See a dermatologist sooner if there's redness, scaling, itching, burning, pain, or visible scarring.

Hair loss isn’t one condition. The different types have different urgencies, and one category is genuinely urgent.

See a dermatologist sooner rather than later if you’re seeing any of:

• Redness, scaling, itching, burning, or pain on the scalp • Visible scarring or smooth shiny skin where hair used to be • Rapid, progressive loss without an obvious trigger • Sharply-bordered round or oval patches with smooth scalp inside them • Hair loss plus other systemic symptoms (period changes, fatigue, weight changes)

Those patterns suggest scarring alopecia, alopecia areata, or a treatable systemic cause, different from pattern hair loss, with different treatment urgency. Scarring alopecias are the most urgent: anti-inflammatory treatment can halt progression but cannot reverse damage.

For classic pattern hair loss with no scalp symptoms, you can usually start treatment without a dermatologist visit. For anything else, the visit is worth it.

Types of hair loss: regrowthindex.com/articles/types-of-hair-loss