Women Hair Loss Forums - dermatologist appointment

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dermatologist appointment (Support Forum & Misc Topics)

posted by Shannon, US - Midwest, 09.11.2006, 09:40

What do I ask the derm
ť about my hair loss? Can he/she do all the blood tests, or must these be
ť done by an endo? Should I ask for a scalp biopsy and hair pull test?
ť And, are these covered by health insurance?

Yes, it should be covered by your insurance. Your derm (if she's any good) will do a "pull test" - not really very scientific, but she'll basically run her fingers through your hair to see how many hairs you lose. Then she should look at your scalp to examine your pattern of loss. She should ask you questions about your loss, and questions about any possible triggers (e.g. medications, thyroid symptoms, etc.) If it looks like TE (instead of AGA) they will likely order some basic bloodwork - ferritin and thyroid. They might tell you to start on Rogaine for men, since it works for both TE and AGA.

What you need to do is come prepared. Do a hair count, and tell her how many hairs you are losing per day. Take a bag of your hair so you can show her how many you lost (many people are hysterical and freak out about a few lost hairs, so showing the derm what you've really lost might help.) Do not wash your hair the day you are going in, so the pull test will be more valuable. Research the symptoms of the major causes of TE (thyroid symptoms, low iron symptoms, hormonal symptoms, etc.) and raise any of those symptoms you might be experiencing in order to help her make a diagnosis. Explain to her your history of hair loss, the pattern, any meds you are taking, etc. The more info you give her, the more info she'll have to make a diagnosis. Or more to the point - the more info you give her, the more tests she might do to confirm the diagnosis.

She will not do a biopsy unless the symptoms are contradictory and she can't tell if its TE or AGA. You can always ask for one, but she will likely take a wait-and-see approach.

Good luck!

Shannon is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: YES

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Complete thread:

dermatologist appointment - amy, 08.11.2006, 20:19
- dermatologist appointment - Shannon, 09.11.2006, 09:40
  - dermatologist appointment - nicole m, 09.11.2006, 12:31
    - dermatologist appointment - merle, 11.11.2006, 15:17
      - dermatologist appointment - amy to merle, 12.11.2006, 09:57
        dermatologist appointment - merle, 12.11.2006, 19:07
        dermatologist appointment - amy to merle, 13.11.2006, 16:27
        dermatologist appointment - merle, 14.11.2006, 11:08
        dermatologist appointment - amy to merle, 15.11.2006, 17:42
        dermatologist appointment - merle, 17.11.2006, 20:13
        dermatologist appointment - amy to merle, 18.11.2006, 19:35
        dermatologist appointment - marsnyc, 22.11.2006, 10:16
        dermatologist appointment - amy toi marsync, 25.11.2006, 06:40
        Dr Ash - marsnyc, 28.11.2006, 08:48
        Dr Ash - amy to merle, 03.12.2006, 20:54
        Dr Ash - Christine, 17.04.2007, 00:12