DD6 lost her hair

[Maidmummy]

DD is 6 in a couple of weeks and she has very little hair anyway, I'd say about an inch to an inch and a half long, everybody says wait it will come through eventually but the complete opposite has happened, ITS GONE 😭 she went to my mums Thursday to Saturday she came home and there's 2 big orange sized bald patches one on top and one at the back, it looks like someone has shaved her head. She does have a tendency to pull strands of hair out from time to time which my mum knows about and she says she didn't touch her hair once while she was at hers.

How does a 6 year old end up with 70% of their head bald 😔 I'm planning on phoning the GP today but what can cause something like that to happen x

She could have been pulling while in bed at night before she fell asleep?

Having hair only an inch long at 6yo is unusual, contacting the GP sounds a good idea.

That's what I thought but when she pulls it she pulls at the back Everytime as that was the thickest part of her hair she never touched the top of her head, the tiny hairs that are left behind are all the same length too, I've also noticed little black dots on her scalp too where the bald patches are, I'm not sure if they are both related or not x

I have 2 sons with alopecia areata. Unfortunately it can happen this quickly. There are loads of supportive fb groups out there (parents of children with aa is one) who will help. The good news is that both my sons currently have full heads of hair and there is some promising research happening.

There is also a condition called TE which you could look up. Try to get a dermatology referral but tbh a Google of AA should tell you if that is what you are dealing with (totally smooth bald spots, exclamation mark hairs etc)

The black dots you describe are fairly typical I'm afraid.

This is interesting.
www.consultant360.com/articles/why-child-s-hair-not-growing?page=1

It mentions about black dots

My husband and mother in law have alopecia universalis and the hair loss can be this rapid.

My husband went from loads of hair to none at all anywhere in 4 months.

The good news is that if it is alopecia it's not harmful to them physically. It can be a rough ride emotionally though.

Alopecia UK has loads of great resources. It's also alopecia awareness month in September so you might find there is even more out there.

A while ago I heard of an app that helps to connect children with alopecia to help them form friendships and find support.

Thanks guys, tried googling her symptoms and every time it comes up AA so I'm waiting until 8am to phone GP if it is that then at least we both have an answer to why this has happened and we will deal with it from there, a lack of hair has never bothered DD anyway she's always very bubbly and is seen as very sociable and popular amongst her school friends so I'm positive that will continue x

Great attitude mama! It's a process coming to terms with it with lots of ups and downs but really, it is only hair.

Hi guys, I sent pictures to the doctors surgery and they have arranged for her to see a GP at our neighbouring practice as she is also a dermatologist specialist, hopefully tomorrow we will be one step closer to finding out the cause x

Well if she is pulling it out she has trichotillomania

@Horehound she hasn't pulled it out for a while, she's gone from that picture to having little to no hair on top and part of the back missing within 24 hours x

Oh blooming heck. Yeh does sound like alopecia then. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Little update, doctors confident it's not alopecia or anything scalp related as all looks fine so he's started her on a daily multivitamin and liquid iron, he says if that makes no difference by the end of the course then he's referring her to a pediatrician for them to do tests to look for any underlying medical conditions x

Hey this is going to sound crazy, but it's been happening to me.
Someone suggested I get stinging nettles boil them for about 30 mins then just rinse my hair with the water left.
It's done wonders try it.
It doesn't sting or anything.
It's been a godsend.

Are you certain your mum didn't cut it?!

If she did I'm 100% DD would have told me, she's got the biggest mouth on her and is the first to grass anybody up lol

GPS are notoriously bad about diagnosing and recognising alopecia. Ours said it was ringworm 🙄. Hope its something simple but if be pushing for a derm referral. Good luck!

Also scalps with alopecia generally look fine 🤔

My hair fell out aged 15 I had waist long hair then gain round completely smooth patches all over missing seemingly over night gp diagnosed ring worm same as pp it was alopecia due to stress I think it took about 2 years for it to start growing back but 12 years on I’ve had no problems since hope you get to the bottom of it

@Maidmummyhow is your daughter now?