It's an auto immune disease that causes hair loss. Any possible pattern of hair loss and regrowth you can possibly think of has occurred with alopecia areata.
The most common form is areata. A quarter sized patch of hair is lost. Most of the time the hair regrows spontaneously. There may be additional occurrences, but there isn't significant hair loss. Next is alopecia areata totalis. The total head hair is lost. Other hair isn't affected, and men who are completely bald can still grow a beard. The most extreme form is universalis. All hair is lost.
But, as I indicated, there's a huge variety of ways in which hair can be lost. When I saw the video where the left side of the back of his head was totally bald, all I could think of was "Alopecia areata!"
I know about this because both of my sons have the most extreme form, universalis, and I've attended many wonderful conferences sponsored by the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.
The only hesitation I have in my diagnosis, is that it's not clear that he's had a varying amount of hair loss and regrowth which is common in this disease. But if he's hung on to enough hair to be able to grow that remaining bit long and torture it into place, then it all makes sense.
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