What chances have I got of spontaneous hair regrowth?
This question is very difficult to answer in relation to any one individual case. We have no way of predicting the future course of alopecia areata in any one person. As was written in a recently published book “alopecia areata is only predictable in its unpredictability” (Thompson 1996). I will have to resort to statistics to give any form of reply. About 65% of people who have alopecia areata have just one or two patches of hair loss which usually enter remission after 6 months to 2 years from first diagnosis with or without treatment. However, that leaves 35% or more who have more persistent hair loss. This may cycle through expression or remission or become more extensive and persistent. Only 7% of people with alopecia areata progress to total scalp hair loss, or alopecia universalis. It has been suggested that people who first develop alopecia areata in childhood, and/or those with a history of allergies, are more likely to have persistent hair loss – at least in the USA and Europ
