According to A Guide To Children's Hair Loss, most cases of hair loss in children are caused by one of the following five conditions.
Ringworm
Ringworm is a fungus that invades the hair shaft, weakening it, and causing it to break off. Sometimes the hair will break off close to the scalp, causing a stubbly appearance.
Although ringworm isn't life-threatening, it definitely is contagious if not treated. It spreads from one child to another if they're sharing combs, brushes, hats, barrettes, towels, or pillows.
Treatment consists of taking an oral antifungal drug, such as griseofulvin, for eight weeks. It's also necessary to shampoo the child's hair with Nizoral shampoo twice a week for eight weeks. Eight weeks is a long time to treat anything, especially with a child, but it's important to continue the treatment for the full amount of time so the problem doesn't return.
Children's Traction Alopecia
Pulling your child's hair back tightly into ponytails or braids puts a lot of stress on the hair, and can cause it to break off. This is called traction alopecia. The hair usually grows back in a few months if you change your child's hairstyle.
Go easy on your daughters' hair. Handle it gently, and avoid barrettes and hair ties that pull at the hair and put stress on it.
Compulsive Hair Pulling
Sometimes kids have a compulsion to pull out their own hair. This is called trichotillomania. This often becomes a habit while the child is watching TV or doing his or her homework. Sometimes it happens when the child is going to sleep.
This usually happens when a child is under a lot of stress or tension. The child may stop doing it when the cause of the stress is removed.
Patchy Hair Loss
Your doctor calls this alopecia areata. For some reason, the hair just falls out in circular patches up to two inches in diameter. The child's scalp isn't inflammed or itchy; in fact, it looks normal, aside from the fact that there's no hair there. This type of hair loss usually reverses itself spontaneously, often within twelve months. The new hair may be white at first, but eventually it goes back to its original color.
Telogen Effluvium
To understand this, you need to know how the hair growth cycle works. All hairs have a growth phase that lasts for two to six years. The hair then enters a resting phase that lasts a couple of months. Then the hair is shed, and the hair follicle starts growing a new one. Usually no more than ten percent of the hair is in a resting phase at one time.
However, if your child has a high fever, or is under a lot of emotional stress, nearly all the hair that was in the growth phase can suddenly enter into the resting (or telogen) stage. Two or three months later, you may have forgotten about the stress or illness when, suddenly, your child's hair starts to fall out and become thin over his entire scalp.
This is the same type of hair loss that some women experience after having a baby. It takes three to six months for the hair to start the growth phase again, but this problems usually does resolve itself on its own.
Hair loss in children is usually caused by ringworm, but there can be other reasons. Always take any child who starts losing hair to the pediatrician for a check-up.
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