Childhood Alopecia Areata?

Has anyone here dealt with it?

I just found out yesterday from the dermatologist that my 6 year old daughter has it. Basically her immune system, for some unknown reason, decided to attack her hair follicles, which have resulted in two coin shaped spots on her scalp where she has completely lost hair.

The positive thing is, she's got a really thick head of hair, and when I do her hair (as in ponytails, braids, that kind of thing), you can't tell at all that anything is wrong. But if she wears it all down, you can see the two spots.

Anyway, there is no real cure, nobody knows why the body would feel threatened by something going on with the scalp but the derm has assured me that my daughter is very healthy and that it is in no shape or form a sign of bad health. She also told me that this could be a one time occurence and never happen again. Another positive it that the dermatologist can detect some new growth starting in those two spots.

I have to apply a special steroid foam to the spots twice a day for two weeks. It's supposed to stimulate hair growth. Then stop treatment for another two weeks, then start again. They are going to have her come in for a recheck in 6 weeks to check for more growth.

Anyway, the diagnosis has left me feeling really helpless. I'm worried about future loss, which is a possibility, but I keep trying to focus on the fact that it could be a one time thing and never happen again.

I just wondered if anyone else here has dealt with it?

My son has this... he's had it from birth.

He's just got one spot, roughly quarter-size that has never grown hair. It's a deeper pink than the rest of his scalp and the skin there has toughened up over the years so that it feels almost like a soft callus now. We were warned that it could come back or spread, but it never has. His is slightly behind & below the ear so it doesn't show unless he gets a REALLY short haircut, so we've just always kept his hair slightly longer and it doesn't show.

The one thing the doctors DID say is that this spot is more likely to burn, and because of this he should wear hats & such to prevent skin cancer. So he's constantly got a bucket hat or baseball cap on "just in case."

DS is 13.5 now... and still has no signs of any other hair issues. He's got super thick hair everywhere else, so I wouldn't worry TOO much!

FWIW, here's a pic of his spot - he's usually just a bit sensitive of it, but said he'd share a photo so your little girl wouldn't feel all alone. You can see that while it's a little bit darker... it's no darker than his ear and really doesn't stand out much at all. (I had to push his hair out in a circle to get it to show... his hair naturally falls in such a way that it covers this spot!)



Good luck!
love,
mom

Thankyou so much for your post homeschoolmama! I was really feeling kind of alone with the whole thing, it's like, most people I talked to had never even heard of it.

That spot looks exactly like my daughter's too, except she has another smaller one close by.

Thanks again, I'm really hoping we won't have any more hair issues with my daughter either!

{{{Hugs}}}