Your first appointment

Scalp analysis
in Columbia, SC.

A scalp analysis is the appointment where “my hair is falling out” turns into a finding with a name. Everything I recommend afterward is built on what I see that day, including telling you when the next step is a doctor, not me.

Book a consultation Call (803) 477-5243
USTI Certified Trichologist  ·  Holistic Practitioner of Trichology  ·  About two hours  ·  20+ years
HAIR SHAFTwhat you seeFOLLICLEwhat it grows fromDERMAL PAPILLAwhat feeds itSEBACEOUS GLANDwhat oils it
The scalp, as the analysis sees it
01
01  —  The appointment

What a scalp analysis actually includes.

I go through your hair care routine, your medical history, your lifestyle and your nutrition before I look at the scalp. The history is usually where the answer is.

Private scalp consultation room at Phenomenal Hair with a treatment chair and hair loss charts

Your history, properly taken

Medications, supplements, health changes, how you wear your hair, and what you have already tried.

A magnified scalp and hair analysis

The scalp and the hair shaft up close, at the same spots every visit: the front, the part, the crown and the back.

Density and fine hair, counted

How many hairs grow from each opening and how many have gone fine, measured against the back of your head, which usually changes last.

The skin itself

Scale, redness, buildup, tenderness and the marks that tension leaves along a hairline.

Photographs taken the same way every time

Same spots, same magnification, same light, so your next visit can be compared honestly with this one.

Your assessment findings

Your scalp images and assessment findings will be carefully reviewed to help identify potential contributing factors.
02
02  —  On the day

What happens at your first scalp analysis.

STEP 1

You talk first.

Nothing is touched until I understand what changed, when it started, what you take and what has not worked.

STEP 2

You see what I see.

I look under magnification, and you can see your scalp on the screen as I work.

STEP 3

A complimentary follow-up within two weeks.

Within two weeks, you will return for a complimentary follow-up appointment to discuss your findings, receive personalized recommendations, and review your care options and financial investment. There is no obligation to begin a care plan.

Before you come

  • Allow two hours for a first consultation.
    A deposit is required to book one, and it comes off what you owe on the day.
  • Do not shampoo for 3 to 4 days.
    Freshly washed hair hides what I need to see.
  • Bring your medications and supplements.
    Or upload photos of the labels through your secure client portal.
  • Upload complete lab work to your client portal.
    From your own doctor or a lab of your choice, taken within the last three months. Lab work, pictures and biopsy results are uploaded through your secure IntakeQ client portal, not brought into the office.
  • Upload a photo of your hair from before.
    If you have one, through your client portal. Bring your questions written down.
“I had my initial consultation with Cathy Mack after searching for a trichologist near me.”
Melanie Stewart
Google review  ·  5.0 across 27
03
03  —  Who sits in the chair

Types of hair loss I see.

Female pattern thinning

Gradual thinning at the part and crown, often tied to hormones, and often met with “wait and see.”

Male pattern hair loss

Recession at the temples and crown. Hair that is still growing is far easier to protect, so earlier is better.

Alopecia areata

Round, smooth patches that can come and go, and in some people spread to total loss.

Scarring alopecia

The follicle itself is being damaged. Time matters, and this one goes in front of a physician too.

Traction alopecia

Thinning at the edges from styles worn tight, heavy or long. Caught early, it can recover.
Traction and the edges

Shedding after stress, illness or childbirth

A sudden rise in shedding a few months after a big event. It has a pattern I can recognize.

Thyroid and medication changes

Hair that changed alongside your health or a new prescription. I work next to your physician on these.

Scalp conditions

Seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis, flaking, itching and buildup, treated as the skin they are.
Dermotrichology

Children and teenagers

Young people lose hair for reasons of their own, and the appointment runs differently.
Hair loss in children
04
04  —  The question I get most

Is a trichologist a real doctor? No. Here is what I am.

I am a certified trichologist, trained in the science of the hair and the scalp. I do not prescribe, take biopsies or name diseases. I look under magnification, take a full history and put what I find in writing.

A dermatologist is a physician and handles hair loss that needs medicine. Many of the best outcomes involve both: your physician handles anything that needs a prescription, and I handle the scalp, the hair and the routine around them.

Three times I will send you to a physician first

A sore or tender scalp
Pain, burning or stinging, with or without a rash, can mean the follicle itself is involved.
Smooth, bare patches
Where the skin looks different from the rest, scarring may be happening, and it does not wait.
Sudden loss with other symptoms
Hair coming out quickly alongside other changes in your health belongs with a doctor first.
Either way
You still receive your assessment findings at your follow-up, in a form your doctor can read.
05
05  —  What people ask first

Questions about the analysis.

What is the difference between shedding and thinning?
Shedding is hair leaving. Thinning is hair coming back finer than it left, or not coming back. They look the same in the sink, which is why I look at what is still on your head under magnification.
Can you tell me why my hair is falling out?
I can tell you what the hair and the skin are doing, what the pattern is, and what that pattern usually goes with. Naming a disease is a physician’s job, and I will say so plainly when that is where it needs to go.
Is my hair loss reversible?
Sometimes, partly. It depends on whether the follicle is still there, and the magnified analysis helps answer that. I will not tell you it will all come back just so you book something.
Why do you want my lab work?
Hair answers to the rest of the body. Lab work, pictures and biopsy results from your doctor are uploaded through your secure IntakeQ client portal, not brought into the office. I review them next to what I see under magnification. I do not order tests or read them as a physician would, and anything that belongs with your doctor goes back to them.
I have been using minoxidil. Should I stop before I come?
No. Keep doing whatever you are doing and tell me about it, including how long you have been using it.
What if the appointment tells me nothing is wrong?
That is a real result, and it happens. You still receive your findings, the numbers and the photographs at your complimentary follow-up, and they become what your next visit is compared against.

After the analysis:  Dermotrichology  ·  Hair replacement

Bring me the thing you have been putting off asking about.

You do not need to know the name of it. Finding the name is the appointment.

Book a consultation (803) 477-5243