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Alopecia related to strep pyogens carriage?


peglem

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My daughter has patches of hair loss- right now on the back of her head, but has also had them in front. I'd always considered it to be as a result of banging her head, but tonight, for some reason, I was inspired to look it up. One thing I found out is that frequently, in alopecia areata (autoimmune-type) there is pain or tingling in the area of hair loss. I wonder if that could be what triggers the banging episodes...chicken or egg scenario, I guess. Anyway, I was stunned to discover that alopecia areata is more prevalent in those who are strep carriers.

 

http://www.elsevier.es/watermark/ctl_servlet?_f=10&pident_articulo=13151283&pident_usuario=0&pcontactid=&pident_revista=103&ty=15&accion=L&origen=elsevier&web=www.elsevier.es&lan=en&fichero=103v101n05a13151283pdf001_2.pdf

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Do the connections ever end????

 

My dd10 has the most annoying cowlick...like her reduced awareness isn't enough to make her look disheveled most of the time...she's gotta have hair that always wants to fall in front of her face.... maybe there is a connection....

 

My father-in-law had MS. I remember asking my mother-in-law a few months ago if she was ever worried his MS could genetically impact their children. She looked at me like I was nuts and said "No, he was just an unlucky person!" I'm not believing in bad luck much anymore.

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For some reason I'm having trouble with the link. JAG, my son has two prominent cowlicks. They spiral to a meeting point and make him look like he has a shark fin or something on the top of his head. But he's learned to like it and hates when I cut his hair. "Mommy, my point is gone. I want it back!". At least he's not self conscious:)

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My oldest son spent some time at my brother's house years ago. My brother commented that my son was going to have a bald spot earlier than him. At the time my son was about 8 yo and I thought my brother was full of it. It wasn't real obvious to me at that time. Then I received a call from the principal and he mentioned a bald spot on my son and that I should get it checked out since there are medical conditions that can cause this. When I looked this time sure enough there was a bald spot. I freaked out thinking he had alopecia. I took him to the doctor and they did a scraping etc. As it turns out, he was slowly and methodically tugging on the hair in this area like a nervous habit or something. As soon as we got him to break the habit it was fine. At the time he was having other issues as well. I am sure that this one also had PANDAS type stuff but was not severe and it was before anyone knew of this disorder. He changed after an illness at three. I am happy to report that he must have out grown this and is okay now! He is in his second year of college and besides some ADD he is doing well!

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My son also had a brief stint of alopecia. He had a small bald spot on his head and his eyelashes. It has resolved itself!

 

Elizabeth

 

are you talking alopecia(falling out) or trichatela...(pulling hair out)

ds pulled/s his hair..he said it felt like something was under there, crawling or biting...

then then next go round of it...he said if he didn't pull it out..it felt like it was just going to fall out???

 

ps...cant open link

Edited by Fixit
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My son also had a brief stint of alopecia. He had a small bald spot on his head and his eyelashes. It has resolved itself!

 

Elizabeth

 

are you talking alopecia(falling out) or trichatela...(pulling hair out)

ds pulled/s his hair..he said it felt like something was under there, crawling or biting...

then then next go round of it...he said if he didn't pull it out..it felt like it was just going to fall out???

Well, alopecia articles said that there was frequently a feeling of pain or tingling in the affected areas, which made me wonder if those feelings could cause the pulling (or in our case, banging). That does sound like what happened w/ your son. It just struck me yesterday, that what we thought was the cause(banging) of hair loss may have really been an effect of the same thing that caused the hair loss. Did I say that right? I mean the banging and the hair loss have the same cause (possibly)- the autoimmune reaction.

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Well, we noticed a bald spot on his head and his eyelashes and we never noticed him pulling at either his hair or eyelashes. This all came during the worst of our moments, after a year of continual strep on top of the lyme plus coinfections. His thyroid was also abnormal so I think that he had so many chronic infections leading to a temporary autoimmune reaction.

 

Interestingly, my brother has a long-term case of Alopecia and he is missing hair on his arms and legs. My brother also has chronic strep and he is in his 40's. Hmmmm!

 

Elizabeth

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My daughter had alopecia when she was 6. It only happened once and was a confirmed case of alopecia not hair pulling. Although this happened many years ago for some reason I still hold onto the index card on which I wrote..Broke out in hives 2 weeks prior, hair had a foul smell and 2 days later she had a perfect bald circle on the crown of her head. I still remember it was Easter Sunday and she was sitting on my lap in church and rested her head against me. Her hair should have smelled like Johnsons baby shampoo but instead it was a sour or fungal smell.Two days later there it was. Weird. No pandas then...not yet.

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HHHMMM indeed. I have had mild lichen planus - an autoimmune skin disease that can give you alopecia. In 50% of the cases the cause is unknown. in 50% they attributre the tirgger to mercury fillings, lupus, Hep C, or medications. I had all my old filling removed just before mine started...but wonder if some underlying infection made me more succesptiple to this condition...mine went away after about 3 years, but recently I've had a little flare up - stress over DS's pandas/ivig.

 

Mine was diagnosed with a biopsy after I was very persistent w/dermatologist - took me 3 visits to take me seriously, and give me a biopsy, and I think she only did this because mine presented similarly to dermatitis herpetaformis - the skin disease that some people with celiac disease get. I am sure plenty of people get it and jsut have "alopecia".

 

I have come up VERY slightly positive on one rapid strep test, and have had two cultures done since that that were negative..hhhhmmmmmmm. I've also never "had" strep in my life - although I remember my sister having it constantly.I Took the round of antibiotics they gave me after the rapid was positive (even tho doc called to and told me not to bcs culture was neg.) and have done some oil of oregeno since then as well.

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Kim,

no - he didn't specialize - yes there are "merucry free" dentists out there - and now I recommend finding one if you are having amalgam removed!

 

There are many things that cause alopecia - it isn't a condition itself, its a symptom of something else, often time of unknown origin.

 

Also, a number of people here have mentioned kids with trig that said they had a feeling in their scalp..many conditions that alopecia produce that same feeling - its like having a rash you cannot see, you can feel something, maybe even itchy, or just "there" like a pimple before it emerges...a felling that something is there and then you touch it and you can feel something going on with your skin. so who knows - maybe in some cases of trig there is something going on with the scalp - and it feels good to pull the hair out because of it.

 

the autoimmune disease I have ... the hair does not grow back. I have a very mild case, so I'm lucky, but when I first googled this and saw the bald pictures i freaked!! I did get one small spot on my head (hard to find it - but it is still bald!) and I had an itchy rash on my inner elbow and torso, I responded well topical cortisone. Some don't, and man was it scary thinking that A)my increditble strong and heathy body had truned on me and B) I could go bald...for almost no reason and nothing I could do to stop it.

 

Autoimmune disease stinks.

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