Hair on the legs of a 5 year old boy. How dangerous is hypertrichosis in a child and methods of treating increased hairiness?

Excessive hairiness in a child is called hypertrichosis in medicine. It is customary to talk about the disease only if hair growth is observed in places where this is not provided for by the child’s ethnicity and nature. The first signs can be observed in the baby after birth or appear at an older age. Both boys and girls of any age are equally susceptible to hypertrichosis.

Causes of the problem

Hypertrichosis of newborns can have the following causes:

• pathologies of the pregnant woman, mutations during fetal development;
• genetic predisposition;
• infectious diseases of the mother or taking medications.

The cause may also be a child’s illness:

• brain injuries, tumors;
• epidermolysis bullosa;
• local hair growth can be caused by trauma to a certain area of ​​the body;
• dermatomycosis (fungal skin infection);
• anorexia, disorders of the central nervous system, epilepsy;
• endocrine pathologies.

It is believed that the sudden appearance of excessive hair is a harbinger of the development of a malignant tumor, especially if the cause of the disease has not been identified.

Characteristic symptoms

The main symptom of hypertrichosis is a large amount of hair on the body, even in places where there should not be any in principle: palms, neck, stomach. However, it is necessary to distinguish normality from pathology. So, for girls under 9–10 years old, a large amount of hair in the leg area is not normal and can be considered a symptom of hypertrichosis. The same applies to the area of ​​the armpits and pubic part. Normally, hair should appear there after 10 or even 12 years.

A newborn may be born with fairly long hair, but it is soft and light (vellus). This is not a symptom of the disease; such fluff falls out very quickly. For a boy, hair in the area of ​​the upper lip, on the ears, and chin is normal, but for a girl it is a symptom of a disease.

The ethnicity of the child is also important. For example, for the Mediterranean type, fused eyebrows are the norm, for the Asian type it is already a primary sign of hypertrichosis. Dark-skinned children genetically have more body hair than light-skinned children (northern type).

Types of disease

Depending on the area of ​​the child’s body that is abundantly covered with hair, we can talk about the types of disease:

1. Local hypertrichosis. Can be prothoracic, lumbar.
2. General – implies total hair growth. Basically, this pathology is congenital: a lot of hair on the baby’s body is not replaced by “new” ones, but continues to grow and become tougher.

Hirsutism is a separate subtype - this is a “female” disease, which is manifested by body hair against the background of an excess of male hormones. May be accompanied by baldness, increased muscle mass, and amenorrhea in girls.

Treatment methods

If signs of excess hair are detected in a child, it is necessary to consult a dermatologist, endocrinologist and pediatric gynecologist (for girls). Primary examinations are aimed at determining the level of hormones and endocrine pathologies.

To treat hypertrichosis, it is necessary to establish the exact cause and eliminate it. Drug treatment is prescribed for hormonal imbalance. If the disease is caused by heredity or intrauterine malformations, treatment consists of mechanical hair removal. Electrolysis is recognized as the most popular and safest method today. It consists of destroying the hair follicle, which subsequently guarantees the absence of hair growth in the treated areas. The procedure is carried out in several sessions. For example, to completely remove hair from the chin, it is necessary to conduct about 60 sessions over the course of a year.

This procedure can only be used in adolescents after puberty. Children under this age are prescribed special depilatory creams or hair bleaching with regular hydrogen peroxide.

Increased hairiness of the baby should alert parents in order to identify developmental abnormalities in time. But it is not always a symptom of hypertrichosis. Take a closer look at the child’s relatives: if many of them also have excess body hair, most likely the child has simply inherited this feature.

First of all, of course, this question interests mothers of girls. First, let's understand the terms. There are 3 types of hair:

— lanugo(primordial fuzz) is fetal hair that appears in the third month of intrauterine development and falls out at approximately 36 weeks. In case of premature birth, the child may be born covered with the original down;

— vellus hair- this is light, thin hair, no more than 1-2 cm in length, containing almost no pigment;

— shaft hair- coarse, dark, thick terminal hair.

There are several concepts associated with excess hair growth. Hirsutism should be distinguished from hypertrichosis.
Hypertrichosis- this is congenital or acquired excess hair, independent of the content of androgens - the male fraction of hormones (testosterone, androstenedione, etc.) appearing mainly outside androgen-dependent areas (pubis, thigh, axillary region, abdomen, etc.). The transformation of vellus hair into shaft hair occurs under the influence of androgens! It is called hirsutism and occurs in androgen-dependent areas.

It is very important - the quantity and quality of hair is influenced by many factors - ethnic characteristics, systemic factors, the level of sex hormones and individual skin sensitivity to androgens.

