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My 6-year old has a small patch of white hair on his head. He's also grown about 6 white eyelashes. What could this be?
My 6-year old has a small patch of white hair on his head. He's also grown about 6 white eyelashes. What could this be?
htmASKTHEDOCwhitehairssixyearold
This could be vitiligo. This is a condition in which there is loss of color in the skin and/or hair. There are other more rare conditions that can do this. And sometimes people have a white patch of hair for no particular reason.
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InteliHealth
2011-05-16
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Claire McCarthy, M.D.
2013-05-16
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Harvard Medical School
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General Medical Questions
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Q: My 6-year old has a small patch of white hair on his head. He's also grown about 6 white eyelashes. What could this be?
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The Trusted Source
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Claire McCarthy, M.D.

Claire McCarthy, M.D., a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications, is an assistant professor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. She is an attending physician at Children's Hospital Boston.

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May 16, 2011
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A:

This could be vitiligo. This is a condition in which there is loss of color in the skin and/or hair. There are other more rare conditions that can do this. And sometimes people have a white patch of hair for no particular reason.

I recommend that you take your child to see a doctor. Vitiligo and some of the other conditions that can cause this may be associated with other health problems, so it's a good idea to get your son checked out. That's the best way to figure out what's going on, and if any further tests are needed.

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