A 16 Year Old with Hair Loss

Abstract

A 16-year-old girl presents to a pediatrician with significant distress surrounding acute hair loss. She says for the past few weeks she has been losing “clumps” of hair on her pillow, in her shower, and in her hair brush. She typically washes her hair every day, but recently has decreased to once weekly out of a desire to mitigate the loss. She is only combing with a wide-toothed comb, and does not use any styling products. She is very anxious and upset about her loss of hair. She is accompanied by her mother and two younger sisters.