Let's look at some of the causes of excess hair growth in children. :

1. If you start from the newborn period, especially in premature babies, often the entire surface of the body is covered with vellus hair - lanugo. Such hair gradually falls out, but patchy growth can persist throughout life. Sometimes this phenomenon is combined with certain developmental defects, which requires a more careful examination of the child.

2. If the child is growing rapidly, growth hormone in this case is actively manifested by hair growth on the forearms, legs, and is not observed in androgen-dependent areas (this is unlike other forms of excess hair growth). This is not a pathology.

3. The easiest option is hair growth constitutional nature when either vellus or even shaft-type hair is actively growing, but this is a hereditary feature, and/or due to a certain nationality (typical of Jews, gypsies, residents of the Caucasus, Greeks, etc.).

4. The endocrinologist pays especially close attention to hair growth in girls in areas characteristic of the action of genital hormones - the pubic area, armpits, chest, abdomen, inner thigh (especially if hair growth begins before 8-9 years of age, earlier, this is called premature adrenarche), and in these cases it is important to know how it happened in women on the mother’s side and the mother herself. With this type of hair growth, the endocrinologist clarifies, with the help of a hormonal examination, the reasons for such hair growth - CAH (adrenal hyperplasia, when there is a genetic tendency to hair growth, expressed by premature maturation in the form of the appearance of excess hair growth, then in the form of a cycle disorder, early appearance of acne) . Other causes are also excluded - PPR (premature puberty), hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormones), hyperprolactinemia, PCOS (formation of polycystic ovary syndrome), Cushing's syndrome (overproduction of adrenal hormones), acromegaly (overproduction of growth hormone), and, of course, excluded extremely rare tumors of the ovaries or adrenal glands, the brain.

The examination is usually carried out by two doctors - a gynecologist and an endocrinologist.

5. Sometimes the cause of excess hair growth is taking medications such as GCS (glucocorticoids), cytostatics, etc.

6. If the cause of excess hair growth is not specified, then such a process is interpreted as idiopathic hair growth, and it requires observation and repeated testing after 1-2 years.

The examination includes blood sampling for hormones: fraction of male hormones (total testosterone, free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, androstenedione, 17-OH-progesterone, DHA-S, GSPS, prolactin, TSH, free T4, and when menstruation begins - on days 2-4 FSH, LH.
An ultrasound of the pelvic organs and adrenal glands is also performed. Determination of bone age (x-ray of the hands), since the increased amount of male hormones in a girl closes the growth zones.
Sometimes MRI of the brain.

Excessive hair growth is assessed at the appointment
according to the official scale Ferrimon-Gallway : (a result of more than 7 points is a sign of hormonal disorders):

Upper lip
1 point - single hairs along the outer edge,
2 points - small antennae along the outer edge,
3 points - mustache on half of the outer area,
4 points - mustache to the midline of the lip

Chin
1 point - single scattered hairs,
2 points - scattered hair, but its growth is more abundant,

4 points - continuous and abundant hair growth.

Breast
1 point - hair around the nipple,
2 points - hair around the nipple and along the midline of the chest,
3 points – arched hair growth on ¾ of the chest,
4 points - continuous hair growth.

Upper back
1 point - isolated scattered hairs,
2 points - a significant amount of scattered hair,
3 points – slight continuous hair growth,
4 points - continuous abundant hair growth,

Lower back
1 point - sacral bundle (on the lower back in the form of a triangle),
2 points - sacral fascicle and some hair growth on the lateral surface of the back,
3 points hair growth ¾ of the lower back,
4 points - continuous hair growth,

Upper abdomen
1 point - individual hairs along the white line,
2 points - abundant hair growth along the white line,
3 points - hair growth of ½ of the upper abdomen,
4 points - continuous hairiness of the upper abdomen.

Lower abdomen
1 point – individual hairs along the white line,
2 points - stripes of hair along the white line,
3 points - wide stripe along the white line,
4 points - hair growth in the form of a triangle

Shoulder
1 point - scattered hair more than ¼ shoulder, 2 point - more abundant by ¼, but not complete,
3 points - completely insignificant,
4 points - completely plentiful

Forearm

Hip
1 point and 2 points - continuous hair growth on the dorsal surface is insignificant,
3 points and 4 points - continuous abundant hair growth on the dorsal surface.

Shin
1 point and 2 points - continuous hair growth on the dorsal surface is insignificant,
3 points and 4 points - continuous abundant hair growth on the dorsal surface.

Young parents often wonder why their child was born with hair on his back. Is there cause for concern or is this situation normal?

