Bald Spot on Child

Updated on January 23, 2015
R.M. asks from Evanston, IL
12 answers

My daughter (6yrs old) has a tiny bald spot... You can't notice it unless you part the hair right on that spot (which I had been doing because I was putting up a chunk of her hair in a rubber band everyday right there) and then you can see it. It is very small, and almost looks like there is an area of the part that grows a little wider. I would say the spot is about 1/8 of an inch by 1/4 of an inch and I do see two hairs growing back there but it has been this way for over a month now and those two stubble hairs don't seem to be growing (or are very slow). There have been times that I have brushed and yanked hair out on accident (her hair tends to tangle) and I was also lice combing with a very tight comb every day for a week right before I noticed it because I thought my other daughter had an egg in her hair (another story but no lice). The spot has not gotten any bigger but doesn't seem to be filling in either... Any ideas?

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S.B.

answers from Houston on

No more rubber bands! Get a good haircut for her maybe a little shorter to help with tangles. A good de-tangler product would help as well.

Don't use the lice comb or a tight comb that can also damage her hair. I would use a good brush.

My daughter's hair is super fine so she would get tangles. I used a spray de-tangler and a good brush.

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V.S.

answers from Reading on

My daughter has a tiny bald spot from her birth (she's 12) - they were having a hard time getting a read on her vitals and inserted a probe into her scalp when she crowned. She had a ton of hair (one inch long, thick, jet black hair) when she was born and the probe left a scar in which no hair grows. It's positioned just off her natural part - I notice it very easily, although I don't know whether others would. It's about 1/8-1/4" in diameter.

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D.T.

answers from Muncie on

Doesn't sound like a big deal. My husband and son's hair sort of grows in a swirly sort of pattern, maybe it's the way it's been combed/trained. They each have a little "bald" spot there the swirl starts. Could be from parting her hair the same way and pulling it up in the same way everyday. You've trained it to go that way. Could be her own special "thing", just something about her, it's doing no harm to her. my daughter has a scar on her head, makes her hair lay funny in the back, but "eh" no harm really.

3 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Probably normal. However, I would not use rubber bands in the same area of her hair on a daily basis. Those alone can cause breakage and small bald spots.

Any hairdresser would tell you to not use the rubberbands and certainly not in the same spot consistently

2 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

I have a friend with a birthmark on his scalp and hair doesn't grow on the birthmark.

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B.P.

answers from Cleveland on

Honestly if you are using tiny rubber bands that pull the hair. Your probably pulling the hair out of her scalp. Stop with the band's for a month or so and see if the hair is growing back, also everyoneneeds aa trim to the hair every 6-8 weeks or so to keep the hair healthy. By no means does it mean cutting for a ton of hair. Just an inch or less tokeep hair hhealthy when my daughters hair starts to tangle I look to see when her last cut was and normally it has been a while and her split and dead ends are tangling together making it hard to brush once the split and dead ends are cut it makes brushing so much easier. Also make sure you are using adult shampoo and conditioner my daughter will be 6 in a couple months and we can not use child shampoos or adult combination shampoo and conditioner on her hair they have to be separated into two different bottles.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Atlanta on

Is it a small little circle? There is an auto immune disease that can cause hair loss like this but I can't remember the name. A dermatoligist can treat it and kids often out grow it. The hair does eventually grow back but it takes a while.

It may be something else completely but might not hurt to have your pediatrician or a dermatologist look at it.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I wouldn't worry but would get her a different haircut (shorter) that doesn't tangle so much. That way you don't have to rubber band it or pull so hard brushing.

1 mom found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Don't use a lice comb. You don't need one.

Wash her hair with regular shampoo and then a good conditioner. Comb out all the tangles while the conditioner is on her head in the shower.

Leave her hair dripping wet and section it off into several sections then clip them up. Take one section and use a regular comb, like a rat tail comb, a small black comb that men use, a regular comb and take about a 1 inch section and pin the rest back up to keep it wet.

Go through that one section of hair. Start at the bottom and comb through it. Use a magnifying glass head gear so your hands will be free. Then if you see a bug it will be sitting still. The water very nearly drowns them and they are weak. They can barely move and since the hair is wet they are in a hostile environment. They are easy to see and pick out. Drop them into a glass of water.

Keep her hair drippy wet to keep the critters stunned/slowed down. A spray bottle can help with that.

If you see a white egg it's empty and will likely just slide down the hair shaft. If you see a nit with a black center, that's a baby inside. That one needs to go into the glass of water too. It might be harder to slide down the hair but if you use your nails and pull gently is should come off. IF it won't you have the option of snipping that single hair out but don't do that unless you just have to because if there are a lot of them you'll end up with a child with hair that's almost in a buzz cut...

After that one section is done you pin it back up and go to the next. Keep the hair drippy wet and it will go easier.

This is the healthy non-treatment way to get rid of lice. Those combs are cruel inventions and a way to make you spend useless money.

1 mom found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

One of the kids in our extended family had something like that although I don't remember the name. A dermatologist took care of it. You can mention it to the pediatrician next time you are there and consider a referral.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Portland on

It is ok to put her hair in a pony tail. Instead of using rubber bands use the fabric coated bands. They pull less. Or use scrunchies. They are larger and fabric, no rubber. Just wrap one around her hair several times. Try not to pull her hair so hard it pulls her scalp. If you've been putting the pony tail on this spot that could be the cause.

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R.B.

answers from San Francisco on

It doesn't sound like it's alopecia, because it's not spreading, but you can keep an eye on it.

A lot of boys have very shaved heads in this area, and I have noticed that many them have little bald spots here and there, that you can easily see when their hair is shaved very short. They don't look like scars. Based on this observation, I think many of us might have tiny bald spots that we are simply born with.

As long as it doesn't grow I don't think you need to worry about it. If it does, and it's alopecia, they can give cortisone (I think it's cortisone) shots in the area. But based on the size you describe, it doesn't sound like alopecia.

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