Hi Doctor,

I’m after some advice about my daughter. She has recently started to suffer from hair-loss, there are no bald patched yet, but after washing it, there is quite a lot in the brush. This is obviously getting her down. She has just turned 14, is healthy overall, and has a good diet – we persevere with getting her to eat more fruit & veg, although she does drink fruit juice. She is in the process exams at school, which are putting her under some pressure.

Do you think it’s a mixture of this stress and hormonal activity? We don’t want to make too big a deal of it as we feel this would exacerbate it.

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Some possible reasons for hair loss in a teenager are alopecia areata, fungal infections and hypothyroidism. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease which may cause patchy hair loss or total baldness. Fungal infection may cause variable degrees of hair loss and can be treated with an antifungal shampoo. Hypothyroidism means insufficiency of the thyroid gland and may cause hair loss, constipation, weight gain among many other symptoms.

What does all that mean? Your daughter does not necessarily have any of the above. I understand that you do not want to make a fuss about it, which in my opinion is a good thing. However, perhaps a visit to the family physician or a dermatologist might be advisable in order to rule out the common and treatable causes, seeing as the hair loss is significant enough to get her down.

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