ds(14) embarrassed by thinning hair

[BrokenWing]

Ds hair has always been fine, but is now becoming very thin over the last 6-12 months (not patchy), especially at the crown.

If he's out in rain or has a bright light behind him his scalp is very visible. His friends have started ribbing him about it, and he is finding it hard. I'm going to take him to the doctors, but just wondering if anyone had any experience of thinning hair in a 14 year old boy?

He may have deficiency of mineral or vitamins.

I’ve never known of thinning hair at this age. It is a funny age though so could be anything from hormones, or mineral/vitamin deficiency. IS blood test should help with that.

Trichology is worth looking into- Philip Kingsley have a range and do have trained trichologists around the country.

thanks BF888, echoing my first thoughts as minerals/vitamins, iron, thyroid, hormones and I hope they do a blood test to check it out.

His diet is ok-ish but like most teenagers could be better, a couple of pieces of fruit a day (normally a banana with porridge for breakfast and fresh fruit juice, and an apple or in the summer loves berries most days), and couple of portions of veg. He takes a general multivit and codliver oil as advised by his gym lead and is quite active (football training/matches and circuit training).

He is 15 next month and average height at 5ft 8in and can see some signs of filling out across shoulders/legs, just whispy body hair even on legs (dont know about pubic area), no signs of voice breaking yet, a bit spotty now and again - all sounds kind of normal range for 14-15.

I've got an appointment with the doctor this afternoon which ds is unusually really keen to go to as he is embarrassed by it, I hope they take it seriously and do some tests before it gets any thinner.

Any thyroid issues in your family? Both underactive and overactive can cause hair loss. If anyone has issues tell your doctor. Some drs ignore thyroid issues 😡 so insist on a test, or have one privately, if there are any issues with close family members.

I was just about to say no but thinking again, but my mum does take thyroid meds for underactive thyroid, but that has only been in the last 10 years or so (she is 80)

BrokenWing tell the doctor! It’s only a blood test initially (and they should be taking blood anyway to check for deficiencies). It’s definitely worth a check if your mother is hypo.

Iron deficiency is the most common cause of thinning hair in children. Does he eat red meat at least twice a week? There is often a mismatch between what children are willing to eat/is perceived as a healthy diet and what your body actually needs. Hair is an inessential so the body gives up on that first.

Agree with the blood test.

He has steak, mince or beef casserole at least twice a week, Chicken 3 times, salmon or trout once a week.

Went well at the docs.

She said she will request blood tests for thyroid, hormones, iron and any other deficiencies. Managed to get a free appointment with the nurse to do the bloods while we were there so they've been sent off to see what they can see.

If nothing shows up they'll put through a referral to a dermatologist next.

Forgot to mention, also noticed he had quite a bit of dandruff on his dark school jumper a few months back for the first time, but switching to Head and Shoulders seems to have stopped that (this was after we first noticed it was getting thinner).

Good , hopefully they’ll find something that is easily rectified.

Blood tests came back and all normal (guess that's good news there is nothing serious underlying there). GP gave us a referral to dermatology which had a minimum 3 month waiting list so went private (through my works company scheme).

Called on Thursday and an appointment was booked for today with a specialist in children and hair loss in Glasgow. After a thorough investigation looking at his hair follicles in microscopic detail, diagnosis is basically androgenetic alopecia or to you and me male pattern baldness . Unusual to happen so young at 14 but not unknown after puberty kicks in and testosterone and DHT hormones are produced. Probably genetic.

She said there are a couple of (expensive!) things we can try that aren't available under prescription:

• Minoxidil foam (Regaine for men, twice a day for at least 6 months to see if there is a positive result, then need to continue using constantly)
• Ketoconazole shampoo a couple of times a week (Nizoral - made for dandruff but also some people get positive results using for hair loss)
• Cosmetic solutions - hair powders/fibres or coloured dry shampoo (ds not keen on any thing cosmetic as he would be mortified if friends noticed)

She highlighted a couple of other drugs/solutions that might be found on the internet, but she strongly didn't recommend for his age due to not being clinically proven and also potential long term side effects (finasteride - decreases hormone DHT, low level laser light - not proven, PRP - plasma injections into scalp)

Then, much later there would be an option for transplant - expensive and surgical (she strongly recommended if going down this route in the future to pick the right place to get it done as there are risks!)

ds is dejected there isn't really a solution and he's just drawn a short straw in the follicle department. We will give the Regaine and Nizoral a go and see if they improve things, but the harder one will be working on him accepting this is just how it is and how to ignore comments from his pals (they are good lads, they just wont realise its getting to him and he wouldn't want to tell them either) or prepare him with some good comebacks so he owns it and doesn't feel awkward. We'll also need get him to the barbers every 3 weeks max as it does look slightly better when its tidy.

I do count my blessings he's otherwise healthy and this is a relatively minor thing, but also a bit sad for him just now .

Anyone else's ds had experience of this at a young age?

(sorry that was long!)

Just wanted to say that my partner is going bald and has been since his teens. Same as his brother (other male family members too). The sooner your son can embrace a shaved head the better. Both DP and his brother shave their heads and unless you look quite closely as where the hair is growing it just looks like a hairstyle choice.

