ABSTRACT
The hair and scalp for African Americans, because of their anatomical, histological, and physiological characteristics, have a specific pathology based on the fragility of the hair shaft and the inflammatory hyperreactivity of the scalp tissue. Most often caused by a combination of hot oil and a hot or a curling iron comb, “hot comb” alopecia is sometimes idiopathic. Observed especially in men, it presents clinically with multiple abscesses sometimes coalescing, follicular occlusion, scarring alopecia, hypertrophic scars, or keloids. Some types of hairstyles practiced in the ethnic group can also cause disorders, manifesting in types of folliculitis, in traction alopecia, or in hypertrophic scars or keloids. Located mainly on the neck, keloid folliculitis is a chronic inflammatory and potentially scarring process characterized histologically by a preliminary papule and a granulomatous infiltrate, then by a scar plate. The specific medical treatments are based upon the prevention effort, antibiotherapy, and anti-inflammatory prescriptions.
