Hair loss treatment with a dermatologist 

If you have hair thinning or loss, it may be time to talk to a board-certified dermatologist to learn more about your treatment options. At the Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery in Washington, DC, and Annapolis, Maryland, we can help with restoration solutions for thinning or lost hair.

What is hair loss?

Hair loss and thinning may be related to many situations or conditions. This may include times of increased stress, autoimmune disorders, hormonal changes, or even male or female pattern baldness, known as androgenic alopecia. When our team evaluates you, we can determine the exact cause of your hair loss, which helps us better determine the treatment most appropriate for your unique needs and situation.

How is hair loss treated?

There are several ways to combat hair thinning and loss. This includes certain medications that can be taken, including prescription products and the integration of red lights to stimulate hair follicle growth. We may also counteract hair thinning and loss with topical creams, hormonal regulation, or the use of nutritional supplements. Our board-certified dermatologist and hair technician expert may also consider combining several treatments for faster, more noticeable results.

What is the recovery time for hair loss treatment?

The recovery time when it comes to restoring hair thickness varies depending on the type of treatment chosen.

What is alopecia areata?

Dr. Cheryl Burgess describes alopecia areata as the medical term for hair loss that occurs in small patches throughout the scalp. It often begins with one circular patch that develops as more can with time. It is a result of the immune system attacking the hair follicles, often due to increased stress levels.

Are there risks and complications with alopecia areata medications and treatments?

When discussing your needs, be sure to talk to your doctor about any risks and complications that might come along with thinning hair solutions. They can help you better understand each treatment and make an educated decision regarding which is right for you!

How do I learn more?

If you want to learn more about thinning hair solutions, contact our office to talk to Dr. Cheryl Burgess and her dedicated team.

Our Annapolis, MD office can be reached by calling (410) 224-1195, and our Washington, DC area practice can be reached by calling (202) 955-5757 for an appointment.

We are open to new and current patients in and around these communities and look forward to meeting with you!

PRP treatment at the Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery

PRP treatment at the Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery

I’m Dr. Cheryl Burgess, board-certified dermatologist in Washington, DC. I am the co-founder and owner of Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery. I’m going to talk about PRP. There’s a lot of interest in platelet rich plasma, and what does that mean? That is a procedure that has been used for many, many years in other specialties of medicine, but in dermatology we find that people are inquiring about this PRP technique for hair growth. It is used to stimulate hair growth in male and female pattern baldness and other types of alopecias.

This is a technique in where the patient comes to the office, the blood is drawn, the blood is then spun down so that we can harvest the growth factors and stem cells of the patient and then we re-inject those stem cells and growth factors into the scalp, or the area of where the the hair growth is needed. And so this is a technique, it’s not a new technique, but it’s gotten a lot of press by a lot of people doing it. I advise people who have issues of hair loss to consult with a dermatologist who specializes in hair loss.

Although all dermatologists get hair loss and hair growth issues and training in their residency, not all pursue that in their private practice or once they get out of residency. It’s really important that people understand the growth patterns and the cycles of hair growth in order to really evaluate if they’re responding to the PRP. In my office you should see a result or some hair growth within one month. We do see that with our patients, if it’s done correctly. If you’re interested, I would contact the Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery and call for an appointment.


Hair Loss explained by Dr. Cheryl Burgess

Hair Loss explained by Dr. Cheryl Burgess

When patients come to see me for hair loss, what I try to explain to them is there are a multitude of reasons why people lose their hair. It’s not always female pattern hair loss. I think that’s what scares most women when they start shedding.

But there’s a number of reasons and there are a number of causes. But the thing is that most of these come about three months prior to the person coming into the dermatologist’s office. So that’s one thing I do want to specifically point out.

People think it was something they did the weekend before or because they just got their hair colored or chemically processed; that’s what’s happening. So when we look at hair loss, we look at, are you losing it from the root? Or is it breaking? Are there fractured hairs? and then we determine which one it is and go from there.

If it is a hair loss situation, we try to determine whether it is a scarring type of hair loss or a non-scarring type of hair loss situation. So when patients come in and say I have alopecia or I was told I had alopecia, well, alopecia just means hair loss. So it’s very important to get a diagnosis of what type of alopecia that you have.

Therefore to do that, the dermatologist comes in. Sometimes it requires blood work and sometimes it requires a scalp biopsy to determine what’s going on at the follicular or root level. Occasionally we will see infections of the scalp, like a fungus infection or a folliculitis or bacterial infection that’s causing you to shed your hair.

So it’s very, very important to consult with the dermatologist when you have hair loss and we can take it from there and do a workup. I know in my baseline workup, I am looking at hormones and looking at your thyroid. I’m also examining the hair under the microscope to see am I dealing with just breakage because you wear your hair bleach blonde and that really strips the Keratin or strips the protein of the hair.

Unfortunately, dermatologists are trained in skin, hair and nails, but they’re not a lot around who’s specifically trained and do further training and specialized in hair loss. So even with dermatologists, you do want to choose someone who is accustomed to dealing with that on a daily basis.


FAQs – Hair loss treatment

01

If you notice a receding hairline or areas of thinning hair, you might be struggling with hair loss. Our board-certified dermatologist at the Center for Dermatology and Dermatological Surgery in Washington, DC, and Annapolis, Maryland, will be able to provide a thorough and definitive diagnosis while ensuring proper treatment based on the type and severity of your condition.

02

Absolutely! Dr. Cheryl Burgess can provide a specific diagnosis regarding the type of hair thinning and loss you are experiencing and then develop a unique treatment plan that works. We invite patients to talk to the doctor about all available options and decide on the most appropriate treatment. Some treatment options available at our office include red light therapy and oral and topical prescription medications to stimulate hair growth and thickness.

To learn more about Alopecia Areata, please click to read the Alopecia Areata Study posted on our website, the Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery.

Make the Month You Start Loving Your Hair Again The Center for Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery Center is a key site for Clinical Research Studies and Dr. Burgess is a principal investigator for clinical trials in medical and cosmetic dermatology. Keeping abreast of the latest medical and cosmetic developments provides our patients with the most updated information.
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