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Is this retrograde alopecia?


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Hi guys,

Hoping someone can please help. And before anyone says "see a derm" - I have. Unfortunately UK derms are pretty clueless when it comes to hairloss, as hardly any have even heard of Dutasteride. My blood tests/thyroid tests also showed up normal. I have suffered from MPB for the last 15 years, and have had good results with a combination of minoxidil, dutasteride, and 2 FUE procedures.

However, in the last 2 years, I have had severe thinning of both my eyebrows, and around the side/back of my head.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Could it be retrograde alopecia? It almost looks like FUE puncture holes right at the front side of my head, but I can assure you the FUE clinic did not go that far.  (it is slightly red in the first pic, as that was taken after some microneedling)

 

Many thanks

Hair2.jpeg

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hair1.jpeg

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Just now, Egy said:

Thinning of the eyebrows is also a symptom of the LPP, you said you had two transplants, how is the situation now?

Thank you Egy, the hair transplants have worked okayish (not fantastic) - although they were a long time ago - the eyebrows are still thin. What is the test of LPP? Would I need to see a different derm and insist on a biopsy of the scalp and / or eyebrows?

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Yes, with the biopsy you would be able to understand if your scalp is healthy, one thing I can recommend is to have more samples taken, in different parts of the scalp, because if you only have one performed, it could happen that just in that point, your scalp is healthy, while a few centimeters away you may be suffering from Lichen Planopilaris and you would never know.

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6 minutes ago, Egy said:

Yes, with the biopsy you would be able to understand if your scalp is healthy, one thing I can recommend is to have more samples taken, in different parts of the scalp, because if you only have one performed, it could happen that just in that point, your scalp is healthy, while a few centimeters away you may be suffering from Lichen Planopilaris and you would never know.

Thanks - I will pursue this. Did you see a derm or a hair transplant doctor who was able to help regarding this? My previous derm here in London was unable to help at all.

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7 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

The pattern in the pictures does look like Retrograde Alopecia but from what you're saying, this development seems to have occurred more recently. 

Is it only over the ears? 

I think I’ve noticed it over the last 2 years but it could have been slowly developing over a longer period of time… It’s just that all my attention has been on the hair loss on top of my head in the meantime. Here are a couple of shots from the other side.

 

 

DE0076CD-059F-4FBB-8D9E-E788163A54F5.jpeg

46DCC26F-8019-445A-823D-CF64AA26EF4E.jpeg

0D0BB5BD-0A19-473C-A067-ED4B2773E38F.jpeg

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12 minutes ago, lostboy182 said:

I think I’ve noticed it over the last 2 years but it could have been slowly developing over a longer period of time… It’s just that all my attention has been on the hair loss on top of my head in the meantime. Here are a couple of shots from the other side.

 

 

DE0076CD-059F-4FBB-8D9E-E788163A54F5.jpeg

46DCC26F-8019-445A-823D-CF64AA26EF4E.jpeg

0D0BB5BD-0A19-473C-A067-ED4B2773E38F.jpeg

Looking at it, it looks like it's around the top of the ears and around the neck into the donor area. 

Given you had 2 FUE procedures, it could be harder to tell if Retrograde or over harvesting at times in donor. 

The sides are probably more of a tell tale that it's progressed to retrograde and while it's difficult to tell if this is something that's slowly developed or always been there might be hard. 

There's possibly alternative explanations but you'd likely need a biopsy as mentioned above. 

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  • Regular Member
On 1/25/2022 at 2:48 PM, lostboy182 said:

I think I’ve noticed it over the last 2 years but it could have been slowly developing over a longer period of time… It’s just that all my attention has been on the hair loss on top of my head in the meantime. Here are a couple of shots from the other side.

 

 

DE0076CD-059F-4FBB-8D9E-E788163A54F5.jpeg

46DCC26F-8019-445A-823D-CF64AA26EF4E.jpeg

0D0BB5BD-0A19-473C-A067-ED4B2773E38F.jpeg

Do you have any itching/burning sensations in the area of hair loss?  This is typical of LPP - but not always present.  You might want to see a hair doctor specialising in unusual hair disorders. If you're going privately I can recommend a few in the UK in London and Manchester if you want to message me.

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1 hour ago, mcr7777 said:

Do you have any itching/burning sensations in the area of hair loss?  This is typical of LPP - but not always present.  You might want to see a hair doctor specialising in unusual hair disorders. If you're going privately I can recommend a few in the UK in London and Manchester if you want to message me.

Thank you. I appreciate your help. 
 

I am hoping a doctor who specialises in this subject, especially in London can advise me if this is scarring or non scarring alopecia. I have another appointment with my GP very soon

 

 

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CFE9D0FB-EDB6-4557-B416-C0A3C22E9AB8.jpeg

879BB72D-09A4-443C-97E5-C1BBB6EEFAB2.jpeg

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