Parents have been asking me some hair-raising questions about what to do when their children experience excessive hair loss.

Well, let me see if I can comb out some information on this topic.

Believe it or not, we all lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day! This can happen through excessive combing, tight braiding or tight barrettes, or even by drying hair with high heat.

This type of hair loss is normal with those hairs growing back over time — but if your child is losing more than that, or if your child or teen is developing areas of almost or total complete hair loss, we call that condition alopecia and need to figure out the cause.

For example, infants may lose some hair by rubbing their scalp against the mattress, but as they start to move more and sit up, the hair loss will correct itself.

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Some Reasons for Hair Loss

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Hair loss in older children may be due to:

¯ Getting chemotherapy or other medications

¯ The body’s immune system attacks its own hair follicles to disrupt hair growth

¯ Following an illness due to a virus or fungus

¯ Not eating right and not getting enough nutrients to make hair grow

¯ A psychological problem like anxiety or stress that results in an extreme habit of hair-pulling

How do you sort out why your child is losing their hair?

My best advice is to discuss it with your child’s health care professional. They can examine your child’s scalp, perhaps take some hair samples, and help you determine what the cause is and how to treat it.

Most importantly, should this condition occur, parents and friends need to be supportive and remember that a person is much more than just their hair.

Focus on your child’s strengths and look for opportunities to boost your child’s self-esteem while dealing with their hair loss.

If your child is very self-conscious, consider having them wear hats or wigs until the hair grows back.

In most cases, with proper treatment and/or the tincture of time, the condition is temporary. It usually resolves over a period of months unless, of course, you are an adult like me, in which case the hair loss just seems to get worse the older you get.

Hopefully with tips like these, you’ll find that any concerns you have about hair loss in your child will be “hair” today and gone tomorrow.

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Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.