One doesn’t often consider the disease known as scleroderma has a substantial cause of hair loss and in fact it is one of the hair and scalp diseases that can do this. That may be because there have not been a great deal of studies on the effects of the disease and hair loss. It seems to be suffice to say that when the body is ill with a disease that it most often has some type of effect on the hair some more noticeable than others.
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body in various ways and degrees. It most often begins in the skin and one actually sees inflammation in some of the cells. Then interestingly enough as the disease progresses this inflammatory part of the condition seems to disappear. The skin itself though continues to become abnormal looking.
One of the things taking place is there is an excessive amount of collagen being produced and this begins to harden. As it does it pulls the skin taunt. In relation to the hair, it’s the excessive collagen that suffocates or actually strangles the shaft of the hair. Hair and scalp diseases like scleroderma need to be controlled.
It seems that the collagen likes to form in areas and as a result of this, patches of hair are lost. One of the first symptoms that this may be happening is premature graying of the hair. Then shortly after the hair begins to drop out.
In some cases the hair loss forms a unique pattern like a linear fashion much like the scar that a saber cut to the skin would leave. This has led the description of this occurrence to be called “en coup de saber” In severe cases such as this there is a need for surgical intervention for the removal of the affected area. Many hair and scalp diseases require medical care.
The progression of scleroderma in relation to hair loss is not necessary a quick thing. Loss of gradual patches of hair may take place over several years with very slow expansion of the affected area.
Just as the disease must be treated by your physician, care must be taken with your hair as well. Being extremely gentle with it is a priority. It may be very fragile at least in some areas and you don’t want to cause premature fall out from being rough with it. Avoid any type of hair care that consists of chemicals such as
perms or bleaching.
When possible avoid using a curling iron. Stay away from hairstyles that dictate pulling, twisting or stretching the hair as they can sometimes create the environment for hair and scalp diseases. Buy good quality
hair care products.
You may want to even consider a short hairstyle that won’t put any weight by length of the hair when suffering from scleroderma. This is something that should be considered when suffering from any of the hair and scalp diseases. It’s also possible to better conceal bare spots when the hair is shorter.
Check with your physician to see if there is a medical treatments available for your loss of hair as it is connected with your condition. Above all, do not use products that are promoted as quick fixes. The chemicals in these products could be far more harmful than good.
