Hair Loss in Children

Hair loss in children is comparatively less than in teens and adults. According to a survey, nearly 2 millions children in united states suffer from at least one form of hair loss (alopecia).



Around 60% of the children get successfully cured while unfortunately 40% of them suffer from hair loss through their entire life or childhood. The recovery does take some time some times a year long period till hair regrow normally. Lets discuss various forms of hair loss in children.

Tinea Capitis :
Fungal infection of the skin of scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes that spread up to hair shafts and hair follicles is termed as Tinea Capitis. Boys of 3 to 10 years of age are more prone to develop this condition as compare to the girls of the same age. The fungus infection when invade deep skin layers cause the hair to break and fall. Tinea Capitis is indicated as rounded bald area on the scalp or any where on the body. It mostly occur on scalp and eyebrows. The diseases transmits from one child to another through caps, pillows, hats, brushes and bath towels or anything that come in contact with the scalp of infected child and healthy, uninfected child.

Alopecia Areata:
Alopecia areata is another form of hair loss in children. Alopecia area is indicated as bald round patchy area of the scalp or any part of the body. Alopecia areata is not contagious like Tinea Capitis. There are various causes of alopecia areata in children, some of the fundamental are lack of certain nutrients, hormonal disorder, stress and inheritance etc. Around 80% children grow their hair back after one year. Some children may surely grow after several years. The speed of the growth depends upon what cause hair loss.

Traction Alopecia:
The term refers to physical damage to hair shafts and hair follicles. Traction Alopecia usually occur in girls, while it is rare in boys. 3 to 10 years old girls have less hair density and try to style their hair more fashionably. They use hair dyes, hair bleaching chemicals etc that damage hair follicles and hair shafts. They used various methods to fashion their hair like teasing, curling, blow drying, hot combing etc, all these practices greatly damage hair follicles. Hair follicles are the units from where hair arises.

Therefore, wee girls should not style their hair in ways that lead to physical damage. Always comb their hair and style them in natural ways.

Trichotillomania:
The term trichotillomania refers to regular habit of pulling hair that weakens the hair follicles and hair begin to fall. This type of hair loss is usually indicated in the form of bald patches. It occurs usually on eyebrows and top of the scalp and hair of these areas are regularly pulled. Parents are unaware of the fact, while it does cause hair thinning in children sometimes in adults too.

Conclusion:
Hair loss is comparatively rare in children as compare to teens and adults. Hair loss in children is caused by various reasons including fungus infection of hair follicles, lack of dietary essential nutrients, physical damage to hair follicles and regular hair pulling habits. Though these causes are common and nearly 60 million children suffer from even a single form of hair loss, 60% of the affected children get successfully cured.