My husband and I first noticed our 2-year-old had bald spots and thinning eyebrows. She was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles. In some cases, hair can grow back.
When I looked back at my camera roll, I confirmed that Elle’s eyebrow was thinning. Her left brow seemed less bushy and shorter than before. My husband noticed her first bald spot behind her ear, and I found more while giving her a bath. Adding to the worry, her other eyebrow also started thinning.
Our pediatrician referred us to a dermatologist and confirmed that Elle had moderate alopecia areata (AA), a condition where the body’s immune system attacks hair follicles. Unlike male or female pattern baldness, it doesn’t harm anything except for hair follicles. Childhood alopecia is rare and affects only one in every 1,000 children and teens.
Although some people have a genetic predisposition to the disease, other factors like autoimmune and allergies may be at play. Stress is also one of the significant factors in Alopecia flare-ups or initiation. Elle hadn’t suffered any emotional trauma, but she had to cope with some changes in the months before her hair loss.
While follicles affected by AA retain their ability to grow hair, regrowth is unpredictable, and if it returns, there’s no guarantee it will come back uniformly. Patches may not come back at the same time, and some hairs can grow back white at first. Although some treatments are available for AA, current options are limited for children and may cause side effects like osteoporosis and increased risk of infections.
Despite the challenges, we decided to skip treatments for Elle’s AA and hope for the best. Guttman-Yassky concludes that with AA, “there are no rules,” and we can’t predict the future. For now, we’re delighted about Elle’s minimal regrowth and continue to support her throughout this journey.
