Hair Loss Video Inspires Three Year Old to Donate Hair

A video showing children who had experienced hair loss due to medical treatment has inspired a little girl from Maine, USA, to donate her hair to charity. Three-year-old Ariana Smith saw the video and asked her dad, Josh, why one of the little girls in the video was bald. He says, “I explained that she was sick and the medicine made her hair fall out.” His daughter replied, “Oh. She can have some of my hair.”

Hair loss charities

It was only after a conversation with his wife that Mr Smith realised there were hair loss charities which accepted donations of hair from the public. After speaking to Ariana about her decision, the family chose the Locks of Love charity to donate her hair to, so that children experiencing medical hair loss could benefit from her donation.

A drastic haircut

Ariana said, “How about I give up something that I have so a little girl can feel pretty,” before she had 10 inches of her long blonde hair cut off at the family hairdressers. The charity, Locks of Love, assists children experiencing hair loss caused by any medical condition, creating custom hair pieces for every child they help. Medical conditions which could lead to hair loss in children include (but are not limited to) alopecia, cancer, telogen effluvium (a hair loss condition linked to sudden shock), chronic telogen effluvium (brought on by on-going trauma, such as a bereavement), trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling) and Loose Anagen Syndrome.

Medical hair loss

There are hair loss charities across the globe that work with children experiencing medical hair loss, such as the Little Princess Trust in the UK, a children's cancer charity which uses donated hair to make specially designed wigs for children experiencing hair loss after cancer treatment.

Hair loss in children is not uncommon and accounts for 3% of all visits to the doctor. If your child is experiencing signs of hair loss, it is important to see your GP as soon as possible. There are many causes of hair loss in children, and it may be related to a medical condition such as alopecia areata, or it could be indicative of stress, poor diet or an underlying issue such as compulsive hair pulling - or even tight hairstyles.