Alopecia World
Where acceptance is all there is!
Hi, new here, not even an official diagnosis yet
My 8 year old son started out with a quarter-sized bald spot on the left side of the back of his head the last week of September '08. 3 years ago he had one similar but only the size of a dime and it was soon covered with surrounding hair and it filled in sometime (we didn't really notice when as he was growing his hair out from a crew cut). This time however, within a week he had lost large patches on the back of his head on both sides, somewhat asymmetrical. We took him to his primary Dr. and had blood tests run which returned with no abnormalities. We are now waiting 3+ weeks for an appointment with a pediatric dermatologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital for an official diagnosis. He continued to lose hair and by the 12th of October 70% of his hair was gone. Now, (21 October) 90-95% of his hair gone and the remaining hair appears platinum blond. I guess this is either aa or telegen effluvium? Does anyone know if this type/speed of loss is indicative of one or the other? I'm kinda going nuts having to wait so long for the derm appt.
He's taking it really well, we let his teacher know and he wears a baseball cap to school. He has other issues (he was born with a tethered spinal cord which caused reduced nerve function in his bowel/bladder and left leg) that may have already helped him realize that being different doesn't make a difference in who he is. whew kind of nice to write that all out. Thanks for being here.
He's taking it really well, we let his teacher know and he wears a baseball cap to school. He has other issues (he was born with a tethered spinal cord which caused reduced nerve function in his bowel/bladder and left leg) that may have already helped him realize that being different doesn't make a difference in who he is. whew kind of nice to write that all out. Thanks for being here.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Margie on
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Hi There, My 9 year old son lost about 75% on his hair this last summer (in a couple of months) and he was dianosis with aa. It can go either very slowly or very quickly as this is one of the things that has it's own mind and likes to surprise us all (for better or worse). We had resigned ourselves to the fact that we would need to shave his head a couple of weeks ago. A couple of days before the big "shave day" we found regrowth. It came out of nowhere (well actually out of his head LOL ). In the last couple of weeks he has regrowth covering almost all areas. We know it might fall out again but are happy with the reprieve, regardless of how long it lasts.
Keep in touch with those on this site as without my finding all of these wonderful people with all their supportive information I think I would have lost it :)
You and your son are in my thoughts and prayers.
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Permalink Reply by Rhoda on
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Gymtee, Sir. I am guessing you seldom go (or probably stopped going) to this site anymore.
It was very clever of Goose how he described to his friend what was happening to him. I love Star Wars. :)
I hope he, and all of you are doing well. God bless you. :)
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Permalink Reply by theantichick (Shannon's Mom) on
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My 11 year old daughter started with quarter-sized spots (3 of them) right before school started in August this year, and at this point she's got about 70% hair loss. We also had to wait over a month to get in to the dermatologist, but we still don't have a diagnosis. I'm giving the derm one more appointment (1st week in November) to get his act together. He's theorizing anything BUT AA, because he says AA doesn't start with a huge fall-out, contrary to EVERY bit of evidence I've found online and in my research. He's saying either telogen effluvium (which is usually caused by some sort of physical trauma - a serious illness, high fever, surgery, etc; or a huge emotional trauma like a loss of a parent) or trictotillomania (which doesn't fit because she's got a positive pull test). So we're STILL playing the waiting game.
Good luck with all of this, I can tell you this has been a GREAT community with the friendliest and most supportive people!!
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Smith on
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I think you may find that sometimes the doctors can never figure out why alopecia starts. All my life I had quarter size spots that would come and go. 3 years ago I lost about 75% of my hair within a month. After going from doctor to doctor and trying everything they suggested I decided to go to a naturopathic doctor (that was about a year ago). Today I am finally going wig-free!!!! The area that has regrown first came in white and very thin, (much like baby hair) but is now starting to fill in and change color. It seems like all the steroid injections didn't help because it just kept falling out. Plus they are painful. I almost think that it's a cycle and the best way to control it is to stop inflammation in your body and make sure you get all your vitamins. Keep seeing your doctor, but read all you can on alopecia. Hope it helps.
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Permalink Reply by Gina on
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Hi,
My alopecia didn't really "show up" until I was 30, so I'm not sure how I would have taken this as a kid. But I'm a mom, so i have an idea of how you feel about this and it's good you found this site to at least vent.
While reading your post, something my son said last night came to my mind. He is 9 years old and complained about him having too much hair on his arms ( he doesn't have much by the way). My jaw dropped and I said "honey, I have no hair at all, remember?" and he said: "I know, I wish I could be like you, it would be easier for me cause I'm a boy...I could wear a baseball cap and that'd be ok, I really don't like all this hair on my arms and legs".
So, I guess kids take this kinda things better than we adults do.
With your support, your son will be fine. All the best to you and your family :-)
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Permalink Reply by rach on
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hi there,
you will meet lots of nice people here ,and it is nice to talk to someone who understands what you are going through, my son is four , and has alopecia ,he too started with patches and while waiting for hie dermitoligist appointment which was also 3 months or so lost it all, that was 12 months ago and he is still totally bald , he did have a small patch of regrowth for a couple of months and then lost it again he has lost his eyebrows twice and his eyelashes once.
dr dont know the cause , and I have avoided treatment due to his age as I dont want him to go through any pain, dr 's have told us he has less than 5% chance of getting his hair back , but he too like your little boy is very positive ,always telling me everythings going to be ok,they are amazing kids, hope to see you on here again
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