- Alopecia
- The medical word for hair loss of any kind.
- Androgenetic alopecia
- Pattern hair loss: inherited, slow thinning driven by hormones. Male pattern baldness and female pattern hair loss are both forms of it.
- Alopecia areata
- Patchy hair loss caused by the immune system attacking hair follicles. The follicles survive, so hair can regrow.
- Telogen effluvium
- Heavy all-over shedding two to three months after a shock to the body, such as illness, childbirth or fast weight loss.
- DHT (dihydrotestosterone)
- A hormone made from testosterone that shrinks follicles in people who inherit pattern hair loss.
- Follicle
- The tiny pocket in the skin that grows a hair.
- Graft (follicular unit)
- A natural group of one to four hairs moved together in a transplant. Transplants are priced by the graft.
- FUE
- Follicular unit extraction: grafts taken one at a time with a tiny punch.
- FUT
- Follicular unit transplantation: a strip of scalp removed and divided into grafts.
- Donor area
- The band of hair at the back and sides that resists pattern hair loss and supplies a transplant.
- Norwood scale
- The seven-stage scale doctors use to describe male pattern hair loss.
- Ludwig scale
- The three-grade scale used for female pattern hair loss.
- Minoxidil
- A medicine applied to the scalp for pattern hair loss, sold in pharmacies.
- Finasteride
- A prescription tablet for men that lowers DHT.
- PRP (platelet-rich plasma)
- Platelets concentrated from your own blood and injected into the scalp.
- LLLT
- Low-level laser therapy: red light from a cap, comb or hood.
- Ferritin
- A blood test that shows your iron stores.
- Scarring (cicatricial) alopecia
- Hair loss where inflammation destroys the follicle. Lost hair doesn't return, so early treatment matters.
- Traction alopecia
- Hair loss from styles that pull on the hair over a long time.
- Trichologist
- A hair and scalp practitioner who is not a medical doctor.
- Treatment Benefit Scheme
- The PRSI-based State scheme that pays towards dental, optical and hearing costs, and towards a wig or hairpiece for hair loss from illness.
Hair loss glossary
21 terms you will meet in a consultation, a clinic leaflet or a letter from your doctor, in plain English.