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What Causes Scarring Hair Loss?

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Posted on Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Question: 61 year old juvenile diabetic diagnosed with scalp shingles month ago. Now, blister is now scabby hole, and large bald spot..large amount of hair loss in the area. What should be done? YYYY@YYYY
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Answered by Dr. Johny Chacko (33 minutes later)
Brief Answer: Shingles scalp with hair loss Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome to healthcare magic, Shingles can cause a type of hair loss called scarring hair loss. Because of the severe infection and inflammation a lot of hair follicles will be permanently destroyed causing scars. Scarring may not happen all over the bald spot you see now. Some of the hair can grow back. So right now what you should do is keep the area clean and prevent bacterial infection. You may keep warm saline compresses and gently remove the scabs and apply antibiotic cream like Mupirocin three times a day till all the scabs heal. Then you should wait atleast 3 months to assess the damage and area of scarring. Unfortunately medications cannot grow hair from scarred scalp. Only option will be to transplant hair into the scarred patch. Hope this helped, Take care.
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Johny Chacko

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2005

Answered : 1916 Questions

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What Causes Scarring Hair Loss?

Brief Answer: Shingles scalp with hair loss Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome to healthcare magic, Shingles can cause a type of hair loss called scarring hair loss. Because of the severe infection and inflammation a lot of hair follicles will be permanently destroyed causing scars. Scarring may not happen all over the bald spot you see now. Some of the hair can grow back. So right now what you should do is keep the area clean and prevent bacterial infection. You may keep warm saline compresses and gently remove the scabs and apply antibiotic cream like Mupirocin three times a day till all the scabs heal. Then you should wait atleast 3 months to assess the damage and area of scarring. Unfortunately medications cannot grow hair from scarred scalp. Only option will be to transplant hair into the scarred patch. Hope this helped, Take care.