Do I have telogen effluvium or AGA? (Photo)

Question

Went to trichologist who said I 100% have TE. Got a biopsy a while ago that said aga but doctor could not explain why as they only saw TE in exam. What do you guys think based on the photos?

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Some important principles to review here! Hair loss is diagnosed properly with three things: 1) A full review of the patient’s story from age 0 until the present day 2) proper full examination with trichoscopy (not just trichoscopy alone) and review of blood tests. I don’t know your full story and I don’t have the chance here to review your scalp in full nor your blood tests. So it’s actually impossible to say. One thing is for sure: one can never ever be 100 % sure anyone has telogen effluvium on the day they see them for the appointment. It may be possible to be 99 % sure but never ever 100 % sure. I think that’s important to read again. There are so many mimickers and some TE may simply be another condition in evolution. Finally one should be aware that many people have two conditions on the scalp and some have three or four. So the question here to your specialist should be “do I have TE or AGA or TE and AGA or something else altogether. I can’t say if you have telogen effluvium from these photos as there are no really sensitive features of TE by trichoscopy (we diagnose TE by sitting and talking to patients and asking 50 questions and looking at the scalp NOT just with trichoscopy). However it is likely that there is a component of androgenetic alopecia here if I have to guess. That’s an experienced guess - but a guess nevertheless. When presenting trichoscopy photos, one needs to say exactly where on the scalp photos are front or they are much much less useful. But what you really want is not a guess but an exact diagnosis. So be sure to see an expert if doubt exists in your diagnosis. I do think there is a high likelihood of some component of AGA here.

Do I have telogen effluvium or AGA? (Photo)

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Do I have telogen effluvium or AGA? (Photo)

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Everything you need to know about Hair Loss Treatment

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