ASK THE DOCTOR: Pregnancy sometimes triggers hair loss
By DR. JIM MITTERANDO
The Patriot Ledger

Q. I have lost a bunch of hair three months after delivering my son. Is this common? Is there anything I can do? Will it get better or am I condemned to wearing a wig?

A. Your sudden hair loss is the result of alopecia areata, a common condition caused by different stressors, such as pregnancy, illness and even anxiety.

Often, you may notice clumps of hair in the drain of your tub or on your hairbrush. There may be bald patches on your scalp or general thinning. Sometimes the scalp may be mildly red or itchy.

Eventually, the lost hair regenerates, but that can take months and the loss can recur.
Unfortunately, not much can be done other than waiting. Until your hair returns to normal, you probably should avoid perms, hair colorings and hair relaxing treatments.

Some doctors will try steroid creams or injections to the scalp, but they have not proven to be useful and injections can cause thinning of the skin or scarring but are used as a last resort.

Dr. Jim Mitterando is a family doctor at Health Care South/Cohasset Family Practice and a staff member at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth.

Readers should send questions to: Ask the Doctor, The Patriot Ledger, P.O. Box 699159, Quincy, MA 02269-9159, or by E-mail to his attention at features@ledger.com

Questions of general interest will be answered in this column. The information in this column is not intended to diagnose individual conditions, and individual replies are not possible. Readers should see their own doctors about specific problems.

Copyright The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted March 6, 2001