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Hair loss on arms and legs an indicator of greater hair loss everywhere else?
Hi, my 10 year old son was diagnosed with AA six months ago. He has lost about half of the hair on his head but there seems no end in sight. I noticed that he has almost no hair on his arms and legs. I didn't really notice the hair before since his hair is blonde it wasn't noticeable but it is smooth as baby's skin now. I wonder if anyone has any insight into whether this means he will lose all his hair on his head, whether it is an indicator that he will lose his eyebrows and lashes? Just trying to prepare myself. Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on
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Hi
First off ...Hugs for you both. I understand that this will be quite overwhelming at the moment.
There are indicators that would suggest that extensive hairloss may be a possibility when dealing with alopecia and that it may be an ongoing issue in your son's life.
They are the following....(but please note, that nothing with alopecia is ever written in stone and every individual that has this condition will have different outcomes)
* If your family or your child has other autoimmune conditions, such as eczema, asthma, celiacs, crohns, rheumatoid arthritis etc - (there are about 88 Auto immune conditions)
* If your son has lost 50% or more of his hair.
* If the onset for his alopecia is before he is 30 years old.
Knowing this information may not help and I'm concerned it may be upsetting. I would strongly advise that you investigate and educate yourself about alopecia as much as possible, as I personally found being educated about my daughters condition was empowering. Talk to as many people as you need to, finding out along the way their experiences and choices. Everybody has different ways of handling their hairloss and on this site all are supported and encouraged.
You are doing the right thing by being here and asking for information...what a great mum. Be assured that you and your son will find your way with this condition, even though there is very little control of the actual condition there is a lot of choices that can be empowering and helpful.
If I can be of any support, just let me know.
Rosy
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Hi Rosy,
Thanks so much for your reply. I have read everything I can find and my son is being treated with immunotherapy which we hope will work but we are in a race with timet. I would say he's lost half his hair already, he's young, and while he doesn't have any other autoimmune disorders, thyroid disease is common in my family. It seems there is no rhyme or reason or one way to deal with this disease. I would love to be six months down the line to know more but alas, that's not how life is. I am so grateful that he doesn't have a disease that will make him sick so trying to see the bright side. But unfortunately he is very self conscious, starting middle school next year, and pretty distraught by the hair loss.
How old was your daughter when she was diagnosed and did she lose all her hair?
Tracy
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Hi Tracy
My daughter was 12 when she was diagnosed, she is now 23 years old.
I'll give a little history of her alopecia.
In the last 11 years she has had regrowth 5 times, but continues to have bouts of AU as well. We have never used any medications or treatments for her alopecia. Last year she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease as well...with this condition she has taken steroids, but I would not recommend their use unless it was absolutely imperative to live life as the results of taking steroids are long reaching and horrible.
My daughter is also on an immune suppressant currently (not for her alopecia) but for her crohns. Her alopecia has reacted to the prednisone and she does have regrowth... but this happened last year as well, once she stopped taking the steroids her hair fell out again. (so yes, they do work, but you can not take them forever - quite a dangerous drug).
My hope for my daughter is that she is well again and her Crohn's is under control. If I am being very honest I would not encourage (and have not) encouraged my daughter to take any medications or treatments for her alopecia (We have have different avenues to deal with alopecia that have helped). In the years before crohns....her hair came and went of it's own accord with bouts of full regrowth for no particular reason (which is frustrating). Alopecia does have a high remissions rate...never forget that. :)
I truly wish you well on this journey and hope that your current regime with your son is successful.
Hugs
Rosy
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I wish I had some words of wisdom, but I, as a 40 something woman, have the same questions. I lost most (90%?) of the hair on my head starting about a year ago, after only having inconsequential bald spots from childhood on. A few months ago I noticed that I didn't see hair on my arms, and my leg hair is greatly reduced. Now that I hold my arms up to the light, I see fine hairs again on at least part of one arm. I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes, and don't see any clear indication that all my hair will fall out, but again, who knows. I had wondered if some of my body hair loss was just due to being a middle aged female, but it seems to have followed the alopecia pretty closely. I like to go with the philosophy that having any hair left is a really positive sign, but, again, who knows. I do know I would rather have this myself than to have my child dealing with it.
