I have fought with the crown of the head baldness as well and I just thought it to be heritary. My grandmother was slick bald at the top and extending area of her head. My daughter and I both suffer from this thing. No other granddaughter in the family has this issue and I was wondering if it were a curse or something. I do not perm my hair a lot at all. Have not use hair color in years now. I use to do those things,but I stopped for about 8 years now. At the top of my head, I can experience the bleeding without doing anything,but simply washing my hair. I was wearing wigs until I got tired of that. My hair in the back starting from the mid top is a good length and also no baldness. However I do take medication for hypertension and blood thinning meds. I had just started getting my hairdresser to just cover up the top of my head and I like the styles, but I just want my own hair. I am just considering getting braids also because I am one that like to do different hairstyles as well as change my wardrobe often. I need help in getting my hair back in shape. I have use placenta, that was helping a lot, but I thougt it to be taken off the market. Help!!!
Jan 23, 2009 Rating
Response About Hair Thinning At The CrownNEW by: Seymour M. Weaver, III, M.D.
The time line for everything that you have been experiencing with your scalp is not specified in your note, but I will provide a few comments based upon the information I am able to interpret.
First of all, your photo shows areas of thinning with what appears to be areas of balding which may have the onset of scarring, which can lead to permanent baldness. If you are losing hair and started to develop this type of change, you need treatment right away.
Which leads me to the next question. You mention that you saw a dermatologist at a time when your scalp was tender, and there were areas of bleeding and you were told to stop relaxers. No where do you mention that you were given any medications to use.
Bleeding and tenderness are usually signs of bacterial infection and are usually treated with oral or topical antibiotics. So, I don't know what type or if you received medications for this.
Bacterial infections can injure the scalp and when the process goes deeper, it is possible to get hair loss as a complication and sometimes this condition injures the scalp and causes scarring.
So, while the braiding and extensions can cause hair loss due to traction on their own, I am not sure if your initial scalp problem was ever addressed and brought under control. If the original problem is ongoing then the perms may or may not be aggravating the problem.
I see many patients who lose hair for a combination of factors so that there can be 2 or 3 different problems affecting the scalp at the same time. This could be a problem for you as well.
At this point, you mention that you have a spot that is almost slick. If you have never received treatment, then you need to do so to prevent the slick spot from getting bigger and preserve the hair that you have left. It could take up to a year of treatment to see if hair will grow back in the area it has been lost.
