Table of Contents
Trichology: what is it?
It is a non-invasive diagnosis of hair problems. The doctor takes pictures of the hair and the scalp using video dermoscopy. Artificial intelligence analyzes those pictures, which measures the density, the diameter, and the number of hair follicles. The doctor establishes a diagnosis according to the results.
When to do a trichology?
Patients can do this procedure when there is a hair anomaly, either a diffuse or localized hair loss, sudden or chronic.
What is the purpose of this procedure?
It determines hair loss cause and measures a treatment’s success on this cause.
What parameters does it research?
Trichoscopy measures seven parameters:
- The average number of hair
- The average thickness of hair stems
- The amount of thin, regular, and thick hair
- The amount of simple, double, or triple hair follicles
- The number of empty hair follicles, yellow spots
- Cumulative thickness of hair
- The number of hair follicles
How does trichoscopy works?
A biologist specialized in video dermoscopy carries out the examination, a skin imagery technique that can zoom up to 70 times the photographed zones.
It takes several pictures of the scalp and the hair in the three main zones of the head: the front zone, the temporal zone (sides), and the occipital zone (back).
An algorithm then analyzes the pictures to measure the researched parameters.
The doctor validated the final diagnosis.
Good to know
- Trichoscopy is a non-invasive examination
- The examination lasts from 20 to 30 minutes
- Patients should not put covering powder on the examination day, as it could distort the results.
- During the examination, the biologist asks questions. The patient’s answers help to establish the diagnosis.
- The doctor will measure the treatment efficacy according to this report.