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I developed AA 2 years ago at age 49. It started with a quarter size spot on the back of my head, progressed to where I lost most of the hair on the back of my hair and some on the sides. I've been doing injections, topicals, have used squaric acid and now am also trying an iGrow light. After using the squaric acid, I experienced regrowth on the back of my head and now have coverage (though thin) on most of the back of my head. In the meantime, I've now lost most of my eyebrows, my left eyelashes, my hair is receding and 95% of the hair on the rest of my body is gone. I wish there was something I could tell you but I don't see any rhyme or reason to regrowth or loss.
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MJ, My hair loss pattern sounds similar to yours and I was thinking of trying the squaric acid. Do you think it has helped enough to try it? Also, if you don't mind, are you sill using it and what is the procedure you use to apply it?
Tracy Beth, I have had diffuse AA for about two years now and lost about 60 percent of my scalp hair. The hair on my arms and legs have thinned and turned very pale, but I do still have some body hair. I lost eyebrows, but they have regrown and my lashes turned very pale, but did not fall out. Based on my own experience, I don't think that some body hair loss necessarily means that the scalp hair is all going to fall out, but this condition is very unpredictable and everyone responds differently.
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My daughter is now 8 and is going through an 'active' phase of scalp hair loss (~ 50-70+% loss) - and while she is just starting to grow hair in some of these bald areas, she is developing other 'new' patches of hair loss on her scalp (the limited areas that are regrowing were injected with cortisone). She also lost all of her arms and leg hair, but this is regrowing in patches without treatment. Her AA started when she was ~ 4 years old, and this is the ~3rd episode, longest lasting, and most extensive. When it was first diagnosed, she had only a few bald patches (~ 10%) but also did not have hairs of her arms or legs. Her arms and legs have never been treated, but seem to have always regrown spontaneously. With this most recent episode, she also lost some hair of one eyebrow. This has regrown as well (with the use of topical steroid). We are holding our breath, but are preparing ourselves and speak openly about it explain that it is a 'hair allergy' so she can get used to it. Hope this helps.
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Starshine,
I honestly think the squaric acid is what got my hair to come back in the back of my head. If I were someone who hasn't had much luck with other treatments, I'd give it a shot. I may even do it again since I haven't used it for over a year.
The procedure is that you use a very tiny paintbrush (similar to ones you use for Latisse) and take the smallest amount and brush some on the bald spots. Then it's left on for about an hour and then wash your head. Be prepared to not sleep much that night as it itches terribly. You can calm the itch with Clobetasol though, but the idea is to wake up your scalp so you want it to be itchy to the extent you can stand it. It's once per week for 12 weeks. The other problem is that it gives you a very red scalp. It's a very similar feeling to having poison ivy. I would put it on for an hour on Saturday night usually, after everything I wanted to do was done, and then shower an hour later. That way I could get a decent night's sleep Sunday night so I wouldn't be a mess for work come Monday.
Good luck if you try it and keep me posted on the progress.
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Thanks MJ. One more question, what percent solution did you use? My derm is ordering the squaric acid, but he admitted he has never done it before which makes me nervous. I have tried everything else, but the hair in the back just won't fill in. I am also glad to hear that it did not affect the rest of your hair as I was concerned about that also. Can you take Benedril to help with itching or would that affect the treatment?
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Yes, take benedryl. It helps. Or, like I did, take benedryl, melatonin and lots o' Pinot to help with the itch the night you use it.
I'll check on the percent solution with my derm and post it.
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Update: Unfortunately I noticed last night that my son has started losing hair on his eyebrows :(.
But another question for folks: My father in law has no hair on his legs. None. But he has hair everywhere else (and always had a full head of hair). Could this be AA? Have you ever heard of AA where the only hair loss is the legs?
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