Hair Loss Can Affect Kids And Adolescents Too

Alopecia Areata is a condition that can affect anyone, regardless of gender or age. Hair loss can be in the form of patches in the initial stage, or boldness on the entire head or even body. The severe form of the condition that causes patients to loose hair from the entire body is called Alopecia Universalis. It’s autoimmune disease, when the immune system of the body mistakenly attacks hair follicles, causing its decline. Hair loss can be sometimes caused by other categories of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, thyroid, ulcerative colitis, vitiligo, and allergic disorders. People, who have family members with the same condition, have more chance to be affected as well. Fortunately, when the kids get affected in many cases it is not permanent. Hair Loss in Children is called telogen effluvium. It can be caused by different factors, like emotional stress of a child, high fever, recent surgery, weight loss, or some other illness. Hair loss that happens to children and teenagers can occur because of the other reason too, such as bacterial infection, and can mimic tinea capitis with scaling. It is often caused by the staph aureaus bacteria, instead of being caused by ringworm. Kids often rub their head against the crib, which can often lead to hair loss. This kind of condition is called traction alopecia . It can also occur with kids who wear tight braids or ponytails and newborns. Infants and toddlers can have a habit of hair pulling and stroking, as well as thumb sucking, sucking of a pacifier, or rubbing a blanket. That habit usually stops around the age of two or three. You can either ignore this habit or keep your child’s hair cut short so it can’t pull it that much and try to kick that habit. Obsessive-compulsive disorder trichotillomania is a situation when a child or teen pulls the hair out compulsively, feels tension before pulling or when trying to resist pulling, and feels pleasure, gratification, or relief when pulling her hair out. Hair loss is noticeable with these children and they often need treatment from a child psychiatrist and/or child psychologist who specializes in trichotillomania, because it’s important to identify and eliminate the stressors causing the reaction of the body, in this case hair loss. About half of the patients affected with hair loss grow back their hair within a year and only 10% of people develop a more serious condition, when the hair follicles get damaged, so the hair cannot grow any more. There are some treatments available, prescribed according to the condition of the patient. It’s important to inform yourself about the condition as much as you can in order to approach it in a calm matter. Alopecia is not contagious, does not cause pain and people with this condition who learn to live with it can have completely normal lives, educate themselves, have friends and get married without any problems whatsoever. For more relevant information on hair loss treatment visit this web page .