When to See a Hair Loss Doctor in Singapore

See a hair loss doctor if shedding lasts more than three months, you notice patches, broken hairs or a widening parting, your scalp is itchy, scaly, red or painful, or thinning started early and runs in your family. A doctor can diagnose the cause, order blood tests and prescribe medicine, and earlier treatment keeps more follicles.

What are the signs you should see a doctor about hair loss?

Losing around 50 to 100 scalp hairs a day is normal, and more come out on wash days. It is worth seeing a doctor when the change is noticeable and lasting, or when the scalp itself looks abnormal. These are the signs that most often change what should be done.

Shedding for more than three months. Telogen effluvium after illness, stress or childbirth usually settles within about six months. Shedding that continues or keeps returning has a cause worth finding: often low iron, thyroid disease, a medicine or underlying pattern loss.

A widening parting, receding temples or a thinning crown. These are the patterns of androgenetic hair loss. It is gradual, and the earlier it is treated, the more follicles are kept.

Patches or broken hairs. Round, smooth bald patches suggest alopecia areata. Hairs broken at different lengths suggest hair pulling, a fungal infection or damage from styling.

A scalp that is red, scaly, itchy, burning or painful. This is often seborrhoeic dermatitis or psoriasis, but redness and scale around follicles with shiny skin in between can be an early scarring alopecia, which needs prompt care because lost follicles do not return.

Hair loss with other symptoms. Tiredness, weight change, palpitations, feeling cold, irregular periods, acne or new facial hair point to a medical cause such as thyroid disease, anaemia or a hormonal condition.

Is it shedding, thinning, or both?

The distinction helps you describe what is happening and helps the doctor narrow down the cause. Shedding is an increase in hairs coming out, usually with a small pale bulb at the root. It tends to follow a trigger by two to three months: a fever, an operation, childbirth, rapid weight loss, a new medicine or a period of severe stress. Most of the time the follicles are healthy, and hair regrows once the trigger has passed.

Thinning is a reduction in the density or thickness of hair on the scalp. In pattern hair loss, follicles shrink with each growth cycle and produce finer, shorter hairs, so the scalp shows through even without dramatic shedding. Many people have both: a shed on top of underlying pattern thinning, which is why one problem is often noticed only after the other appears. Alopecia areata and traction can overlap with either, and a doctor can usually tell these apart at the first visit. Read more in postpartum hair loss and oily scalp and hair loss.

What happens at a hair loss clinic assessment?

A medical hair loss assessment starts with your history: when it began, how fast it is changing, which areas, recent illness or stress, pregnancy, diet, medicines and supplements, hair care and styling, and whether parents or siblings thinned. The doctor then examines the whole scalp, the eyebrows and body hair, and the nails, which can show signs of alopecia areata or psoriasis.

A pull test, gently drawing on small bunches of hair, shows whether shedding is active. Trichoscopy, a magnified examination of the scalp, shows the variation in hair thickness that marks miniaturisation, the tapering hairs of alopecia areata, broken hairs, scale and inflammation, and the loss of follicle openings that suggests scarring. Male pattern loss is staged on the Norwood scale and female pattern loss on the Ludwig scale, and standard photographs are taken for comparison later.

Blood tests are chosen from the history rather than ordered as a fixed panel. Ferritin and iron, a full blood count, thyroid function and vitamin D are common; hormone tests are added for women with irregular periods, acne or excess hair. Where the diagnosis is unclear, particularly if scarring is suspected, a scalp biopsy may be needed, and you are referred for dermatology care.

How to prepare for a hair loss appointment

A little preparation makes the first visit more useful. Note when you first noticed the change and whether it came on suddenly or gradually. List any illness, operation, pregnancy, crash diet or major stress in the six months before it started, and every medicine and supplement you take, including biotin, which can affect some blood test results. Bring any recent blood test reports.

If you can, photograph your parting and crown in the same light every few weeks before the appointment; pictures show change better than memory does. If shedding is the main concern, avoid washing your hair on the morning of the visit so the pull test reflects a typical day, and skip styling products that coat the scalp. Write down what you have already tried, for how long, and what happened.

Hair loss doctor, dermatologist or trichologist: who does what?

In Singapore, several kinds of practitioner offer help with hair loss. They differ in what they are able to do, and knowing that makes it easier to decide where to start.

Trichologists and scalp centres can help with scalp hygiene and cosmetic advice, but they are not doctors, so they cannot make a medical diagnosis, arrange blood tests or prescribe medicines for pattern hair loss. If you start there and your hair is still thinning after a few months, a medical assessment is the next step. For scarring alopecia and complex scalp disease a dermatologist is the appropriate specialist, and doctors at hair and aesthetic clinics refer on when that applies.

What can a doctor offer that over-the-counter products cannot?

The first thing is a diagnosis. Shampoos, serums and supplements are sold for hair loss in general, but telogen effluvium, pattern loss, alopecia areata and scalp disease need different things. A diagnosis also tells you when not to spend money: a shed that is already recovering needs time, and correcting low iron may do more than any product.

For pattern hair loss, the evidence-based guideline places prescription medicines at the centre of treatment, with low-level laser as a supported addition. A meta-analysis of treatments for androgenetic alopecia found that the main medicines and low-level light therapy each increased hair density compared with placebo. These medicines have side effects and suitability questions, for example around pregnancy plans in women, which is why they are prescribed after a medical review. The options are explained on the anti-hair-loss medications page.

In-clinic treatments then build on that foundation. At IN Eternity Clinic these include the H2LT laser for thinning follicles, Regenera Activa autologous micrografting for selected people, and scalp care. Microneedling is covered in microneedling for hair loss.

Seeing Dr Sin Yong about hair loss

Every hair assessment at IN Eternity Clinic is carried out by Medical Director Dr Sin Yong. It includes history, examination, trichoscopy and standard photographs, with blood tests arranged where the history points to them. You are told what is causing your hair loss, what can and cannot be changed, and what the options cost before anything is started.

If your hair loss is a recovering shed, you will be told so and asked to come back only if it does not settle. If it is pattern loss, the plan is written out with the medical foundation first and any in-clinic treatment added for a stated reason. If scarring alopecia or another condition needing specialist care is suspected, you are referred promptly. The consultation fee is waived with any medical treatment. See how we consult and hair loss treatment cost.

Common myths, answered

• Myth: Hair loss is only worth treating once it is obvious.
  Fact: By the time thinning is obvious, many follicles have miniaturised. Earlier assessment keeps more options open.
• Myth: Women do not get pattern hair loss.
  Fact: Female pattern hair loss is common; it usually widens the parting while keeping the front hairline.
• Myth: A trichologist and a doctor offer the same thing.
  Fact: Only a doctor can make a medical diagnosis, arrange blood tests and prescribe medicines for hair loss.
• Myth: Stress-related hair loss means you will lose it all.
  Fact: Shedding after stress usually recovers once the trigger passes, because the follicles are intact.