How do you reduce inflammation of CCCA?

Reducing or eliminating the use of heat and chemical hairstyles can help reduce damage and stop inflammation. This includes the excess use of relaxers and harsh hair products. Patients may also need to discontinue braids and other styles that pull on and damage hair follicles.

Can CCCA be misdiagnosed?

CCCA may often be confused with other diseases such as female pattern hair loss, tinea capitis, or lichen planopilaris, which can lead patients to get misdiagnosed.

What should I do with my CCCA?

Treatment options for CCCA include anti-inflammatory agents such as:

1. Potent topical steroids (eg clobetasol) or intralesional steroids.
2. Calcineurin inhibitors: tacrolimus ointment, pimecrolimus cream.
3. Tetracyclines (eg doxycycline 100 mg twice daily, taken for several weeks to months)
4. Hydroxychloroquine.
5. Ciclosporin.

Will my hair ever grow back from CCCA alopecia?

Though hair loss due to scarring alopecia is permanent and cannot be reversed once scarred, it can be treated to help prevent further hair loss and scarring.

How do you keep scarring from alopecia from spreading?

Treatment Options Scarring alopecias that involve mostly lymphocyte inflammation of hair follicles, such as lichen planopilaris and pseudopelade, are generally treated with corticosteroids in topical creams and by injection into the affected skin. In addition, antimalarial and isotretinoin drugs may be used.

How can CCCA be prevented?

CCCA only affects the scalp….Treatment of CCCA involves changing grooming practices and avoiding:

1. Excessive heat (hot combs/hair straighteners, hair dryers and curling irons)
2. Traction (tight braids/cornrows, weaves, ponytails, hair extensions)
3. Chemical relaxers (especially lye relaxers).

Is CCCA alopecia an autoimmune disease?

Various hairstyling practices have been studied as potentially causing CCCA, but none has been definitively linked to the condition. A combination of factors such as infections (bacterial and fungal), genetics, autoimmune disease, and other unknown factors may play a role in this disease.

Is CCCA inflammatory?

These data indicate that CCCA is an inflammatory scarring alopecia with unique pathophysiologic features that differentiate it from other lymphocytic scarring processes.

Is Cicatricial alopecia an autoimmune disorder?

Cicatricial (scarring) alopecia results from irreversible damage to epithelial stem cells located in the bulge region of the hair follicle, generally as a result of inflammatory mechanisms (eg, in the context of autoimmune disease).

How do you know if your hair follicle is permanently damaged?

Hair loss or thinning: A damaged hair follicle will be unable to create a strong piece of hair. Consequently, hair will become thin, brittle, and weak. You might notice that it’s breaking more frequently than it would or altogether falling out. Breakage can be a direct result of this.

How can you tell if your hair follicles are permanently damaged?

How does a dermatologist diagnose CCCA?

Dermatologists typically suspect this condition by examining your scalp, but many will take a small sample from the scalp (a biopsy) and send it to the lab for evaluation and confirmation of the diagnosis. What treatments are available for CCCA? It is best to treat CCCA early before permanent hair loss develops.

What is central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA)?

Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is a very common cause of alopecia or hair loss in black women. Hair loss from CCCA occurs primarily in the central (crown) part of the scalp.

What is CCCA disease?

C entral centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is a disease characterized by permanent hair loss in the crown region of the scalp, inflammation, and scarring. It occurs almost exclusively in black women aged 30 to 55 years.

How does CCCA cause hair loss?

The hair loss radiates outward in a centrifugal or circular pattern and is usually gradual although some people experience a rapid progression of the hair loss. CCCA causes destruction of the hair follicles and scarring leading to permanent hair loss.