Last week I noticed there was a big thinning patch on my daughter's head, spreading back from her temple. She has very long thick dark curly hair that she wears with a big side swept fringe which covered it up quite a bit, so who knows how long it had been there. Over the last week, the balding patch has spread right over the crown of her head, following her side part. The skin isn't completely smooth - there are nobbly hair follicles left behind. The hair around the balding patches is breaking off and there are spiky bits everywhere.

I've got an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the doctor, but just curious if anyone else has dealt with this and what it might be. I've asked Dr Google. He tells me it could be stress, a fungal infection, hair pulling (she straightens her hair a lot and puts strain on the hair that part of her head) or, what seems a distinct possibility, a rare reaction to the Hep B vaccine she received about three weeks ago.

The poor kid is freaking out - it's her first year at highschool and she's terrified she's going to lose the lot and be teased mercilessly. If it gets much worse, I don't know whether it would be better to just bite the bullet and have the whole lot cut really short and start again, or try to disguise it with what she's got left but then run the risk of the weight of it putting even more strain on what's left, since it's obviously brittle.