How do you know you're in recovery from Chronic Telogen Effluvium. By the regrowth? Normalized shedding? Biopsy?

Question

I shed excessively on & off for 11 mos., stopping abruptly in 10/2015. Likely CTE, with marked loss at temples, diffuse elsewhere; anemia present at onset. No family history of AGA, no signs of pattern loss. Major regrowth in the last 3 months. Hair looks almost as full as before CTE (less the density). Shed is normal for 5+ months, but since then I've shed a lot of short hairs, usually 1". Is this typical? How does one know they are in recovery-by the steady regrowth or stabilized shed? Can it relapse?

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

Telogen effluvium is a cycle of hair loss. Without any treatment, your hair will likely grow back.  You do not need a biopsy for telogen effluvium.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Your story is not typical for CTE, but is more typical for an acute telogen effluvium (which can last 6-12 months) or multiple back to back cycles of acute telogen effluvium. For CTE, it's unusual to get the density back so quickly. CTE generally lasts years. But a hair loss dermatologist can guide you in the precise diagnosis and differentiating acute TE or multiple acute TE events from CTE (that's tricky and requires a good deal of expertise).Shedding a lot of short hairs is not too typical of CTE. In general though, if one has stopped shedding for 5 months that's a great sign of stabilization for whatever shedding disorder is present. Again, that's fairly atypical of CTE, as shedding cycles on an off are usually much more frequent in CTE.CTE does relapse - fairly frequently actually. TE can also relapse if the trigger is once again present.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

The best way to determine if you are reversing the telogen effluvium is to get bulk measurements with the HAIRCHECK instrument which will show when the hair volume goes up. We routinely offer this test in our office. See web  reference below for more details.

How do you know you're in recovery from Chronic Telogen Effluvium. By the regrowth? Normalized shedding? Biopsy?

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How do you know you're in recovery from Chronic Telogen Effluvium. By the regrowth? Normalized shedding? Biopsy?

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