Hair & Scalp Assessment

The First Step Towards Understanding Hair Loss

If you are experiencing hair loss, it can be tempting to begin by searching for a treatment.

At YT Medical, we believe the more useful starting point is to understand why the change may be happening.

A Hair & Scalp Assessment is designed to build a clearer picture of your concern by considering the history of your hair loss, its pattern, the condition of your scalp and any wider factors that may be relevant.

From there, we can discuss whether treatment, monitoring, further investigation or onward medical assessment may be appropriate.

Who Is a Hair & Scalp Assessment For?

You do not need to have a diagnosed hair-loss condition before attending.

Assessment may be appropriate if you have noticed:

• Gradual hair thinning
• Excessive shedding
• A widening parting
• Recession at the temples or hairline
• Reduced density at the crown
• Patchy hair loss
• Hair breakage
• Changes in your eyebrows
• Scalp itching or burning
• Persistent scaling
• Scalp tenderness
• Redness or inflammation
• Changes following pregnancy, illness or surgery
• Hair loss that has not responded as expected to previous treatment

It is also an important starting point for patients considering hair restoration treatment or hair transplantation.

What Happens During Your Assessment?

Your Hair-Loss History

The consultation begins with a discussion.

We will ask about what you have noticed, when it began and whether the problem has changed over time.

Depending on your circumstances, relevant information may include:

• When the hair loss started
• Whether it was sudden or gradual
• Areas affected
• Changes in shedding
• Family history of hair loss
• Previous hair-loss diagnoses
• Previous or current treatments
• Medical history
• Medication
• Hormonal changes
• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Diet and weight changes
• Significant illness
• Surgery
• Stress
• Current hair-care practices

This history can provide important clues about the type of hair loss that may be present.

Examination of the Hair and Scalp

We will then consider the appearance and distribution of the hair loss.

This may include assessment of:

• Overall density
• Pattern of thinning
• Hairline recession
• Areas of patchy loss
• Hair breakage
• Hair-shaft variation
• Scalp scaling
• Redness or inflammation
• Visible follicular changes
• Signs that may require further investigation

The scalp is just as important as the hair itself.

Persistent inflammation, scaling, discomfort or evidence of scarring can significantly change the appropriate next steps.

Digital Trichoscopy

Seeing Beyond the Naked Eye

Where appropriate, digital trichoscopy may form part of your assessment.

This allows selected areas of the scalp and hair to be viewed under magnification.

Trichoscopy can help reveal features such as variation in hair thickness, follicular changes, miniaturisation, broken hairs, scale and inflammation.

Different hair-loss conditions can produce different trichoscopic patterns, so the examination can provide useful additional information alongside your history and physical assessment.

It is non-invasive and does not require hair to be removed.

Learn More About Digital Trichoscopy

Do I Need Blood Tests?

Not everybody experiencing hair loss requires blood testing.

For many patients, the history and pattern of hair loss provide the most important information.

In other cases — particularly where there is diffuse shedding or where symptoms suggest a possible nutritional, hormonal or wider medical factor — blood testing may be useful.

Where appropriate, we can discuss targeted testing rather than automatically carrying out an extensive panel without a clinical reason.

Explore Hair Loss Blood Testing

What Can a Hair & Scalp Assessment Identify?

An assessment may help determine whether your presentation appears consistent with conditions such as:

• Female Pattern Hair Loss
• Male Pattern Hair Loss
• Telogen Effluvium
• Alopecia Areata
• Traction Alopecia
• Seborrhoeic Dermatitis
• Scalp Psoriasis

It may also identify features that raise suspicion of an inflammatory or scarring form of hair loss, including:

• Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia
• Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia
• Lichen Planopilaris
• Other scarring alopecias

Where a condition requires specialist medical confirmation or treatment, further dermatological assessment may be recommended.

A scalp biopsy is sometimes required for particular inflammatory or scarring conditions and is not replaced by trichoscopy alone.

What Happens After the Assessment?

A Plan Based on What We Find

Following your assessment, we will explain our findings and discuss the appropriate options.

There is no automatic expectation that you will proceed with a treatment.

Your next step may be:

• Observation and monitoring
• Changes to hair or scalp care
• Further investigation
• Blood testing
• Medical management
• Regenerative hair-restoration treatment
• Hair-retention therapy
• Hair and scalp therapies
• Hair transplantation
• Hair replacement
• Referral to another healthcare professional

The appropriate pathway depends on the individual.

Considering a Hair Transplant?

A Hair & Scalp Assessment is particularly important before surgical hair restoration.

A transplant moves existing donor follicles; it does not prevent untreated hair loss from continuing elsewhere.

Assessment therefore needs to consider factors such as:

• The cause of the hair loss
• The current pattern of loss
• Likely future progression
• Donor hair
• Scalp health
• Age and medical history
• Previous treatments
• Expectations
• Whether surgery is appropriate at the present time

For some patients, stabilising or investigating hair loss before surgery may form an important part of long-term planning.

Explore Hair Transplants

Preparing for Your Assessment

Where possible, it can be useful to bring details of:

• Current medication
• Supplements
• Previous hair-loss treatments
• Relevant diagnoses
• Recent blood-test results
• Previous hair-transplant procedures

If you have photographs showing how your hair has changed over time, these may also provide useful context.

You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis or a preferred treatment.