Mayo Clinic Hair Loss Specialty Clinic

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Saranya Wyles, M.D., Ph.D., Dermatologist: I measure success by our ability to serve, and our ability to continually meet the needs of the patients that come in today, and to answer unanswered questions for the patients that come in tomorrow.

Hair loss can be scary. Alopecia is not a disease that you can hide. Patients wear their disease.

People experience hair loss in different ways, but it has the potential to affect your identity and your confidence.

Sindhuja Sominidi Damodaran, M.B.B.S., M.D., Dermatologist: It can cause anxiety, it can cause depression, social isolation in patients suffering from alopecia.

Nessa Aghazadeh Mohandesi, M.D., Pediatric Dermatologist: Children experiencing hair loss might have a different perception of how they look.

Dr. Wyles: It's really a condition that affects all patients, all ages, children, adults, older adults, and it can be caused by a lot of different things.

Dr. Sominidi Damodaran: It could be due to age-related thinning of the hair, your genetics, hormonal causes, or autoimmune causes. All these can cause hair loss, and it's important to identify what type of alopecia it is, so we can target treatment appropriately.

Dr. Aghazadeh Mohandesi: Whether this is a very common type of hair loss, or a rare and unusual or genetic type of hair loss, we are equipped for it.

Dr. Wyles: Here at Mayo Clinic, we have technologies available that are often not available in other markets.

Dr. Sominidi Damodaran: We use advanced imaging techniques to identify your hair density, your hair thickness, hair count.

Dr. Wyles: We use an artificial intelligence device that can allow us to be very specific about how your hair growth patterns happen, and address problems in a patient-specific way.

Hair loss is a very complex issue, and here at Mayo Clinic, we have a multidisciplinary care model, which I greatly value for my patients. 'Cause patients can come in with a lot of different reasons, whether it's endocrine or dermatological, or autoimmune or other reasons.

And so here we can really combine our different subspecialties across disciplines to communicate and get a unique care model that's a Category of One, and really helps our patients seek and get that care that they're coming to get.

Dr. Aghazadeh Mohandesi: If we identify that this particular hair loss disorder is caused by another internal problem, for example, we might recommend that other than dermatology, it would be good to see our comprehensive pediatric team as well. Or it would be a good idea to see a specialist in gastroenterology, or a specialist in endocrinology.

We try to look at everything fresh. We try to be another set of eyes as to what has been done, and what is going to be needed in the future.

Dr. Sominidi Damodaran: We can create a customized plan that is individual for each and every single patient. We are happy to work with your home dermatologist and coordinate care moving forward, and whenever necessary, we'll be happy to see you back at Mayo Clinic, and provide you with second opinion, or take care of any needs that you have.

Dr. Aghazadeh Mohandesi: We are here to help, and we are here to give you answers.

Dr. Sominidi Damodaran: We will try our very best to take care of your hair loss. At the same time, we will do everything to take care of your whole well-being and the impact that alopecia has on your life.

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