Causes Of Hair Loss In Children

Hair loss in children is even worse than for a man or even a woman. Seeing our children go through anything life-changing or traumatic can be hard for us parents too.

The good news is that almost all causes of hair loss in children are usually diagnosed very easily. These causes are listed below with possible treatments.

Tinea capitis

This is ringworm of the scalp. Tinea capitis is an affliction that is caused by a superficial fungal infection that attacks hair shafts and follicles. It can be found in the scalp, eyebrows, and even eyelashes. This is the most common cause of hair loss found in children. Symptoms of this condition are patchy hair loss as well as visible broken-off hairs at the surface of the scalp. The patches are typically round but can be any shape and even irregular. Another common symptom is gray scales or flakes.

The treatment for this condition is typically an oral antifungal, but tinea capitis can also be treated with Nizoral shampoo. This condition is not contagious as long as the child is being treated with either the oral medication or the shampoo.

Alopecia areata

This is sudden hair loss in different areas of the body. In adults, you can even find it in beards and eyebrows. But in children, alopecia areata is mostly found in the scalp, because that is almost the only place where hair is growing in the early stages of life. The onset of alopecia areata can happen overnight or may take a few days to appear. It is believed that areata is caused by the body’s immune system attacking the follicle, but why this happens is still unknown. Areata can lead to an advanced form of this type of alopecia called alopecia universalis, where the whole body loses hair.

The treatment for this condition involves discovering what is causing the breakdown of the immune system and correcting it. PRP treatments have been shown to have great results as well as hydrocortisone steroid injections to stimulate hair growth in these areas.

Telogen effluvium

This is commonly called “shock loss”. It happens when there is some sort of interruption in the natural hair growth stages. The dormant stage of hair growth where the hairs do not grow is called the telogen stage. The anagen stage is when the hair is growing. In telogen effluvium, a large number of the hairs have all gone into the telogen (resting) phase, including the hairs that should be entering the anagen (growth) phase. So the patient is left with little to no new hairs being produced, therefore creating a temporary noticeable loss of hair. Many different things can bring on this hair loss, including high stress, high fevers, surgeries, and too much vitamin A. But in children, it is most commonly due to illness or trauma.