Pop star Christina Aguilera has raised fears for her much-dyed hair, after bald patches were spotted through her jet black tresses.

The FIGHTER singer - who is noted for her dramatically coloured, wacky hair-styles - was photographed emerging from Los Angeles restaurant THE IVY this month (OCT03) with the right hand side of her scalp betraying a series of bald patches.

And at Britain's Q Awards earlier this month (OCT03) the diminutive 22-year-old was seen desperately trying to cover up her missing strands.

A fellow guest tells British newspaper THE DAILY MAIL, "I was sitting behind Christina and she wouldn't leave her hair alone. On the front, right-hand side of her head there was a patch of scalp visible."

Leading trichologist PHILIP KINGSLEY believes Aguilera's love of artificial hair extensions are the most likely explanation for her problems.

He says, "Extensions often cause bald patches where they have gripped the scalp. It doesn't matter how they are applied, when the extensions are removed they can pull out a lot of hair.

"Having tight plaits - or dreadlocks - also causes problems, often leading to bald patches called traction alopecia.

"This means the hair has been pulled so hard to form the plaits that it falls out when they are taken out - although it does grow back."

17/10/2003 13:39