Almost Completely Bald from a Perm

Hi doctors,
Can a perm cause hair loss? My mother had her hair styled professionally a month ago and it now looks like she’s losing her hair. I don’t know if the style just made existing thin patches more visible or if the perm could actually cause the hair loss.

Thank you

I saw a lady just the other day who was wearing a ‘full helmet’ wig. When she took it off, she had almost no hair anywhere on her head. She looked like she had just had extensive chemotherapy, but in reality she had a perm some 5 years ago. The perm brought on an immediate reaction with about 95% of her hair gone within a month. The hair never returned. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could offer her to help her. What impressed me was the totality of her hairlessness from something simple as a day visit to her hair dresser. She was so concerned about exposing her hairless scalp to me, that I did not ask her to allow the use of her photographs, even from behind.

As for your mother’s hair loss, I wouldn’t be able to know what the cause is just based on the email you sent. It is possible that she had existing hair loss, or the styling could’ve caused it. There are a number of factors that could be the reason for her thinning hair.