Hair loss or alopecia can be caused by fungal infections, inflammatory conditions, trauma, or as a side effect to some medical conditions (like hypothyroidism) or their treatments (chemotherapy for childhood cancers).

Hair loss in children is much more common than most people suspect. It is estimated that hair loss is responsible for 3% of all pediatric office visits. The list of all the possible causes for hair loss is exceedingly long. Thankfully, the great majority of children who lose their hair do so from one of four causes -- all of which usually resolve with the appropriate treatment.

Telogen effluvium, the other common cause of hair loss in children, affects children and adults. It is responsible for more hair loss than any other cause except male-pattern baldness. To understand telogen effluvium, one must understand a hair's normal life-cycle. An individual hair follicle has a long growth phase, producing steadily growing hair for 2 to 6 years (on average 3 years). This is followed by a brief transitional phase (about 3 weeks) when the hair follicle degenerates. This in turn is followed by a resting phase (about 3 months) when the hair follicle lies dormant. This last phase is called the telogen phase. Following the telogen phase, the growth phase begins again -- new hairs grow and push out the old hair shafts. The whole cycle repeats.

For children with cancer, the loss of hair can be important and traumatic -- and for others, especially very young children, this loss can be relatively unimportant. For teenagers, hair loss can be devastating, and you will need to do everything you can to help your teen find a satisfactory way to cope with this problem. Your child will need to know if hair loss is likely to occur because of his or her treatment, and you will need to make plans to cope with this in ways that make your child most comfortable.

The good news is that there are a number of ways your child can consider in covering his or her head.