Female Hair Loss: Assessment, Categorization, and Management

The 2019 document provides a comprehensive overview of female hair loss, detailing the assessment, categorization, and management of various conditions. It highlights the importance of history and examination in diagnosing hair loss, which can be classified as scarring or non-scarring. Conditions such as female pattern hair loss, alopecia areata, and telogen effluvium are discussed, with female pattern hair loss affecting up to 50% of women over 65 and being treatable with minoxidil. Alopecia areata is noted as an autoimmune disorder with unpredictable regrowth, and telogen effluvium as usually self-resolving. Scarring alopecias like frontal fibrosing alopecia and lichen planopilaris are more challenging to treat due to permanent hair loss. The document also addresses traction alopecia, trichotillomania, pseudopelade of Brocq, discoid lupus erythematosus, central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, folliculitis decalvans, acne keloidalis, and dissecting cellulitis, with various treatments ranging from behavioral therapy to anti-inflammatory medications. The psychological impact of hair loss is emphasized, with a recommendation for referral to dermatology in cases of diagnostic uncertainty or suspected scarring alopecia, and the need for supportive measures and hair appliances for those with extensive hair loss.