My cousin had this when he was in high school. I don't know the specifics, it was 40+ years ago lol, but it was temporary. When the hair came back, though, it came in white. He was already blond so it wasn't as contrasting as if he had dark hair, and it was above his eye to one side so it looked kind of cool to me. Now he's greying, but the schock of hair is still lighter.

I've known a couple people who have had temporary stress related alopecia - adults. My boss's son (in high school) has a type that is caused by an autoimmune disorder.

A friend's daughter had a mild bout of it in college and it was autoimmune related. I would think her pediatrician may want to check it out. The silver lining is that these types of issues encourage kids to be aware of their health and conditions that impact it. I'm glad she has plenty of hair to cover it up in the meantime. :-)

Well, the pediatrician‘s office said she should see a dermatologist — who can’t see her until May 31. Ugh. But she has a physical scheduled in early May so at least her PCP will see her. If it gets any worse I’ll try to get her in sooner.

Oh dear. Good luck with that. It's probably something temporary that can be treated or will resolve itself. Could your pediatrician help to get her in to the derm sooner?

I wouldn't fret too much, I understand they are very common. I might measure it and take a photo just to see if it changes much over the next few weeks. Glad she isn't stressed over it!

It might also be good to measure it.

A good supplement, in case it is auto immune realated is New Chapter Organics, Lifeshield https://www.newchapter.com/products/lifeshield-immune-support/

Is she a vegetarian?

My youngest had some significant hair loss due to her vegetarian diet. Our dermatologist called these patients her "salad girls."

All is well with proper mindfulness to getting enough protein.

She is not a vegetarian and in fact eats a pretty balanced diet — she is an athlete and wants to study nutrition in college, so she’s more thoughtful about diet than most typical teenagers are, IMO. Both the pediatrician and the dermatology office didn’t seem too concerned so I guess we’ll just keep an eye on it and yes, good idea to measure it.

Does she wear wigs or hats or pull her hair back into a tight ponytail? Any of those things could cause hair loss (traction alopecia in the case of the ponytail). I once wore a wig (dressed as Zombie Princess Di for Halloween) for a mere 5 hours, and when it started to give me a headache I took it off. Not long afterward, I noticed a bald patch about the size of a quarter where the wig band had come into contact with my scalp. That stupid wig had "snatched me bald-headed" to coin a rather redneck phrase. It took about 5 months before the spot was sufficiently grown back in so as not to cause me to cringe each time I looked in the mirror.

Sue, I think I recall you said she is a gymnast. Bald spots can also be caused by fungal infections. I am thinking gym mats and damp towels.....

You may want to check her body for other spots, like a circular pale spot on her back or arms. My DH got a fungal infection from sharing a towel once, he got a bald spot on his beard, and a pale spot on his shoulder. Anti-fungals cleared it up but it takes a while and in the interim his towels could have caused the fungus to spread to anyone else that used it. I figure forewarned is forearmed.

I wondered if it might be from her hair styling, too. She does have to pull her hair back for the gym and for meets, it’s in a bun and she does little braids on the side, so I am sure there’s some impact from that. No wigs or hats other than an occasional baseball cap.

Local...I gave her a once-over and there are no spots or rashes. And the skin where the bald spot is isn’t irritated or red at all. She doesn’t use a towel at practice.

This morning she she told me she noticed it “about a month ago” — clearly she’s not too worried and it hasn’t multiplied in that time so I guess that’s good. Of course then I had to talk to her about mentioning any weirdnesses to me when she notices them rather than waiting a month!

IIRC, like my DS, you DD will be gone to college starting in August. She will have even less opportunity to remember to mention things. What will we do without our last chick in the nest?

When I was in my late twenties and my son was three, he and I both had Alopecia areata. I had seven or eight scattered quarter-size bald spots, son had four or five dime-size spots. I also lost most of one eyebrow, son did not. My hair was almost black, son was blonde at the time. After a year or so our hair grew back, mine the same shade of dark, son's what looked like a lighter shade of blonde.

However, as he grew, his blonde hair grew as dark as mine, except where he had the alopecia. His spots grew back colorless but because he was blonde as a child they were barely visible. He has had the colorless spots all his life, but now that he's graying it is becoming less noticeable.

I still have a pea size bald spot in my eyebrow where hair has never grown back. I never had the colorless spots of hair on my head the way my son did; it regrew the same dark it always was. Son's spots seemed smaller as his head grew larger.

Neither my husband nor our other children ever got Alopecia. Son and I had no treatment, used no special shampoo, took no supplements, or used anything at all to aide and assist hair regrowth. It was a very happy, not-at-all-stressful time in my life, and this son was a happy, healthy baby and child. after a year or so our hair just simply started regrowing all by itself. Our doctor said be patient, it will (probably) regrow, and it did.

Your daughter has exactly the right attitude, in my opinion. Don't worry, Mom. It will (probably) grow back.

My DD developed a bald spot during her stressful freshman year in college. but it was due to a nervous habit of rubbing the same spot on her head! After she was able to stop the habit, all the hair grew back in.

Is there another dermatologist who could see her sooner?

I developed alopecia 15 years ago. If she decides she wants to cover up the spot, I use a great product XFusion Keratin Hair Fibers. You can order in color close to your own and shake it on. The fibers camoflaugue the spot and usually last for the day.

Its been a life (and confidence ) saver for me.

Thanks all. I’m not that worried, I was mostly curious to see how common this is. After 27 years of parenting, sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all, but obviously not!