Hot Comb Alopecia

    September 1968 in “ PubMed ”
    Philip S. Lopresti, Christopher M. Papa, Albert M. Kligman
    Studysummary In this study, irreversible alopecia on the crown of the scalp in Black women using hot combs was associated with chronic inflammation and follicle damage leading to scarring. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
    The document described a condition known as hot comb alopecia, which was an irreversible form of hair loss observed in Negro women who used hot combs to straighten their hair. This condition was characterized by incomplete hair loss confined to the crown of the scalp, with obliterated follicles between surviving hairs. The use of hot petrolatum with the iron led to chronic inflammation around the upper segment of the hair follicle, causing degeneration of the external root sheath. Over time, this resulted in the destruction of the entire follicle, which was replaced by a dense collagen band, forming a follicular scar.
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