Elbow Hairs in Alopecia Areata: Sign of Hair Shaft Weakness

Elbow Hairs in Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata in an autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1-2 % of the population. In the earlier stages, the disease is associated inflammation around hairs which severely affects the ability of hair to be produced. Hair that is produced is often weaker and may break easily.

Elbow Hairs

Elbow hairs are hairs that have broken. These hairs are essentially a special type of exclamation mark hair that have broken at a weak site in the hair follicle. In addition to the ‘elbow’, the other weak site is located about 3-4 cm above the bend and that is another site where the hair truly snapped off.