Last Friday, instead of my usual black socks, I wore gray socks. Today, I discovered all my leg hairs below the sock line are gone. What combination of bleach, detergent, fabric softener, etc. could have caused this?
Usually, my wife likes to use bleach with the “whites,” where I could see her putting my gray socks. However, she also uses bleach on my towels and underwear, which do not cause me go to bald.
Why would the gray socks only cause hair loss?
Note: no dryer sheets, if that makes a difference.
Not to be alarmist, but that’s indication to see your doctor. It’s possible that it’s just your laundry (but it would be extremely weird for it not to burn, itch or feel weird while removing your hair), or the rubbing of the socks breaking off the hairs (but why now and not the last dozen times you wore the socks?)
Sudden hair loss on the legs can be a sign of diabetes that’s not controlled or of peripheral vascular disease. Basically, if the blood vessels and capillaries in your legs are constricted or the insides of them narrowed for some reason (diabetes, atherosclerosis, etc.), they can’t feed the hair follicles, so the hair gets weak and breaks off easily.
I say your leg hairs were going soon anyway, due to age and/or diabetes or other reason, and the socks were tighter, and/or made of a different, grippier material that was just enough to loosen them leg hairs up.
Meh. I lost most of that hair years ago, just on the front shin below the sock line. Never figured it was a cause for worry, although if you lost it all at once I can see why it would be a concern.
When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, my endocrinologist estimated that I’d had the disease for 7 years, just by looking at my leg hair loss. That was 14 years ago, and now I have no leg hair whatsoever. And the hair on the rest of my body is thinner.
And do you have darker areas in your lower legs? That’s a symptom of peripheral artery (or vein) disease.
Were you wearing (new) boots by any chance? My husband’s leg hair gets rubbed off on one side of his ankle by the way his boots rub against the skin (you can see it trying to grow back at the roots). But all the way round your leg seems a bit odd. As well as diabetes, hair loss can be a symptom of hypothyroidism, though I’m not sure it would normally affect just one part of your leg…
Yep since this thread started, I’ve been checking my symptoms against diabetes symptoms, and it looks grim so far. I’m going to have to see a doctor soon.
I am positive I had hair there before, but I didn’t check recently, so I don’t know if it’s gradual or sudden. I’m back to my usual socks today. However, I didn’t wear socks the entire weekend, and I don’t see any new growths.
Yeah I had a lot of the symptoms in the past few years. I had a complete blood panel about 3 years ago and I was fine. However, in the past 6 months or so, I’ve gotten new symptoms like rapid weight gain.
Nope, same shoes. Usually outside of work I wear slippers. Actually I had something-thyroidism (I forget if it was the one where my hormones were too high or too low) years ago.
Thanks all, it looks like I need to have the doctor check me out for diabetes.
Well, that stinks. But on the other hand, Type II diabetes that doesn’t come on until your age is often well-controlled by diet and exercise, and sometimes oral medications. If you can get it under control with those methods, you won’t need insulin, except maybe when you get sick or need surgery or somethin’.
Yes, go see your doctor, and soon. The sooner you get a diagnosis and start treating it, the less scary diabetes is.
