My son was born with a full set of dark hair except for one patch of WHITE hair on the side? What is this?

Question

He is now 3 and still has it only the rest of his hair is now dark blond, but that white patch remains. People call him tow headed, but from my understanding of the meaning of tow headed it doesn't seem to fit. His doctor seems stumped as well as fascinated.

Answer 1

Sounds like that spot has a lack of pigment and as others have said it would've developed in-utero. Nothing to worry about, just one of those things that happen. My son was born with a white patch on his leg so much the same kind of thing.

Answer 2

i was born with exactly the same ... they put it down to a birthmark on my head but my white hair did end up growing out...

good luck with it... =D

Answer 3

We call them 'milk cravings' (all birthmarks are supposed to come from maternal cravings during pregnancy: coffee cravings, strawberry cravings, wine cravings like Gorbachev's...)

The reason is that for one reason or another melanocytes, which form together with other nervous cells and then migrate to the skin, failed to reach that spot.

Usually it is harmless but in SOME cases it is related to other conditions.

A class of cells that makes up the hearing system is related to melanocytes, so deafness and white tufts can go together. Also fairer sposts in the eye irises are to watch out for. A condition associated with white spots is Hirschsprung's disease, the lack of nervous cells in the last part of the large intestine, but if your son is 3 and healthy that would not be the case - Hirschsprung, when present, is easy to recognise, with constant severe constipation and an enlarged abdomen.

But don't worry - in most cases a spot is harmless.

Answer 4

It's most likely a birthmark. My cousin has the same issue but her's is probably about 5mm in diameter and on her head. So any hair that grows there is all white and the rest is brown

Answer 5

good luck it will save him on getting to the stylest

Answer 6

hmmm seems interesting. I have a friend with the same problem but he said that he didn't know why ether but the problem is just cosmetic nothing to worry about.

Answer 7

That is interesting! I would guess that when he was an embryo there was a mutation in one of the cells that would form the skin of his scalp that knocked out its ability to make melanin, the dark pigment of hair. That cell continued to divide as normal to create a patch of albino skin.

Is the skin in that patch paler as well?

It should not cause him any medical problems, except that if he loses his hair when he is older he will have a patch that won't tan!