Abstract
Hair loss is a quite common condition observed in both men and women, and it can have very devastating consequences on one’s well-being, including lower self-esteem, depression, and lower quality of life. There are numerous causes of hair loss, and while some are more common than others, they can present similarly, and thus can be challenging to distinguish. In this chapter, we introduce an approach to examining patients with hair loss and discuss several techniques that should be employed during a thorough clinical evaluation. Techniques discussed include thorough history taking and physical examination, including visualization of the topographic pattern of hair loss, hair pull test, examining pulled hairs under the microscope, trichogram, and trichoscopy. The remaining discussion focuses on the dermoscopic characteristics of the most common hair conditions, including androgenetic alopecia, alopecia areata, telogen effluvium, traction alopecia, trichotillomania, and scarring conditions such as lichen planopilaris, frontal fibrosing alopecia, folliculitis decalvans, and discoid lupus erythematosus.