Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that causes patchy hair loss anywhere on your body, but it most commonly affects the hair on the skin that covers your head (scalp). “Alopecia” is a medical term for hair loss or baldness, and “areata” means that it occurs in small, random areas. There are many different classifications of alopecia areata. The classifications depend on the amount of hair you’ve lost and where you’ve lost it on your body. Alopecia areata totalis: You’ve lost all your hair on your scalp. Alopecia areata universalis: You’ve lost all your hair on your scalp and all your body hair. Diffuse alopecia areata: Your hair is thinning rather than falling out in patches. Ophiasis alopecia areata: You’ve lost a band of hair on the bottom back sides of your scalp (occipitotemporal scalp).