Sudden Hair Loss in Child? Any Help?

[bean]

I'm really not sure I'll sleep tonight. Yesterday at 4:00 my DH and I dropped off our daughters at the in-laws for the night. My mom picked them up and brought them home today. As soon as my mom saw my oldest DD she called me in a panic. DD is 5 with shoulder length hair-not too thick but a normal 5 year old's hair. Anyway it seems that on the left side of her head she is missing almost all of her hair. VERY noticable. DH calls his mom. She says she noticed it but thought maybe DD had had an indident with scissors at home and didn't want to embarass her. What? When she left it was a full head of hair. It's not cut though it is missing in a gigantic patch (as big as my hand). Her whole head even seems thinner. I went straight to the urgent care. Doc says he doesn't know and refers me to a derm. Called her regular ped. They said maybe come in tomorrow but they can't do labs on the weekend so maybe wait until Monday. I first want to make sure it's nothing serious which the Dr. didn't seem too concerned about. There's not much reddness but there is a bit. So now I have to wonder if my child has a sudden anxiety disorder and is pulling out her hair, a fungal infection which I can't see, alopecia, or something very serious. As a teen I had cancer and hair loss due to chemo. It was really not a fun thing. So I guess I'm worried about the alopecia for my daughter for those reasons. I'm just worried that when she wakes up in the AM more will be missing. Sorry this is long just wondering if anyone has experienced this. THank you...

 

[chisnpeke]

Alopecia areata

 

[meeskamouska]

I wish I had an answer for you....I do know how hard it is to not have answers when something is wrong with your child though.

Hugs to you!!! Hope that you are able to get an answer quickly.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'm sorry for what your DD and you are going through! I don't know what it could be. It seems very sudden! You dropped your DD off with a full head of hair yesterday and today a lot is missing? I'm sure you are worried sick! But, you and your doctor will get to the bottom of it.

Did your MIL notice anything unusual during her stay? Strange! I hope you can get this resolved as quickly as possible.

 

[Magic Mom]

Has she used any new hair products? Maybe she's having some sort of allergic reaction.

 

[bean]

No, no new hair products, sprays, or anything of that type. She is a kid who will occasionally put her hair in her mouth but I find it hard to think she could have pulled out that much without someone noticing. Mom in law now says she noticed it when she woke up then checked the bed but saw no hair. She never mentioned it to us and said she got into no items and used the same Johnson's shampoo as always.

 

[OceanAnnie]

No, no new hair products, sprays, or anything of that type. She is a kid who will occasionally put her hair in her mouth but I find it hard to think she could have pulled out that much without someone noticing. Mom in law now says she noticed it when she woke up then checked the bed but saw no hair. She never mentioned it to us and said she got into no items and used the same Johnson's shampoo as always.

Did you ask your DD what happened to her hair? You could say it looks different and see what she says. She might know.

 

[Magic Mom]

Hopefully, the doctor will be able to give you quick answers and you can start treating the problem, whatever it is.

 

[agnes!]

Did you ask your DD what happened to her hair? You could say it looks different and see what she says. She might know.

That sounds good, maybe mention it kind of casually. Maybe she *did* use some scissors or something...

Good thoughts, Mom, I'm sure you & the drs will get it all figured out.

agnes!

 

[bean]

Yes, have talked to DD. She really seems to not know. There are no cut hairs though. She looks like it's just falling out.

 

[4nana]

Poor baby and no doubt very upsetting for any Mom.
Prayers you get answers quickly to calm your fears and problem is remedied asap.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Is she in Kindergarten?

 

[DawnCt1]

I know you will worry, but I don't think it is anything that is medically serious to worry about, not that hair loss isn't a serious concern for parents and child. I feel bad that this had to happen over the weekend because of the "wait" factor. Hopefully this is a temporary thing that can be resolved with the help of the dermatologist. Most of the time, the hair grows back. The hardest part for you will be keeping your concern and anxiety from your DD. Best of luck and I hope that you get some answers as soon as possible.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Best wishes and prayers as you work on figuring it out.

I would think that the hair would be somewhere --- in the tub or in the bed, bathroom....That much hair and that length, you'd see it somewhere....

 

[tonilea]

Any chance she could have gotten into a hair removal product?

 

[Tink888]

Does she play with her hair alot? Does she pick or bite her nails? Does she seem stressed or worried about anything?

It could be a medical thing or she could have trichtotillomania (sounds way worse than it is). That is the medical term for hair pulling. I went through this when DS13 was 5 and in kindergarten. Scared the living hell out of me. It was barely noticeable at first and then it got to a point where he looked like he was going through hair loss related to chemotherapy.

It turned out he was having some separation anxiety and feeling overwhelmed with kindergarten. He wouldn't admit to doing it at first - also I think they pick up on it if you are freaked out about it (and it was hard not to be). We took him to a psychologist who diagnosed the aniexty and did some behavior modification things, gave him a stress ball to take to school to keep his hands busy so he wouldn't pull and also gave him a really short hair cut.

I'm not saying this is what your daughter has but it could be. It's very common, although I felt completely alone going through it. FWIW DS13 hasn't had any more issues with it since kindergarten (although he does pick at his nails). He's your basic well-adjusted teenager with a head full of slightly long, curly, crazy hair.

to you OP. That was, I think, the most frightening thing I have ever gone through with my kids. You and your peds will get to the bottom of whatever it is that is causing the hair loss. As scared as you may be, try not to let on to your daughter that anything major is wrong. You can PM me anytime and I hope everything works out (and I'm sure that it will). I'll be having good thoughts for both you and your daughter.

 

[nephthys43]

i second the alopecia vote. my friend's daughter went through it. one day her hair was fine, the next day it was falling out in clumps. they put her on meds for it and she's fine now.

 

[5 for WDW]

Another possible alopecia vote.

We just went through a very similar thing with my middle son this past summer. We did not realize he was losing his hair in patches until we took him to get his hair cut really short for the summer. I thought the barber did it by mistake! He had three large patches of hair missing. Two were about half dollar size and the third was a few inches big.

We took him to the Ped who recommended a Dermatologist. We took him there and they diagnosed alopecia. They sent him for blood work to rule out any other disorders. They came back fine.

Since the bald spots bothered my son, we opted for cortisone shots. We explained everything to him and he wanted to go through with the injections. They were given directly into the spots, once a month for three months. He is 8. What a trooper he was.

His hair grew back in quickly and he has not had another issue with it. It can come back though.

I hope you can figure out what is going on. I know we were really worried until we talked to the Dr's. Good luck!!

 

[Cindyluwho]

My daughter went through this when she was about 4 or 5. She was losing so much hair that it was all over the pillow in the morning. She was just losing that soft little girl hair and although it seemed like she was going bald, she never did and it came back in extremely thick and darker Just one of those weird kid things I guess.

 

[clori]

My dd8 has had alopecia areata since 2.5. If your dd does end up getting diagnosed with alopecia feel free to pm me and i can give you more info/online support groups etc. Typically with alopecia areata the missing hair spots are smooth round spots to start.

Usually a dr will test for thyroid problems, anemia and maybe lupus since all 3 have hair loss as possible symptoms. If those are all fine then it may be alopecia. If that is the case I highly recommend a pediatric dermatologist or dermatologist that specializes with scalp issues. There are a few national groups that can provide free wigs if desired for medical hair loss in kids.

I hope you find out that there is no serious medical issues and the problem is quickly resolved.

Oh as a quick help check out www.hatswithhair.com

Please feel free to pm me and I'll give you my email address.