Tons of people wish to know whether psoriasis can be a cause of hair loss, shredding or thinning. According to some experts, there is no relation between the two conditions. However patients have often complained of excessive hair loss after the occurrence of psoriasis, especially scalp psoriasis.

Most people are mistaken that psoriasis is similar to some kind of dandruff or other conditions which involve excessive androgens or sebum. On the contrary it is an autoimmune condition where abnormal skin production leads to scaly or silvery white patches on the surface of the skin. In addition to some common areas like knees or elbows, psoriasis may also affect the scalp. There are quite a few autoimmune conditions which are known to cause hair loss, such as Hashimoto thyroiditis, alopecia areata and lupus. Some doctors would place psoriasis in the same category, whereas it has not been proved yet. The treatment options may vary in accordance to the condition. But as far as hair loss is concerned, European studies have shown that there can be an improvement with hair loss if certain essential oils are rubbed on the scalp.

Quite a few doctors also suggest that when this condition affects the scalp, the scales as well as the plaques would choke out the hair follicles and hence would restrict the healthy hair from growing. Also, psoriasis doesn't occur on the entire scalp, it occurs in patches, which are the places that you would notice the thinning or the shredding of your hair.