A doctor via CNN wrote about a young child with gray hair. I thought it might be of interest to you and the visitors of this fine site. Thanks for everything, doc
Thanks for sending this!
The article was written by a pediatrician for CNN and contains some good information for parents of children with gray hair. Causes for graying hair in a child can range from anemia to genetic causes. Check out the article for more info.
I’m wondering, is it very rare for a man to go both gray and bald before his 40’s? I mean, I’ve never seen a 20’ish or 30’ish male balding/graying at the same time. Is there any famous person who’s got these two genetic conditions?
Thanks in advance
Balding and graying are independent genetic traits. To see this for yourself, go to a busy shopping mall with an upper level and look down on the men who pass under you.
Just because you’ve never seen it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. Men tend to start seeing gray in their 30s, but it could start at any age (depending on genetics). I can’t name any famous balding and gray 30 year old, but that could probably be due to younger actors dye their gray hair to stay looking young. If I come up with a name, I’ll update this post.
My question is in regards to my daughter. I have an 11 year old daughter who about 3 weeks ago started experiencing hair loss (none before then). She’s always had a full head of hair, but now I can feel the difference.
I noticed her hair started falling out after I brought her in for her physical. She was given two immunization Tdap and Menactra. Could hair loss be a side effect to any of these immunizations? I brought her back this week and her doctor ran additional blood tests, which he said came back normal. I asked for a referral to see a dermatologist because I’m concerned with the hair loss. Can you shed some light on this problem or can you advise as to what I should be asking the dermatologist when we see him?
Thank you for your help.
I doubt immunization caused her hair loss. Menactra is a meningitis vaccine and Tdap is tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccines. I am unable to find any cases referenced that mention hair loss from those.
While vaccines in general don’t cause hair loss, there’s a small study published in 1997 that links temporary hair loss and the hepatitis B vaccine in very rare cases, though most children in the world receive standard immunizations and they do fine. I realize the topic of immunization in children has been in the media in recent years due to a report connecting those shots as a cause of autism, but that turned out to be false.
With respect to your daughter’s hair loss, I really cannot say. I would defer to the doctor who will be examining her. Sometimes hair shedding may be just temporary and you may be overreacting.
I have a 17 year old son with Autism. The endocrinologist suspects he may have had precocious puberty. I am concerned because he has been losing his hair for about 3 years. My sons body hair is so thick we jokingly call him big foot. My father was bald, and I know there has been some research into baldness being hereditary on the mothers side.
However,currently my second son is 14 and shows no signs of thinning, although he also has excessive body hair, and there have been concerns he may also be going through precocious puberty due to his height. I am at a loss as to what I can do to help my 17 year old. My husband is bewildered because he is Native American and has an abundance of hair… He doesn’t quite know how to help either… Do you have any words of wisdom to offer?
Precocious puberty is when a young man goes through the puberty process much earlier than normal, somewhere around 9 years old. But boys usually go through puberty in their teenage years… and your son is 17 years old! By the age of 17, I would think that your son should have gone through puberty by now. For your other son that is 14 years old, X-rays can tell you if his bone growth centers have fused (a sign that puberty is behind him).
Unfortunately male pattern baldness (MPB) or androgenic alopecia (AGA) is a genetic trait that sometimes shows up early in boys going through puberty. I have seen men in their late teenage years who are very bald. Balding is not a disease, but a trait that can come from either side of the family tree. It seems to be passed on more from the mother’s side of the family, but this is not statistically valid. Body hair is just another familial trait (and unrelated to the scalp hair loss).
While there is no cure for genetic balding, there are medications to slow it down (Propecia or Rogaine). Talk with your son’s doctor get the correct diagnosis and discuss treatment options.
My 5 year old has a bald spot right on his hair line, about a 1 1/2 by 2 in. area. It seemed to have occurred when his mother was cutting his hair short with scissors so i could buzz it short later for the summer time. She cut a little too short in that and some other areas (down to the scalp). The other areas all grew back normally except the one on the back of his head. Could the hair follicles have been damaged enough to where they wont grow back any more or is a waiting game? Its been almost a year now and nothing. Should we try some type of stimulation? Any help would be appreciated.
