What hair diseases can be congenital?

Every woman dreams of beautiful and luxurious hair. When the condition of the hair does not satisfy a person, this can affect the behavior and feeling of being in a team. Pathological conditions of the hair can be caused by various factors (cold, wind, nutrition, improper care), but hair diseases are less common and are a serious problem for many people, especially women. What are the diseases of the hair? What hair conditions are congenital and how to identify them, read on estet-portal.com.

The causes of the child's hair disease lie during the mother's pregnancy

The main causes of human hair diseases are diseases of his mother during pregnancy. These are diseases of an infectious nature – viral infections during the first trimester of pregnancy, tuberculosis, syphilis. Also, severe iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy, the presence of mental and physical overwork have a bad effect on the fetus and increase the likelihood of such anomalies. Indeed, during pregnancy, the pathology that has arisen during the formation of the fetus is fixed in the genome and is inherited.

The use of antibiotics, cytostatics and any other drugs during pregnancy have a negative effect on the fetus. This can cause congenital skin pathologies, provoking the development of hair diseases. If, in addition to the pathology of the follicles, there is dystrophy of the sebaceous glands, there is also fragility and dryness of the hair and skin.

What hair diseases can be congenital?

Trichoclasia and trichoptilosis can appear in adulthood due to careful rubbing of ointments and emulsions into the scalp. After the termination of such procedures, the hair becomes the same again, and this is not a hereditary pathology.

In congenital diseases, the symptoms are most noticeable in the first months of life, since only a part of the hair follicles is affected. Over time, the affected hair becomes less noticeable among the large mass of other hair that is not affected.

Naturally, these hair diseases do not pose any threat to human health and life. However, if a large number of follicles are affected, complexes may develop against the background of cosmetic and aesthetic defects.

Clinical picture in the pathological condition of the hair

In the presence of ordinary trichoclasia, transverse fragility is noted with the possible formation of nodules on the hair shaft. Knotty trichoclasia is manifested by the presence of nodules on the hair shaft. Nodules appear on the lower third of the hair and look like translucent thickenings in the color of the hair. These knots can be located in different numbers and on different hair.

The rest of the hair may be healthy and untouched by the process. In the presence of a large number of nodules on one hair, this significantly  increases the hair  and allows you to see the longitudinal splitting. The condition of the hair in the areas between the nodules is absolutely normal, in the hair shaft in these areas there is a medulla. In the affected areas of the hair, they break easily, leaving tassels at the ends due to delamination.

A hair condition called trichonodiasis has a clinical picture similar to trichoclasia. This is the looping of the hair, which looks like trichoclasia nodosa, and with a large increase in the hair, you can see their looping. With this condition of the hair in the nodules with trichoclasia, desquamated epidermis, dust particles and various microorganisms can accumulate.

With trichoptylosis, splitting of the ends of the hair is observed longitudinally, while the main amount of hair is affected. The hair at the end looks like a brush. Trichoptylosis can be accompanied by dystrophic changes in the hair follicles and atrophy of the sebaceous glands.

What disease causes hair to be less than 2 centimeters long?

There is another hair disease that is rare but has a place in trichology. This is Moniletrix. Moniletrix is ​​a malformation that manifests itself in the second month of a child's life simultaneously with follicular hyperkeratosis. Moniletrix disease can affect the entire area of ​​​​the scalp or its individual places.

Moniletrix looks like this: throughout the hair there are alternations of thickening and thinning of the hair thickness. On fair hair, thickenings look darker, which is explained by the presence of air bubbles in places of thickening, there is no air in places where the hair is thinned.

With this process, the hair tends to break off in the first areas of thinning, so the hair reaches a length of no more than 2 cm. Against the background of a congenital pathology of the innervation of the scalp, the hair follicles are deformed, and the hair becomes dry, thin and brittle. There are changes in the hair follicles, starting from the bulb. This hair disease contributes to chronic follicular hyperkeratosis.

Diagnosis and treatment of pathological conditions of the hair

To differentiate in trichology such hair conditions as trichoclasia, trichonodiasis, trichoptylosis and other acquired hair pathologies, a spectral analysis of hair for the presence of trace elements is used.

Treatment is prescribed by a trichologist after diagnosis, and it consists of special hair care. Such care can make hair defects less noticeable, as special masks will make the hair more elastic and softer. If there are few hairs changed by the pathological process, epilation of these hairs is used.

If there are complaints from patients about brittleness, dryness and stratification of hair, it is important to take a serious approach to diagnosing the process and regard these hair conditions as a pathology that must and can be fought.