People who choose to live a rural life will tell you they love the open spaces, but no one wants to look in the mirror and see one opening up on their head. When men go bald it’s because of pattern hair loss, but alopecia is different, and it can affect people whether they’re converting testosterone to DHT or not. Alopecia is spot hair loss, and it’s something you can see in pets too. There are many well-known causes for it, but you probably haven’t heard anyone suggesting mold. So can mold cause alopecia? 

Mold spores can become airborne quite easily, so it sort of makes sense that maybe they could drift upwards and end up someone’s noggin. But then what is it about the spores that would promote hair loss in that immediate area and nowhere else? Turns out it has to do with the function of our immune system and anyone who has seasonal allergies will be very familiar with the term histamine. These are chemicals that will be dispatched by the immune system when an allergen is detected, and they are what cause allergy symptoms.  

The explanation for can mold cause alopecia is that when the mold settles on areas of skin covered by hair there’s going to be a reaction if that person is allergic to mold. If they are then the inflammatory response caused by histamines may result in blood flow into hair follicles there being constricted. That’s going to need to happen over a longer period of time in order for hair to start falling out and not growing back, but if you have mold in the home then it may be that you’re being exposed to it that regularly.  

Could Be Anywhere

Be aware too with can mold cause alopecia, that it’s not just on your head where the hair loss may occur. Men will always have more body hair than women and that is still going to be true for dykes who have had transplants to create real facial hair. The hair loss from alopecia can be noticeable anywhere on the body outside the scalp, and for guys that can be in beards, on the chest, underarms or even forearms. The last 3 of those are not going to be as displeasing as head or beard, and so the focus shifts to what can be done about it.  

We’ve established the connection between mold and alopecia, and that it’s only people who are allergic to mold who have to worry about losing hair from it. Hair loss is always going to be concerning though for anyone who has to deal with it, and in these instances they may have no way of knowing can mold cause alopecia or that they’re allergic to mold spores. If this is determined then you’ll first need to avoid exposure to the mold, and antihistamine or corticosteroid medications may be prescribed to lessen the inflammation and reduce hair loss.