Hair falling out comes back white in patches

[LtColt]

My Son came back from Iraq, while in Iraq we noticed that patches of his hair would fall out and then come back in white.  These were in patches like the size of fifty cent pieces, first started on his head and then his beard and now into his chest hair.

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

A number of things can cause excessive hair loss. For example, about 3 or 4 months after an illness or a major surgery, you may suddenly lose a large amount of hair. This hair loss is related to the stress of the illness and is temporary.

Hormonal problems may cause hair loss. If your thyroid gland is overactive or underactive, your hair may fall out. This hair loss usually can be helped by treatment thyroid disease. Hair loss may occur if male or female hormones, known as androgens and estrogens, are out of balance. Correcting the hormone imbalance may stop your hair loss.

Some medicines can cause hair loss. This type of hair loss improves when you stop taking the medicine. Medicines that can cause hair loss include blood thinners (also called anticoagulants), medicines used for gout, medicines used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, vitamin A (if too much is taken), birth control pills and antidepressants.

Certain infections can cause hair loss. Fungal infections of the scalp can cause hair loss in children. The infection is easily treated with antifungal medicines.

Finally, hair loss may occur as part of an underlying disease, such as lupus or diabetes. Since hair loss may be an early sign of a disease, it is important to find the cause so that it can be treated.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/DS00278

It would be advisable to consult a skin specialist for this and then decide the cause and further plan of management.

Let us know if you need any other information.

Regards.