I find this story difficult to surround. Short haircuts do not cause bald spots. I mean, I’ve never seen balding created from a fully shaved scalp, so the idea that a haircut could cause loss just doesn’t make sense. There might’ve been a scar revealed from previous trauma, which you didn’t see until the hair was cut really short.
This is a situation that requires a one-on-one consultation and after doing that, digging into the history and examining the 5 year old, I might then be able to help.
I just recently noticed a bald spot on the back of my head. I’m only 17, and both of my parents (who are in their mid 40’s) are yet to show any signs of baldness. Yet, I appear to be going bald before I’m legally even adult.
If you guys could help me out, that would be great. I’m sort of freaking out right now. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much!
It could be early balding or possibly something else. Genetic balding can skip generations and come from either side of the family line, so just because your parents aren’t showing any hair loss, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically in the clear.
I strongly suggest that you see a good doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Sorry, there’s not much I can offer you advice-wise beyond that.
Snippet from the article:
Hair loss is a common problem that can be caused by a variety of conditions.
Imagine, though, it happening to a young boy because he pulled out his hair.
That’s what Max Sherwood of Riverdale, Iowa, had to endure. Max, 11, has trichotillomania, a psychological disorder that causes people to pull out hair from their head and other parts of the body to the extent that it causes patches of baldness.
“He started to pull out his eyebrows when he was in second grade, then he quit,” mother Candace Sherwood said. “Then, when he started fourth grade, he started to pull out his hair.”
Read the rest — Iowa Boy Pulls Out His Hair and Goes Bald
The video that plays at the start of the article is about OCD in general, and isn’t specific to this young boy’s story. But for those curious about the disorder and the steps used to treat it, I’d recommend giving the article a read.
My 16 year old son has been on Strattera for about 3 and a half years. His hair has been getting thin now I can see his scalp. The only medication he has been on is Strattera.
Medication is one of the last things we look for in men’s hair loss. The majority of hair loss in men and young men (past their puberty) is genetic male pattern baldness. Perhaps you can notice the pattern to your son’s hair loss.
That being said, Strattera (atomoxetine) doesn’t list hair loss as a known side effect in the literature, but people have attributed hair loss to this medication on occasion. We’ve written about it before here.
I’m a 17 year old white male and i’ve been experiencing shedding for the past 5-6 months. My hairline has matured over this time which i know is normal, the thing is i’m still losing hair from all over my head, not THAT much, but a few strands every couple times i run my hand through my hair. My hair MIGHT be a little more thin on the top but i’m not sure. so my question is, is my hair still just maturing, or is this the start of going bald? also i’m getting an appointment with a dermatologist soon
The hairline matures, but the top of the scalp won’t go through that process unless you’ve got some degree of genetic hair loss (or allergy or disease).
Keep in mind that it’s normal to lose 100 or so hairs a day anyway, and usually we don’t notice most of them as the wind might blow them out, or they fall out in the shower, etc. Sometimes if you have styling product in your hair, that might keep those normally falling hairs locked in until you run your hand through. Or maybe you’re starting to thin. Think positive though. Without seeing you, there’s no way for me to know for sure… so I’d see that dermatologist for an exam first.
What I do is perform a bulk analysis of your hair in different parts of your scalp. If you are balding, the numbers on the analysis tool will show loss of bulk. And then you’ll need a Master Plan in which a decision will be made based upon good clinical evidence of balding.
Hello, thank you for your informative blog, it has been a way for me to maintain hope as I have lost my hair at a relatively young age.
My question is not in regards to myself, but a general question. Have you noticed in your personal practice that there are more young men coming to you with male pattern hair loss? As in, are more young people losing their hair at younger ages than in the past?
From your responses, it seems you do not like idle speculation, but if the above is in fact true, would you have any guesses as to why?
thank you again.
No, I do not believe that there are more men balding at an earlier age. Because of the internet, we are more informed. We have more information available to us than ever before. We also have more opportunities to be targeted by advertisers that pray on insecurities. The result of this is a heavy bombardment of ads from hair transplant doctors, drug companies, and snake oil salesmen that transmit the balding message.
