Children With Hair Loss

When children have hair loss or alopecia the main causes are trauma, fungal infections, inflammatory conditions, or as a side effect to some medical conditions (like hypothyroidism) or their treatments (chemotherapy for childhood cancers).

• Tinea capitis: is a scalp infection that children have and is caused by a fungus. It can cause patches of hair loss, with broken off hairs (black dot ringworm), scales, enlarged lymph glands, or the formation of a kerion, a large, red, boggy nodule on the scalp. Your doctor may do a KOH examination of the hairs, have a fungal culture done, or he may just treat your child with an antifungal agent, such as griseofulvin. These medicines are taken for at least 6 weeks, usually with fatty meals which can help it to be absorbed better. Children have to wash their hair with a shampoo that contains selenium sulfide at least twice a week to make them less contagious.
• Trichotillomania: this is a condition children have in which a child actually pulls the hair out, leaving an irregular patch of hair loss with broken off hairs of different sizes. It can be a habit, especially in times of stress.
• Traction alopecia: this occurs when children have their hair is braided too tight, or other tight hairstyles. Of course this can happen with adults also.
• Alopecia areata: children have this condition when there is a complete loss of hair in one to three areas of the scalp, without scalp redness or scaling. Another finding can be pitting of the nails in children with this condition. Although there is no reliable treatment for this condition, most children will have regrowth of the hair on their own within a year.
• Telogen effluvium: this usually occurs in young infants as a part of the normal process in which mature hair replaces baby hair. It can also occur in older children, usually a few months after an illness, and it is caused by the hair growth cycle being interrupted, with many hairs moving from a growing state to a resting state. As many hairs are shed, you may notice diffuse hair loss and it may seem like all of your child's hair is falling out, but there should be no other signs of infection or inflammation. The hair usually grows back in about 6 months.
• Congenital alopecia: newborns can have small areas of hair loss that are present from birth from a few different conditions, including aplasia cutis congenita and nevus sebaceous, a yellow-orange birthmark.
• Scarring alopecia: some conditions, including trauma or inflammatory reactions on the scalp can lead to scar formation, inside which hair does not grow, causing a bald spot on the scalp.

Children with hair loss will fall into these main categories as a rule and it usually the parents that need to help identify these causes before they seek medical assistance, this will help your doctor come up with a solution if you cannot on your own.