my hair has been falling out for the last 4 years and i'm worried of going bold . by the way i'm a 59 year old woman . blood work is fine .i have tried everyting and spend a lot of money on a lot vitamin and minerals .but nothig is working

I'm a 59 year old woman.I'm loosing a lot of hair my scalp is itching and burning .I have gone to a dermatologist and told me to use rogaine  tried vitamins minerals. i even had salive test done that cost me $250 dollars for the test, and showed that tostestarone is above average. could this be the problem? I have tried everything from shampoo to topical lotion on my scalp, nothing is been working .can you help.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The causes of hair fall could be due to stress, fungal infections, alopecia aereata, hormonal imbalance(overproduction of dihydrotestosterone and thyroid hormones irregularities),malnutrition, telogen effluvium and sebum plugs on skin. Raised testosterone levels can also cause this hair fall and so need to be evaluated. Chronic telogen effluvium is hair shedding lasting longer than 6 months. Treatment consists of medications like Minoxidil, surgical approach(hair transplantation) and improvement in diet.

I would suggest you to consult a dermatologist and get these possibilities evaluated. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.