[jsizzle]

I'm 19 years old and over the past six months I have been experiencing an itchy scalp along with hair loss...The hair loss is not noticeable but it is just weird that I would all of the sudden start losing my hair at 19 considering I have absolutely no family history of baldness.  My scalp is just extremely itchy and on top of that when I wash my hair I see around 8-10 long hairs in my hands.. Should I be concerned?

[Rowena Santos, MD]

Hi,

Are there other signs or symptoms present? A number of things can cause hair loss. This could be due to stress, hormonal imbalance, certain medications, certain infections, or as part of an underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes.  Excessive physical or emotional stress, such as caused by  injury, illness or surgery, can cause one of two types of hair loss:  telogen effluvium, wherein hair stops growing and lies dormant, only to fall out 2 or 3 months later. Then it grows back within 6 to 9 months; and  alopecia areata, which involves a white blood cell attack on the  hair follicles. With this type of hair loss, the hair also falls out within weeks, but can involve the entire scalp and even body hair. Hair may grow back on its own, but treatment may also be required.

It is important that you have this evaluated further for proper management. It is more likely that there is an infection and microscopy examination may be done to determine which organism is responsible. Treatment will depend on the underlying cause. Take care and regards.