The reality suggests that there is no real increase in the number of young men who are balding today compared to young men that were balding in past years.
My now 2 year old daughter was presented at birth with a large bald spot on her scalp (from the frontal part to the vertex part) its about 2-3 in long and 1.5 in wide. plz help I dont know what treatment to decide since I dont even know exactly what kind of congenital defect/disorder of the scalp/hair it is
There are multiple possible causes for this, but there is little information supplied. Most bald spots are acquired, unlike your daughter’s situation. Bald spots in children can be treated with a variety of modalities, including hair transplantation and balloon expanders. These expanders work best when the bald spots are large (like what you described with your daughter).
The best age to treat the child needs to be discussed with the surgeons that have the experience. Generally, that will be a special type of plastic surgeon who can do expanders if the bald area is very large. I don’t have any personally recommendations on the east coast (where you indicated you’re from), but if you’d like I can ask some of my colleagues in that area if they can recommend someone.
I moved into a house two years ago and noticed some mold in the basement. Over the past two years, I have been losing hair and I have seen hair loss in my children. Could the mold be responsible for the hair loss we are observing?
Yes, molds have been responsible for hair loss. Some molds are less toxic than others, but still could be causing your thinning hair. I would suspect that this is the cause, because if hair loss is impacting you and your children, that suggests an environmental cause. It’s really not that uncommon.
See a good dermatologist and ask about it.
I’m a 19 year old male and just recently I discovered my temple points are almost completely gone on both sides. Other than that, I have complete full head of hair. Is thinning in that area necessarily an indicator of future male pattern baldness or is it just something that happens with age? Thank You
This may be a forerunner of more advanced balding, because temple peaks disappearing isn’t typical maturation. What does your family line show?
I would want to examine your hair. During the examination, I would want to do a hair bulk analysis to see if you are correct in that there is no balding or thinning present at this time.
Snippet from the study abstract:
BACKGROUND: Few studies have extensively examined the prevalence of hair care practices and their association with scalp and hair conditions in African American girls.
OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the prevalence of hair care practices and their association with traction alopecia, seborrheic dermatitis (SD), and tinea capitis (TC).
METHODS: A questionnaire was administered to caregivers of African American girls aged 1 to 15 years. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association of hair care practices with reported disorders.
Read the rest — Hair care practices and their association with scalp and hair disorders in African American girls.
201 surveys were sent out to caregivers of African American girls aged 1 to 15 years to look for links between traction alopecia, ringworm, and seborrheic dermatitis. Almost all of the respondents used oil/grease in the hair, and a substantial number used ponytails, braids, or cornrows. The results were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The study concluded: “Certain hair care practices were strongly associated with development of traction alopecia and SD.” The situation of traction alopecia in women of African decent is epidemic in Western society. Many, many women have ruined their hair and developed significant balding from the various ways they went about managing their kinky hair.
Hi Dr.Rassman,I am currently a 16 year old male who has hair loss for the past 5 months now. At first, we thought it was dermatitis, but nothing worked. A few days ago, my doctor said that if he was in my position, he would start using propecia, which I have started yesterday.
However, i’m truly not concerned about the side effect ( like you said, all medications have side effects and the ones in propecia are rare). What I am concerned about is the fact im taking it at 16. I know that it says Propecia hasn’t been tested in people under 18, but should I seriously use the treatment? What side effects can a person under 18 see that a person over 18 can’t? Thanks!
You are right — Propecia has not been studied on young men under 18 years old. Puberty is the difference between those over 18 taking the medication and younger men like yourself. Here’s something I wrote a couple years ago about this very issue: Can Propecia Stunt Growth?
First and foremost, you need to have a good diagnosis of male pattern baldness (MPB). Is this what you were diagnosed with? The decision to take a medication rests solely with your and your doctor… though as you are under 18, you’ll also need parental approval.
The other day, I met with a man in his early 20s who felt that he was following the genetic hair loss history in his family. I performed a bulk analysis and a complete miniaturization study and concluded that he is not undergoing any hair loss at this time. I strongly suggested based upon the metrics I established that he NOT take Propecia, and have me follow up with him every year to be sure that he does not pick up the family trait.