Why does a child grow hair on his back?

Many babies are born with lanugo hairs, which develop from the time they are in the womb, from the twelfth week. Gradually the hairs die off, but are replaced by others.

The hairs gradually become thinner and less noticeable. For this reason, lanugo cannot pose a danger, because the main task is to protect delicate skin. Initially, the hairs retain a special substance secreted by the baby’s body and allow it to successfully develop in the womb.

At the same time, hair on a baby's back may appear after birth. Is this situation the basis for strong feelings? Before answering this question, it is important to understand why a baby may grow hair on his back after birth.

Reasons for hair growth on the back of infants:

• if a newborn is born with a large number of hairs on the back and other parts of the body, one can suspect the influence of heredity and the predominance of the hormone testosterone, which is responsible for such processes;
• The causes of abnormalities in hair development can only be determined by a doctor after an examination. To date, medicine has not identified specific causes for such deviations;
• premature birth of a baby. If the baby is not full term, the lanugo hairs have not completely fallen out;
• pathology. We can talk about this reason only if the hairs persist several months after the birth of the baby. Under such circumstances, you should consult a doctor who can diagnose and prescribe an effective course of treatment.

Vellus hair on the body of a newborn is not a typical disease, despite the fact that the baby can experience discomfort and pain.

How does vellus hair develop in a newborn? After the birth of a child, redness of the delicate skin is expected to appear, and this process is usually called physiological erythema. After a couple of months, the phenomenon goes away, but it is replaced by peeling of the skin, after which small hairs are discovered.

Such hair on the body of a newborn is vellus, but it can be felt if you stroke the baby’s delicate body.

How to remove hair on a newborn's back?

Unfortunately, vellus hairs on the back can lead to discomfort. For this reason, you need to know and understand what to do to alleviate the possible suffering of the baby. If a child is feeling anxious, certain recommendations can help improve the situation.

The herbal decoction should be strained and cooled

It is recommended to bathe in herbs in a bath

What to do if there is hair on the back of a newborn:

• It is advisable to bathe the child in herbs;
• after bathing, you should lubricate the skin with a special baby cream;
• Particular attention should be paid to the choice of clothing, since fleecy items can curl hairs and cause unnecessary pain to the little person.

In most cases, such hair is the remnants of thick hair that was there before birth, dead skin cells, and secretions of the sebaceous glands.

Poor care leads to the fact that hairs can roll down and resemble stubble. If you want to carry out prevention, they most often recommend daily bathing in herbs and lubricating the child’s body with a special cream with a fatty consistency.

If hair does appear on the back of newborns, it is advisable to show increased attention to the baby and monitor his condition.

What to do if the child is 4 months old and has a lot of hair on his body? Mothers of children may be interested in the following question: the child is already several months old, but there is still a large amount of hair on the body. Modern medicine cannot reliably explain such circumstances, and there are not even approximate ideas. If a tuft of hair on a child’s back is still present, you need to understand in what situations it is advisable to take additional action.

It is advisable to take certain actions if:

1. the child becomes anxious;
2. night sleep is disturbed;
3. the baby constantly cries;
4. Pediatricians cannot explain the cause of the pathological process.

Only in this case can you try to remove hair on the back of a newborn yourself, remembering that not all methods are suitable.

How to roll out back hair on babies?

When bathing, you are allowed to steam the baby’s shoulders and back, after which you can use folk remedies. With this approach, bristles should appear on the body, which signals the possibility of removing unwanted hair.

The following folk remedies are used for rolling out:

• black bread;
• fresh yeast;
• regular yeast dough;
• breast milk.

The dark bristles on the back of newborns look scary. But is she as scary as her frightened parents think? Why coarse hair appears on the back of a baby and what to do with it, we will tell you in this article.

What it is?

The existence of newborn stubble is actively disputed by traditional medicine and no less actively supported by alternative medicine. People call this strange phenomenon a “poker” or a “tickler.” The presence of such a phenomenon is indicated when dark, needle-like hair is visible through the baby’s delicate and thin skin. It is believed that they are the cause of anxiety for the newborn - the child may sleep poorly, cry often, arch his back if he is laid horizontally.

“Spikes” are also suspected when the hairs are not visually distinguishable, but the child is very worried. Alternative medicine describes the condition as the growth of abnormal hair due to excessive activity of the hair follicles, but for some reason the hair is denser than vellus hair and does not reach the surface. Located between the dermis and epidermis, they cause a condition in a child that can be compared to the condition of an adult who lies bare back on glass wool.

