Tinea Capitis

Hello Curlfriends!!!A couple weeks ago my sister (Christina) called me in a panic. Telling me that she had recently installed braids in my niece's hair, and she had noticed a bald spot. The first thing, I said to her was you have those braids too tight or maybe she is allergic to the weave. She went on to also say that my niece was also complaining of an itchy scalp. The advice I gave was... Take those braids out immediately!!! Christina took my advice, and took the braids out. As she was taking the braids out… She noticed huge amounts of hair coming out also from the scalp from the infected area. Well, She ended up taken my niece to the doctor, and she was diagnosed with having Tinea Capitis and was given a prescription-strength medicated shampoo.

So what is Tinea Capitis? Well, Tinea capitis is the scientific name for ringworm of the scalp. Tinea capitis (ringworm) is a disease caused by superficial fungal infection of the skin of the scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes, with a propensity for attacking hair shafts and follicles (see the image below).

Tinea capitis is highly contagious, and most common in toddlers and school-age children.

The fungi that cause tinea capitis produce spores that are shed into the infected child's clothing, brushes or combs, and even into the air around the child. These spores can survive for months on objects. Children get tinea capitis after they come in contact with an infected person or animal, or after they come in contact with spores in other ways. For example, one common source of spores is classmates or adults who carry the spores on their skin or scalp without being infected.  Tinea capitis varies from a scaly noninflamed dermatosis resembling seborrheic dermatitis to an inflammatory disease with scaly erythematous lesions and hair loss or alopecia that may progress to severely inflamed deep abscesses termed kerion, with the potential for scarring and in some cases permanent alopecia.