Could the Atkins Diet or My Ankle Injury Have Caused My Rapid Hair Loss at 21 Years Old?

I have really learned a lot reading your articles.

I am a 21 year old college student. About a year and a half ago I gained thirty pounds and in the last eight months lost 45 pounds, the bulk of which I lost the in the first four months through the Atkins Diet and intense working out. I also had a bad ankle sprain in the middle.

The past four months I have been experiencing shedding, rapid hair loss and a receding hairline. The front scalp has become very thin while the middle is still thick and grows normally. The right hairline has receded about one centimeter further than the left and I can also feel a bald spot, about the size of a nickel, on the right side of the back of my head. The scalp is very itchy and I find that after I itch that there is a white residue on my finger nails.

I feel like I am still young to have lost so much hair.

I still have relatively thick hair but it looks unnatural and frays to the left. Can this be tied to my weight loss, ankle injury or increased stress?

Acute weight loss can cause or accelerate hair loss. I would doubt your ankle injury had anything to do with your hair loss. It’s also possible that these things occurred coincidentally timed to your genetic predisposition.

As far as your nickle size bald spot at the back of your head, you need to see a doctor for this as there are many causes for such a problem. Without good pictures and an opportunity to examine you, there is little more I can say here.