- Trauma to the hair shaft is another common cause of hair loss in children. Often the trauma is caused by traction (consistently worn tight braids, pony-tails, etc.) or by friction rubbing against a bed or wheelchair for example). It can also be caused by chemicals burns. Another misunderstood cause of trauma hair loss is called trichotillomania the habit of twirling or plucking the hair. Trichotillomania is thought to be an obsessive-compulsive disorder that can be extremely difficult to treat since the patient usually feels compelled to pluck their hair. The hair loss is patchy, and characterized by broken hairs of varying length. Within the patches, hair loss is not complete. (Some children with trichotillomania also have trichophagy -- the habit of eating the hair they pluck. They develop abdominal masses consisting of balls of undigested hair.) As long as the hair trauma was not severe or chronic enough to cause scarring, the hair will re-grow when the trauma is stopped
- Telogen effluvium: another common cause of hair loss in children. To understand telogen effluvium, one must understand a hair's normal life cycle. An individual hair follicle has a long growth phase, producing steadily growing hair for 2 to 6 years (on average 3 years). This is followed by a brief transitional phase (about 3 weeks) when the hair follicle degenerates. This in turn is followed by a resting phase (about 3 months) when the hair follicle lies dormant. This last phase is called the telogen phase. Following the telogen phase, the growth phase begins again -- new hairs grow and push out the old hair shafts. The whole cycle repeats. For most people, 80% to 90% of the follicles are in the growth phase, 5% are in the brief transition phase, and 10% to 15% are in the telogen phase. Each day about 50-150 hairs are shed and replaced by new hairs. In telogen effluvium, something happens to interrupt this normal life cycle and to throw many or all of the hairs into the telogen phase. Between 6 and 16 weeks later, partial or complete baldness appears. Many different events can cause telogen effluvium, including, extremely high fevers, surgery under general anesthesia, excess vitamin A, severe prolonged emotional stress such as a death of a loved one, severe injuries and the use of certain prescription medication such as accutane for acne.
- Diagnosis: There are no conclusive diagnostic tests to accurately diagnose Telogen effluvium. A detailed medical history is taken, but it usually comes down to the experience of the physician to make the diagnosis.
- Treament : In children once the stressful event is over full hair growth usually occurs between six months and I year.
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.americanhairloss.org)
