What is alopecia mucinosa?
Alopecia mucinosa, or follicular mucinosis, is a hair loss condition found in three main types. The primary and acute (Pinkus) variety occurs in children and adolescents, the primary and chronic disorder is often found in people over 40 years of age, whilst the secondary disorder affects people with an existing skin disease.
What does it look like?
The condition shows itself through the appearance of mucin, a stringy clear or whitish substance, around hair follicles. You can only really see this by using a microscope. Other noticeable signs of alopecia mucinosa include red plaques on the skin and patchy hair loss.
What causes it?
Whilst the definitive cause of alopecia mucinosa is not yet known, it is believed to be related to the immune system in some way. This is similar to other hair loss conditions such as alopecia areata and telogen effluvium.
Is there treatment available?
Alopecia mucinosa in children often clears up on its own, and hair will grow back once it does so. For cases involving adults, treatments which have shown a degree of success include corticosteroids, oral antibiotics (i.e. minocycline) and photochemotherapy (PUVA).
