My 4yr old daughter has a bald spot.

[Philip_b]

We noticed my daughter had a small bald spot on the top of her head a few days ago the spot is quite dry and resembles a rash or skin complaint, she has found it itchy, it has doubled in size in the last few days and we are worried it may continue to grow, one of the Dr's at our Gp surgery told us not to worry apply moisturiser as we await the results of a swan test, however it's not his beautiful little girl losing her hair, any help or advice would be appreciated.

[Beejayz]

Hi - if your daughter is diagnosed with alopecia, then I'm afraid there is little that can be done. At the moment alopecia doesn't have a treatment guaranteed to work. It has treatments which 'might' be of help.

Alopecia comes in huge variants, none of us have it the same as each other. That is the nature of the condition. So you might also read many answers to any question you have, and that is again down to the nature of alopecia, not helpful but all the multiple answers are right.

Its very much a time thing, as in the passing of time tells you if thigns are getting worse, if its getting better. Often docs send the patient away, because the condition has the ability to right itself without any intervention of any kind. That can seem unhelpful, it can feel like a lifetime to wait, but its how the condition is. Even those of us who have had this some time, still can't say what it will be doing tomorrow.

As for the itching, well some docs won't acknowledge that alopecia comes with skin sensations. Ask an alopecian! We can feel a multitude of things, itching the most common, things like heat, bruising, like insects crawling, pain, and usually somethng cool applied helps.

Yet again you will read that these sensations can mean, more loss, or regrowth or nothing at all. And one person can find all of those things happen to them. This really is a condition where its impossible to say it will do ABC and it will take X amount of time, and we can fix it with Y.

But your daughter can do anything she wants to. Alopecia won't stop that, its the fears and worries about it which do that.

Sorry this is gloomy, but that's the reality - but of course its perfectly possible that gives a few weeks/months this could all start to be a mere blip.

[rachelsjulia]

Hello!

Try to use RELOXE. Just search it on Google. I have experienced that too. I had a bald spot but after I used Natural hair regrowth supplements and Its really worked within few months. Just wanna share my experienced. Hope this may help you!

[Ellii]

I am sorry to hear that your daughter is experiencing this.

My daughter was 2 and a half when we first noticed a small bald patch on top of her head. This is now one year ago. The bald patch has been slowly expanding. We had 2 biopsies and it turns out that our daughter is suffering from scarring alopecia. This condition means that the hairloss is irreversible and that the skin itself is scarring underneath and distroying the hair follicles. Treatment: steroid lotion, steroid injections and possibly Hydroxychloroquine tablets, we were also recommended iron and zinc tablets. Nothing else seems to be available for a small child. We thought about it long and hard and decided not to give our child Hydroxychloroquine though. We have used steroid lotion and one set of steroid injections into her head (under a general anaesthetic). The hair loss continues, although somewhat slowly but steadily.

We have to probably live with this condition as sad as this is but still better than a very serious health condition that impacts on overall health. We may have to consider a hairpiece, hair extensions or possibly a wig for our daughter in the not so distant future. It has been a long and tough year in that respect for us.

regarding your problem: the only way to find out what this is is to do a biopsy. press for this with a dermatologist. A GP will be no help. you need expert advice. You may be able to use steroid lotion straight away. This may at least help to slow down the progress. If the biopsy says that it is not scarring alopecia, my understanding is that there is a good chance that hair can and will regrow. If it is also scarring alopecia then hair will not regrow.

Generally you have to be pushy with the doctors. We had to press for everything and it took us more than a year (and we have additional private health care too!!!)

[Abivic in reply to Ellii]

What did your daughters bald patch look like? What sort of scarring alopecua is it and will it stop growing or burn itself out?

[Ellii]

I had another thought: you should test for a fungal infection, this is done I believe with a mycology (some skin scrapings). If it is a fungus it is treatable but I believe treatment needs to be use as soon as possible.

Generally I would advise not to have a wait and see approach.

I would also strongly advise to talk to a doctor with expertise in hair loss, this would be a dermatologist. Even a 'normal dermatologist' would probably not know much about this.

[Meljah]

My daughter was 5 when I noticed a patch at the front of her hair line. I took her to the GP and. They took swabs from the scalp etc. we used prescribed creams and natural alternatives but to no avil. I them plaited her hair in the hope that no brushing for a week would help.

When it came to undoing the plaits they were just simply falling away from her head just by me touching them. It was devastating, and probably one of the saddest days I've had as a parent. Some of the hair had fallen from the scalp and some just matted together. What was matted I had to cut off and my daughter was left with a bald patch at the top like an old man and a short Afro elsewhere. The skin on top had scarred and the rest was slowly disappearing.

Within three months she was totally bald, but had eyebrows and lashes. She wore a gingham scarf to school to match her summer dress. Luckily the school introduce baseball caps to the uniform so now she wear a cap to school.

We were referred to StThomas hospital, where we got more creams, were told that we could try the injects into the scalp, or strong steroids that would have possible side affects.

We have searched and searched for answers and cures. And then I realised that the best thing I could do was to help my little girl to love herself and except that she's bald.

My eldest daughter shaved her hair off completely so they looked the same, and we as a family helped Eden to understand Alopiecia, because the fact is you can't hide your head. We had suggested that she could wear a wig, but she said she would look silly, and we left it.

My little girl now has the largest collection of base ball caps, and she never leaves the house without an Alice band, which she wears with pride when she takes the hat off.

She compares bald heads with any old man she see who has hair loss, although she has encountered the odd horrid kid who shous out " your bald! " She simply replys "wow your not blind." The poor kid usually gets a good telling off by the parent, and then before you know it they are asking to touch her head or running off to play.

Alopecia is a cereal and and wicked disease, it's just a matter of "if". Will it ever grow back? Who knows, everyone has got a story to tell you about their cousins sisters aunt that had alopecia and their hair grew back.

Yes that's great, and hopefully that will happen, but whose to say it will or won't.

Right now if your child is bald, help them to deal with it.

Help them to love themselves being bald. Make sure you don't make them feel that they have to cover up. Make it fun, my daughter often has her head and face painted, at parties she's even had those tattoos on the head. Don't be embarrassed help to celebrate the baldness, because there isn't a cure today and there may not ever be one, but who knows. We just have to be patient and confident and except the skin the child is in, it just doesn't like hair. Except it, embrace it, celebrate it.

My daughter is now seven and understands all of this because she has to understand, she has no choice to, this is life and it is unfair at times, and the best thing is ......she's telling me to tell your daughter is your don't have to. Have the knot brushed out anymore. good luck.

There's a new drug that they have been using for cancer patients. It's been proven to help baldness, if I remember rightly a man who was also bald was taking the drug and found his hair began to grow. They are now in the process of running tests for possible side affects before it can be given to those with alopecia. It's called ruxolitinib. You see there is hope. X