Doctors deny the existence of such a disease in principle. They point out that calling such hair stubble is a mistake. It is more correct to talk about lanugo. This is hair that grows on a child's body while still in the mother's womb. Lanugo appears after the 12th week of pregnancy and gradually disappears by the time of birth. It has no color, and the hairs themselves are distinguished by excellent thinness and weightlessness.

These thin hairs help retain the vernix lubrication, which up to a certain point covers the entire body of the fetus. When the skin becomes multi-layered and able to protect the baby, the lanugo begins to fall out. Scientists are inclined to believe that this mechanism is an atavism - a borrowed trait from distant ancestors. Other atavisms include the embryonic tail and gills at an early stage of pregnancy.

Sometimes certain factors that are not fully understood interfere with the processes of lanugo loss, and the child is born with partially intact hair. Then these first hairs fall out after birth within a few weeks. If hair loss is delayed for some reason, it is possible that there may be some disruption in the functioning of the hair follicles, due to which denser hairs—“spines”—appear.

According to official medicine, this phenomenon does not pose any danger, and therefore no treatment is provided for it. But this explanation is of little satisfaction to parents who do not sleep for several days due to the constant anxiety of their newborn child.

What to do and how to roll it out?

To begin with, the mother and father of a crying infant should make sure that the reasons for the crying do not lie in something else. Babies can cry for a variety of reasons - from hunger, cold or heat, damp diapers or uncomfortable diapers, pain. If the little one is well-fed, clean, the room is cool and damp enough, the diaper does not cause allergies, the child is healthy and does not arouse suspicion from the pediatrician, but the roar is such that the neighbors have already asked several times if everything is okay in the family, it’s worth a try detect the bristles if they are not visually visible.

Diagnosing indistinguishable bristles, which can be reliably hidden from the eyes of others in the layers of the skin, will require some patience from parents. First, the child should be bathed in warm water, the skin should be steamed well, then carefully blotted with a sheet or soft diaper. Avoid hard towels and rubbing movements.

A little breast milk should be placed on the baby's back if the mother is breastfeeding. To detect the “poker” in children who are bottle-fed, you can use baby cream. The milk or cream is rubbed into the skin of the back with gentle movements long enough until dark, almost black dots appear. If they appear, you can immediately proceed to rolling out the bristles, that is, to rid the child of suffering. To do this, you can use one of the described methods.

Bread

Store-bought bread or rolls are not suitable for this method. Parents will have to bake their own bread. The dough should be made classic, on dough. From still warm homemade bread, take a piece of crumb the size of a tennis ball and roll it up. Next, use intense circular movements to roll this ball along the child’s back. It is advisable to cover both the shoulder and forearm areas.

Usually, hard and prickly hair remains on the bread crumb, and the baby's skin becomes smooth and soft. If everything is done correctly, the baby will sleep more peacefully.

Egg

Usually a chicken egg can remove the bristles. It should be hard-boiled, cooled until warm, and peeled. The skin of the back is rolled out with a warm egg in the same way as bread crumb. If everything is done correctly, the hard bristles will begin to leave their place, bringing noticeable relief to the child.

Test

The dough for the procedure can be made in two types - either liquid, like for pancakes, or thick, like homemade noodles. In the first case, flour, sunflower oil and warm water are used. While still warm, the dough is spread on the baby's hairy back, lightly rubbed into the skin, after which the baby is wrapped in a diaper and left for 15 minutes. After the diaper is removed, hard “thorns” usually remain on the diaper.

The second method involves preparing a thick and elastic dough from the same ingredients. A ball the size of a tennis ball is molded from it, and with this ball they make circular movements with slight pressure on the skin of the back.

If you can’t roll out all the hairs the first time, the procedure can be repeated, but you will have to prepare a new portion of warm dough for rolling out again.

Bathing will help

A child with stubble or fuzz on his back should be bathed carefully and carefully. Hygienic procedures will not help you get rid of stubble right away, but you will definitely get results. Bathing water must be at a certain temperature - no higher than 37 degrees. It is better not to use soaps and skin care gels. If desired, you can add a glass of chamomile decoction to the water.

Do not use hard sponges or scourers. A soft baby sponge with micropores is suitable for washing the back.

What can't you do?

Parents can find a lot of advice on the Internet on how to remove stubble, but above we have given only child-safe ways to remove coarse and unpleasant hair. Other methods can pose a danger to the health and even the life of the baby. Let's talk about this in more detail.

