Is Scalp Flaking Related to Hair Loss?

Hello Doctor,

Could you please provide some insight on flaking in the scalp and MPB. I have been thinning since 2001 and have been on finasteride for the past year with favorable results. Off late, I noticed excessive flaking in the scalp along with hairfall (roughly 2-3 hairs each time I run my hand through the scalp. I am not sure what could be the cause. Do you think people with thinning hair have excessive flaking when compared to their hairy counterparts?

Thanks

Many times when a person has seborrhea (benign condition for flaking of the scalp) as the flakes fall off or are scrapped off by a person with genetic hair loss, the marginal hairs that are being lost will often fall out within the ‘flake’. That does not mean that flaking caused the hair loss.

So the answer is no, hair loss is not caused by flaking.