Infant with Ringworm = 12 Year Old With Bald Spot

My 12 y/o son had a ringworm in his head when he was an infant. The doctors prescribed medicine to be taken orally, and the ringworm went away, however his hair will not grow in that spot anymore. Is there anything you can recommend to promote hair growth in this area? This is affecting his self-esteem.

Ringworm is usually successfully treated with medication and does not generally cause hair loss. Maybe there is some deep scarring that had caused hair loss around the area of infection, as I have seen some cases where this has happened in childhood and then the patient comes to see me as a young adult with that history.

My best advice is to see a physician or a surgeon who specializes in hair transplants. Hair transplantation may be an answer, but your son definitely needs a good diagnosis first. A 12 year spread indicates that the hair will not return, but I would generally not treat it with transplants at that age unless it bothers him, though that may occur further into his teens.