Article Spotlight 102: Curl Patterns

 

Just my opinion, but your dermatologist should be familiar with curl patterns.

Did you know there is no widely accepted classification system for hair texture in dermatology? We did a recent study on curl patterns and found that your curl pattern can actually predict some forms of hair loss! Check out this article by myself and great colleagues from 2022: Curl pattern classification: A potential tool for communication and risk stratification.

We recruited 74 patients into our study and identified their curl pattern and their type of alopecia (hair loss). We found that there is an increased risk of central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) with type 4 curl patterns. In fact, curl pattern appears to be more important than ethnicity in predicting type of alopecia.

Not only should we be using curl pattern to communicate with our communities and patients, it is also important in predicting type of hair loss!

Citation: Krueger L, Aguh C, Peterson E, Thomas J, James J, Lo Sicco K, Shapiro J. Curl pattern classification: A potential tool for communication and risk stratification. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2022 Apr 5;8(2):e015. doi: 10.1097/JW9.0000000000000015.

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Article Spotlight 101: Understanding Traction Alopecia