Kinking hair

Signs and symptoms

Kinking hair is characterized by acquired curling of the hair. The hair might appear frizzy or lusterless. Increased hair shedding is usually the most problematic symptom.

Causes

The cause of hair kinking remains a mystery. It has been suggested as a potential mechanism that hair kinking is a hair cycle disease associated with dysregulation in the inner root sheath of the hair bulb and the shortening of anagen hairs.

Diagnosis

The diagnostic criteria for kinking hair is as follows:

1. an acquired, bounded patch of woolly, dull hair in the frontal, temporal, or parietal regions that is not associated with prior trauma. Hair that is twisted, tortuous, and uneven, with the initial twist showing 2-4 cm after the hair emerges.
2. A periodic decline in the diameter of the hair shaft, observed under optical microscopy, with flattened and expanded sections alternating.
3. A spindle-shaped widening with sporadic fractures, a partial twisting of the hair on its longitudinal axis with a 180-degree rotation, and an increased number of cuticular cells per diameter in the twisted sections were observed using scanning electron microscopy.

References

References

1. Freedberg, et al. (2003). ''Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine''. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill. {{ISBN. 0-07-138076-0.
2. James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). ''Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology''. (10th ed.). Saunders. {{ISBN. 0-7216-2921-0.
3. (October 1999). "Acquired progressive kinking of the hair: clinical features, pathological study, and follow-up of 7 patients". Arch Dermatol.
4. (14 May 2022). "The Clinician's Guide to Dermatologic Differential Diagnosis". Springer Nature.
5. (2021-03-23). "Rapid onset acquired progressive kinking of the hair: Scanning electron microscopic findings in a woman". Scientific Scholar.
6. (1986). "Acquired kinking of the hair: A methodologic approach". Elsevier BV.