Sonia Jones ND from The Haven Spa and Health Clinic

Hair loss – known as alopecia can occur in about 50 percent of people with lupus (a form of arthritis) at some time during the course of the disease. For a woman this is extremely distressing, but the good news is, hair loss associated with lupus is usually temporary.

It is hard to make hard and fast rules because some people’s hair loss is spread from all over the scalp, but for some people hair might fall out in patches. As I have said already don’t panic your hair will grow back (its rare if it doesn’t).

On the odd occasion lupus causes a rash in/on the scalp which is called a discoid rash, that causes scarring of the hair follicles. The hair loss in this case is due to the scarring and is often permanent.

The other thing you need to be aware of – the medications used to treat lupus like prednisone and immuno-suppressive therapies, may cause reversible hair loss.

Of-course there are other reasons for losing your hair – maybe its hereditry or due to deficiencies, a shock, too much stress etc