A diagnosis of alopecia only tells part of the story.
“Alopecia is an umbrella term. It’s very nonspecific. It just means hair loss,” said Dr. Amena Alkeswani of Hoover’s Olive Branch Dermatology. “It could be many, many, many other causes of hair loss that fall under alopecia. People usually use that term sometimes just too broadly. There are so many different types. There are so many different causes. It’s a lot more complicated than just hair falling.”
As an example, Alkeswani cited central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA), a scarring type of hair loss that affects 5% of Black women…