My DDs hair was thinning, amongst other things. Don't rule out B12 deficiency as the tests for are recognised as unreliable, thinning hair can be a symbolic of that. Also find out what his blood result figures actually were. His B12 might be low & the doctor not be knowledgeable enough to understand what that means. This link has all the info you need... www.b12deficiency.info/what-to-do-next/

My DDs blood results were supposedly normal, but B12 injections massively improved her health & hair. Her iron was low end of normal range, so extra iron has helped too as have high strength Complete B vitamins

Oh & my DD ate an excellent diet too, she just can't absorb/process some vitamins & minerals easily, B12 & D are the main ones

TwoShades I have suggested a shorter cut but he's had the same style, stupid big fringe to his eyebrows, for a couple of years and resistant to change. Will keep working on it.

Rockin I had read about ferrittin and B12 possibly being an issue or better to be on the higher levels to promote hair regrowth if at the lower ends of normal. Think I'll ask Dr if we can have a copy of his blood results on Monday.

Just remember that unless he is vegan, his B12 can't be low unless he has an absorption problem that will need injections to correct it. Unfortunately too many doctors don't follow guidelines or understand the results properly & delay treatment.

Good luck

Dh started to have thin hair at 20 and same with his brother. Their grandad was completely bald at 21. Dh friend started to thin at 15. He shaved it off at 16. A close shave looks so much better if thinning. Dh has stubble/beard all the time now he shaves his head. Looks better

@RockinHippy, or anyone medical, would really appreciate your feedback on ds's blood results and what to do next.

First thing I noticed from the link, is the results should have been taken after fasting (they were taken 90 mins after lunch), second is no one asked if ds takes supplements (he takes a multi vitamin which has Iron and B12 etc).

The results show ferritin at very bottom of the acceptable range and nowhere near the preferred 80-100 range.

Serum Folate is lower half of the range and B12 ok, but not sure if that means anything as he hadn't fasted and had his multivitamins.

Do you think I should ask for a retest after he has stopped his multivitamin for a bit and after fasting? Or just go ahead and start him on a gentle iron supplement to get his low ferritin raised?

Hopefully someone else can respond on the B12 levels but having been through the iron thing with blood tests on my own account, my trichologist was adamant that you need to aim for a level of at least 80 to grow hair.

Also that the "normal" levels are way too low for hair. I would definitely start him on an iron supplement. It might be worth booking an appointment with a trichologist and showing them those results and asking for advice.

I have female version androgenic alopecia, also genetic and my hair got really quite thin on top at one point. I use minoxidil daily and have an annual blood test with my trichologist after which I adjust my supplements accordingly. I have found it very worth it as I now have a decent head of hair which I get compliments on.

Don't give up too easily would be my advice. Doctors really don't know that much about hair.

@BrokenWing
His B12 result are invalid then. That figure on supplements & possibly a high B12 meal is actually low. Doctors probably won't recognise that though. Some of his liver results are nearly in normal range & that can signify B12 deficiency as its stored in term liver. Both mine & daughters results were off, but corrected again after B12 injections. Same with her slightly out thyroid results too. His iron is low end of normal, so he could be feeling that & low iron can be another sign of B12 deficiency as they work together with Folate

Non of the B12 blood tests are that reliable though & to have a hope of an accurate results you are meant to be off all B12 & Folate in supplements for 4 months.

There is an Active B12 Test that the NHS can do, but they are usually reluctant as it costs more. It is more accurate though, but still not 100% reliable.

We made the same mistake with our daughter & supplements & again weren't told to fast so her B12 also looked good. It meant a fight to push her doctors to trial her with B12 injections, but those injections git her out of a wheelchair & walking again in under a couple of weeks.

There is a group in the useful links section of the website I linked to above. I recommend you join them, they were a godsend to us when we were fighting for our daughters treatment. They will help you. They'll also point you to useful links that explains why teens need more B12.

In the meantime this is from NICE Guidelines & is the protocol GPS are meant to follow for B12 diagnosis & treatment. It shows he can still be given injections if he's symptomatic, regardless of blood results. If it helps, that's his diagnosis. They are perfectly harmless if he doesn't need them.

Oh & his potassium is low normal, so was mine & I get symptoms of deficiency. It can be linked to a type of benign adrenal tumour that affects blood pressure, causes headaches, anxiety, panic attack, but more physical, than stress related & dry skin etc. Coconut water is a great source of potassium if he'll drink it. That could help

Thanks for the insight @RockinHippy I'll get another appointment with the GP and see where it gets me and if needed ask for another private referral based on his blood results.

They never sent the blood results on with the referral, just said in the letter his blood results were normal. I don't think they have looked at them taking into consideration his hair loss (and the lack of fasting/knowledge of vitamins). Wish I'd seen them before and could have discussed with the dermatology consultant.

@BrokenWing you can ask your surgery for a print out of his blood tests, they can't refuse. It's usually free.

If B12 is under 300, they should be running more tests. Such as homocysteine, intrinsic factor, parental cell antibodies, MMA etc. If it's under 200, they should be treating him urgently.

They should trial B12 anyway. This was an early symptom for my daughter, we unfortunately didn't know & things gradually got much worse over the next couple of years with far worse symptoms.

Good luck