|
Child Hair Loss
By Jerry H. Hall
An average human scalp contains about 100,000 hairs. Even when most
of these hairs remain healthy, it is little consolation to the child
with hair loss.
Hair loss or alopecia can be caused by fungal infections,
inflammatory conditions, trauma, or as a side effect to some medical
conditions (like hypothyroidism) or their treatments (chemotherapy
for childhood cancers).
Hair loss in children is much more common than most people suspect.
It is estimated that hair loss is responsible for 3% of all
pediatric office visits. The list of all the possible causes for
hair loss is exceedingly long. Thankfully, the great majority of
children who lose their hair do so from one of four causes -- all of
which usually resolve with the appropriate treatment.
Telogen effluvium, the other common cause of hair loss in children,
affects children and adults. It is responsible for more hair loss
than any other cause except male-pattern baldness. 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 children with cancer, the loss of hair can be important and
traumatic -- and for others, especially very young children, this
loss can be relatively unimportant. For teenagers, hair loss can be
devastating, and you will need to do everything you can to help your
teen find a satisfactory way to cope with this problem. Your child
will need to know if hair loss is likely to occur because of his or
her treatment, and you will need to make plans to cope with this in
ways that make your child most comfortable.
The good news is that there are a number of ways your child can
consider in covering his or her head.
About the Author: Jerry H.Hall has an interest in Hair related
subjects. If you are interesting in finding out more information on
how to maintain your crowning glory, please visit this successful
Thinning Hair site:
http://ThinningHair.smartreviewguide.com
Source:
www.isnare.com |
|
