Causes of Child Hair Loss
Though hair loss is not as common a problem with children as it is with adults, sometimes kids do start losing significant amounts of hair. Usually, the reason behind this is an autoimmune disorder called alopecia which causes localized hair loss from the scalp. Mostly, children lose hair from the middle of their head, which causes a small round or oval patch to appear on the center of the scalp. This kind of baldness is called alopecia areata. Though this can be quite a distressing condition both for the child and her parents, hair loss in children is seldom a permanent problem, and generally hair starts re-growing at a normal rate in a few months. Sometimes, hair loss may also be caused by a fungal infection of the scalp called tinea capitis, which gets transmitted easily from one person to another and requires topical antifungal creams oral medication to be cured. Also, sometimes children suffer from a problem in which the hair grows directly into the final “resting” phase of the hair cycle, called the “telogen phase”, without going through the second stage, which causes the roots of the hair to weaken and leads to hair loss. This happens when the child goes through an emotional shock or trauma. Another common cause of hair loss in children is the infestation of head lice. To be on the safe side, it is advisable to take your child to a physician in order to ascertain the exact cause for hair loss.
Child Hair Loss Treatment
In the meantime, however, you may try a few safe and effective remedies at home in order to tackle the problem. As a basic preventive measure, you should ensure that you wash your child’s hair and scalp regularly with a mild antibacterial shampoo. This will ensure that germs do not breed on the scalp and weaken the roots of the hair. Also, after shampooing the child’s hair, use a solution of apple cider vinegar and sage tea to soak the hair and the scalp for about 5 minutes and then rinse it off with water. This helps in boosting hair growth. You may also crush a handful of Margosa leaves and apply the pulp all over the scalp half an hour before bathing the child. This treats any sort of local infection on the scalp or in the hair follicles that might be responsible for the hair loss and strengthens the hair. In addition, massage the roots of the child’s hair with rosemary oil every alternate night at bedtime.
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