Magic perm alopecia

A 7 year-old girl had developed multiple bald patches on her scalp for two months and was treated as alopecia areata or trichotillomania at another institution. Biopsy findings of the scalp lesion showed catagen follicles, trichomalacia and pigment clumps in the hair canals with little inflammatory cell infiltrates. Careful history revealed the patient had had "a magic perm" - a hair-straightening perm - one month before the bald patch began to develop. The condition could be called "a magic perm alopecia" as a form of cosmetic traumatic alopecia. The alopecic lesions showed further extension for three to four months. The lesions were beginning to recover five months after they first developed.