Advisers who recommend taking the child to the bathhouse should be sent there too. It is strictly contraindicated for a newborn to take a steam bath. The baby's skin is thin, the network of blood vessels is located close to the surface, the thermoregulation of a baby differs from that of an adult, and therefore even a short stay in the bathhouse can lead to hyperthermia with all the ensuing consequences - disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system. Overheating can be deadly for a baby.

Recommendations from some healers regarding the use of honey and bee products for smearing and rubbing into a child’s skin can be the beginning of a severe allergic reaction, because honey is prohibited for children under three years of age, even externally.

Hello dear readers. Hair on a newborn's body can be scary for new parents. In this article you can learn about the causes of this manifestation, symptoms and methods of combating this phenomenon.

Baby born with body hair

In fact, parents should not immediately panic and worry if they notice the presence of hair on their baby in places other than the head. Most often, this phenomenon is observed in children in the first twenty-eight days of life. And by the first month there is no trace left of them. However, there are other options when increased hairiness is caused by abnormalities in the baby’s development. Then, you need to seek help from a specialist, undergo an examination and identify the exact cause of this phenomenon.

When my son was born, he already had black hair on his head (now he is blond). In addition, when I unwrapped him, I saw that on the back along the spine there was a strip of dark hairs, they were so airy, like fluff. But then I didn’t know anything about lanugo and was terribly afraid that it was some kind of deviation. The doctor who came for the examination explained everything to me, it just relieved my heart. So, like no one else, I understand the feelings of mothers who are faced with the appearance of hair on the back or other parts of the baby’s body. Our fluff came out on its own, about three weeks after giving birth.

Lanugo

Almost all cases of hair on the shoulders, back and ears of a toddler are explained by a phenomenon called lanugo. It turns out that when a baby is in the womb, his body is covered with such protective hairs. In some cases, especially if the baby was born earlier than expected, this fluff does not have time to fall off or wear off. And it is quite normal for it to persist for up to two months. In such cases, it is too early to talk about pathology. But if nothing changes in the future, and attempts to help the hair roll out are unsuccessful or the hairs begin to become blacker and stiffer, then you should consult a doctor.

Causes of hair

If hair grows on a child’s back, you need to know what reasons could cause this phenomenon.

1. Genetic predisposition. Especially if, in addition to the back, other parts of the body are covered with hairs.
2. Increased testosterone levels.
3. If the child was born much earlier than the expected time, most likely such hair is newborn fluff that simply has not yet had time to roll up.
4. Stigmas are abnormalities in hair growth and development.
5. If the child is already more than three months old, and the congenital fuzz is still present, it is a symptom of pathology. It is necessary to consult a doctor for advice. The specialist will be able to draw some conclusions during the initial examination and will also prescribe a number of tests, including genetic ones.
6. If the presence of hair on the baby's body is not the original fuzz, then its appearance can be caused by diseases such as hirsutism, hypertrichosis or Corneille de Lango syndrome.
7. There are cases when doctors cannot immediately determine the causes of increased hair growth. Then a diagnosis of kakidiopathic hair growth is made.

Symptoms

The baby may show signs indicating not only the presence of hair, which the mother may not have noticed yet, but also that its presence spoils the baby’s life, causing discomfort and even pain. Therefore, it is important to consult a doctor in such cases in a timely manner.

These are the signs:

1. The little one cries “bitter tears” and becomes irritable.
2. The baby loses his appetite and begins to act up.
3. The child does not sleep well, both during the day and at night. He often wakes up and is mopey.
4. In the “lying on his back” position, he begins to arch, and may even cry.

Methods for getting rid of lanugo

1. The most necessary thing is to observe the rules of personal hygiene. It is important to bathe daily and wipe areas with hair with a soft washcloth. After the water procedure, you can treat the areas where hair is localized on the body with a children's anti-inflammatory cream. Over time, the hairs will begin to become very thin and soft, and they can be easily removed by passing a cotton wool (slightly moistened) over the place where they grow.
2. Physical activity of children is important. Parents need to encourage the little one to turn or independently turn the baby from back to tummy and back. In addition, you can’t do without light gymnastics. This way, you can help the gun fall off as quickly as possible.
3. In addition, some parents resort to traditional methods of combating unwanted hair. They use honey or yeast, black bread or even breast milk. Using these products, you need to massage in a circular motion, thereby rolling off the fluff.

After reading this article, you have come to the conclusion that the presence of hair on different parts of the baby’s body does not always indicate the occurrence of pathology. The presence of a fuzz in a newborn in almost all cases indicates lanugo, and they disappear naturally. However, if increased hair growth bothers the toddler and even causes pain, then it is better to consult a specialist rather than self-medicate. In any situation, try to remain completely calm, because the little one senses his mother’s mood very keenly.