Meet The Baby Diagnosed With Super Rare ‘Uncombable Hair Syndrome’
Meet The Baby Diagnosed With Super Rare ‘Uncombable Hair Syndrome’
One of the things that sets babies apart from adults is their soft, easily combable hair. That’s why for adults with super soft hair, we call it “baby hair.” However, not all babies have this kind of hair. Some have a rare condition making their hair ‘uncombable.’
There’s a very rare condition called “Uncombable Hair Syndrome,” where a baby’s hair isn’t possible to comb at all. The hair is soft, however it sticks straight out of the head and is extremely fragile. That’s exactly the rare condition that this baby has.
Locklan Samples, a 16-month-old baby boy was diagnosed with the syndrome. His mother, Katelyn, wants to raise awareness of the condition, especially to those who are not aware that this condition exists.
Locklan, whom they lovingly call “Lock,” is just one of 100 known cases that was diagnosed with “Uncombable Hair Syndrome.” Even though his hair is fragile, he doesn’t have any other symptoms that could affect his health.
Lock though was not born with known symptoms of the condition. In fact, he was born with completely normal jet black baby hair. But when he turned 6 months old, this is when his hair started to be replaced with what his parents call “peach fuzz.”
In an interview with PEOPLE, his mom, Katelyn shared, “We were like, huh, what is this? We knew it was different but didn’t know exactly how. And then it kept growing and growing.”
And at 9 months old, Lock’s hair had turned to a white-blond color, which is the same color as the hair of his 3-year-old brother, Shep. Their hair is different though as Locks’ had a much different texture. It’s super soft and is sticking straight up out of his head.
Katelyn shared, “People were definitely noticing it.”
Not only the people who see Lock are noticing his unique hair, but even those in social media too. When the mother was not aware that Lock has this condition, she came across it one time when a complete stranger messaged Katelyn on Instagram telling her about “uncombable hair syndrome.”
At first she was scared. She said, “I was like, oh my God, what is this? Is something wrong with my baby? I went into tailspins on Google.”
To confirm, she also called Locks’ pediatrician. She was then referred to a specialist who told her that she’d only seen “uncontrollable hair syndrome” once in her 19 years of being a doctor. Katelyn said, “She didn’t think it was uncombable hair syndrome, because of how rare it is, but they took samples and a pathologist looked at it under a special microscope.”
The results confirmed that Locklin does have the “uncombable hair syndrome.”
Katelyn says, “You’re just going about your day thinking everything’s fine and that your kid might have curly hair, which does run in the family. And then to hear that there’s a rare syndrome associated with your kid — it was crazy.” She adds, “I hardly have to wash it, unless he’s literally playing in the dirt, because it doesn’t get greasy. It’s incredibly soft, and people want to touch it all the time. I hardly brush it, because it’s very fragile. I just try to be very gentle with it and not mess with it unless I have to.”
Other than his rare condition, Lock has been developing normally as would be expected in other kids his age. The only thing the syndrome seems to affect the little boy is his hair. And that is not something that he should worry about.