Hot Comb Alopecia

    September 1968 in “ PubMed ”
    Philip S. Lopresti, Christopher M. Papa, Albert M. Kligman
    TLDR Hot comb use can cause permanent hair loss on the scalp.
    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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