Spot baldness, or alopecia areata with its medical name, is a disease characterized by the sudden loss of one's hair or other hairs such as eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard. When it occurs on the scalp, it manifests itself with round or oval shaped balding areas that can be easily seen from the outside. After a while, hair grows back in balding areas or new lesions develop.

Spot baldness occurs mainly in teenagers. Between 70 and 80 of every 100 people affected by the disease are under the age of 40. It is more common in men than women.

Spot Baldness (Alopecia Areata) Symptoms

Spot baldness symptoms are characteristic and present with one or more flat, oval and bald areas on the scalp. The skin in the affected area is healthy and there is no inflammation of the skin.

Hair loss usually starts on the scalp. However, any scalp can be affected by ringworm, including eyelashes, eyebrows, armpits, beard and pubic hair, and changes in nail structure can occur. The course of the disease is unpredictable and sometimes chronically recurrent.

Spontaneous recovery, stabilization or, of course, worsening may occur during illness. When the hair re-grows in the balding area, it is usually non-pigmented, that is, white.

Spot Baldness (Alopecia Areata) Treatment

The goal of spot baldness treatment is to stop the progression of the disease and reduce the severity of symptoms. In some mild and early-stage cases, the hair grows on its own without the need for any treatment.

In the advanced stages or in the presence of severe symptoms, steroid group drugs are used in the treatment. Steroids are primarily applied in cream form. In the later stages, it can be applied to the scalp with an injector, depending on the situation. Apart from the steroid group, it can also be treated with drugs and a different method called immunotherapy.