ORLANDO – Two hair loss clinical grading tools can help physicians and their female androgenetic alopecia patients set medical treatment expectations, and make tracking progress both easier and more accurate, according to the dermatologist who developed the scales.
The five-point clinical grading scale helps physicians with diagnosing female pattern hair loss and grading the severity, Rodney Sinclair, MD, said in a video interview at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. “And you can use that clinical grading scale to monitor the response to treatment” and show patients what to expect with treatment, added Dr. Sinclair, professor and chairman, department of dermatology, Epworth Hospital, Melbourne.
He also discussed a validated hair shedding scale, “a really simple and easy test to use,” with six photographs to help patients determine how much hair they are shedding on a daily basis. “Most women don’t know what’s a normal amount of hair to shed,” he said. In the interview, Dr. Sinclair explains more about the two scales, and how they can be used to obtain clinically relevant information to help guide treatment – and shares his tips for how to work with women who are anxious about their hair loss improvement.
Dr. Sinclair owns the copyrights for the Sinclair Severity Scale. He has no other relevant disclosures.