Is my hair loss coming from seborrheic dermatitis?

Seborrheic Dermatitis and Hair Loss

I’ve selected this question below for this week’s question of the week. It allows us to review some concepts related to hair loss from seborrheic dermatitis.

Question

I have itchy scalp and have been told it’s seborrheic dermatitis. I have had hair loss since age 22 and I am now a 29 year old female. Is my hair loss coming from seborrheic dermatitis? I have done prp and minoxidil without help.

Answer

It’s unlikely with the information provided that seborrheic dermatitis is the main cause of hair loss. It’s possible it’s not helping the hair loss….but it’s probably not the main cause. Of course, I would need to see the scalp up close myself and review all your story to say exactly what’s going on.

Seborrheic dermatitis usually doesn’t cause all that much in the way of hair loss. Of course, it can if it’s severe but still it would not account for all the loss you describe. It’s helpful to review the 2006 Piérard-Franchimont et al paper which reminds us that severe seborrheic dermatitis may cause hair loss but minor degrees of seborrheic dermatitis are less likely to cause significant hair loss.

In order to tell you what diagnosis you have, I would need to 1) know all your medical information from birth until now, 2) examine your scalp up close with trichoscopy and review all your blood tests from the recent few years.

If you want to know what’s causing your hair loss, see and expert. And consider a biopsy if you’re still not sure.

With this information provided, and a 7 year history of ongoing concerns about your hair androgenetic alopecia needs to be confidently ruled in or ruled out. This is the most likely reason for ongoing concerns with your hair. Telogen effluvoum may be present, of course, to some degree but young women in their 20s rarely have a 7 year history of worries about their hair without there being some degree of androgenetic alopecia present.