Skin Diseases: BALDNESS (alopecia)
The only cure for male pattern baldness (hereditary) is a toupee or hair transplant. The latter is unpleasant, tedious, and expensive, involving the transplanting of each individual hair by punch graft from a thick spot to the bald area. Despite years of research and large expenditures of money to cure this affliction all that has been learned so far is that it is not an affliction-it is the same as inheriting blue eyes or a long neck or pointed ears.

There is some small solace believed by many, including some authorities (perhaps they are bald themselves), that bald men with heavy beards also enjoy a superior virility, noting that such men have a higher output of male hormones. Eunuchs, they argue, are known to have a heavy head of hair and little or no beard. The validity of this concept has not been thoroughly investigated.

Male pattern baldness can start in middle age or in youth, often as early as in the late teens. Patchy baldness (alopecia areata) , ranging in size from a dime to a quarter or larger, is a different matter. After a few weeks or months the hair returns as mysteriously as it disappeared. No one seems to know much about it. Women do not suffer from hereditary pattern baldness. They can and do lose some of their hair, but it is usually in late middle age and follows a less definite pattern. However, hair loss earlier in life does occur, resulting from specific causes, such as pregnancy (the hair will return after the child is born).

Other conditions that can produce some degree of baldness in both sexes are high fever, syphilis, TB, and infectious diseases. If and when the underlying condition is removed, the hair usually returns. Hair loss in women is more often due to abuse-dousing the hair with rinses, bleaches, hair dyes, none of which does the hair the slightest bit of good.

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Other articles about skin:

Pemphigus
Lichen Planus
Contact Dermatitis
HIVES (urticaria)
Psoriasis

The Danger: Often the reaction will spread far beyond the limits of contact by   a process known as autoeczematization, which may make the subject quite ill for an extended period of time.

Symptoms: At the site of contact, a transient redness develops that then swells and itches. Blisters may appear, small ones in clusters and large ones that rupture, ooze, and crust. Scratching can produce secondary bacterial infection.

Treatment: The offending allergen should be found and removed. If it cannot be determined by history, a patch test of various suspect agents should be done after the acuteness of the attack has died down.

Compresses of salt water (one teaspoon per pint of cool water) for ten to thirty minutes three times daily plus a topical medicament are prescribed. If the hives appear to be infected, a physician should be seen. Calamine lotion is the preferred medication for home remedy. In any but the most minimal problems one’s own physician or a dermatologist should be consulted.