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When Should You Seek Medical Care For Hair Loss?

As many as 50% of all men and women living in the U.S. will experience hair loss. When should you seek medical care for hair loss? Are there certain signs or symptoms that signal a need to see the doctor?

Basically if you experience any of the following signs or symptoms at the same time that you experience hair loss it is a good idea to see your doctor or a dermatologist:

If you notice that you are confused

You have a poor appetite

You are constipated or have diarrhea

You experience difficulty breathing

You have an unexplained weight loss

Vomiting

Fever

You have unexplained pain

Skin issues that are not usual for you

While hair loss in of itself is not an emergency, if it is severe or there are serious signs of illness along with the hair loss it can signal that there may be a serious illness present that would need medical attention.

The doctor will take a history of symptoms, medications that you have been taking, what your general health has been and family medical history. There will be testing that may include blood, urine, scalp sampling to determine the presence of an infection or scalp irritation. If the symptoms are severe tests such as x-rays may also be performed.

A good rule of thumb for if you should seek medical attention for any symptom including hair loss is if you are uncomfortable doing normal daily tasks (such as breathing difficulties), or if you are in unexplained pain, or has a fever that lasts longer than 24 hours and is unexplained. Most individuals seek a doctor's advice when they do not know why they are having a symptom. Older individuals may expect to experience hair loss but someone in their teens or twenties may not and so for them it is out of the ordinary and they are more likely to seek the help of a doctor or a dermatologist.

If you are experiencing hair loss and you want to know how to stop it or treat it, that would be a good reason to seek medical care. A doctor can find the cause of the hair loss so that you can begin proper treatment for the exact problem that is causing your hair loss.

If you have family history of hair loss and you are more than 50 years of age you may expect to see hair loss in the mirror versus someone who has no history in the family of hair loss and is less than 40 years of age.

Another time in which someone may seek a doctor's opinion about hair loss is when it occurs suddenly and when large amounts of hair fall out. Basically anything unusual or anything that raises alarm bells to go off should prompt a person to seek medical care for hair loss.