Hair loss in children can be difficult to deal with, for both the child with the condition and his/her family. But for one little girl with alopecia in Iowa, USA, her whole community has found a great way to support her and make life a little easier.
Kourtney Berg, who is just 8 years old, was diagnosed with alopecia areata universalis (complete loss of hair all over the body) earlier this year. Getting a formal diagnosis for hair loss can be tough, mainly because it can have so many causes. For Kourtney, it took years of tests and appointments with dermatologists, allergists and rheumatologists to find out why she was losing her hair.
Speaking of how the condition has affected her daughter, Kourtney’s mother Missy said:
“She’s got a few eyelashes left, but that’s it,”
“Everybody who sees her thinks she has cancer.”
To support Kourtney and her family in dealing with alopecia, the local community in the town of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is putting on a benefit dinner. It’s a spaghetti evening held at the local Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, with all funds raised going towards sending Kourtney and her mother to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) convention held in Los Angeles this June.
One of the world’s largest fundraising events, Swimathon 2011, is taking place this April. Leading the fundraising efforts in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care are famous alopecia sufferers Gail Porter and Duncan Goodhew.
The Scottish TV presenter Gail Porter and Olympic gold medallist Duncan Goodhew, who is also the president of Swimathon, are both known for having lost their hair to the autoimmune disorder alopecia universalis (total loss of hair on the body). This is partly why they are lending their support to Swimathon 2011, as the funds raised and donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care will support nurses in helping sufferers cope with cancer and the side-effects of chemotherapy treatment, which include hair loss.
Speaking of his role as Swimathon President, Duncan Goodhew said:
“For me, this tops winning a gold medal”
“We saw the success of the London marathon and thought that we should be able to do something similar through swimming.”
Swimathon 2011 will take place between the 8th and 11th April at more than 575 swimming pools up and down the country. More than 20,000 swimmers will be taking part, hopefully raising over £2 million for Marie Curie and the Swimathon Foundation.
Losing your hair can make a massive dent in your self-confidence, as well as completely changing your perception of how you look. This can negatively affect your life if you let it.
To boost your confidence and self-esteem, and feel good about yourself again, try these helpful tips:
• Accept yourself and what you look like, as well as what’s happening to your hair. You can’t change it right now, so there’s no point making yourself miserable and wishing the problem would go away
• Stop comparing yourself to other people – even when you have hair, this will never do your self-esteem any good
• Remember: true beauty comes from who you are as a person. It doesn’t matter what physical changes you go through, you will always be you
• Try not to worry what other people think of you and what you look like – it is your own opinion that matters
• Take back control of what is happening to you, by researching your hair loss condition and getting a formal diagnosis from a trichologist (a hair loss specialist)
• If you need an extra confidence boost, consider human hair wigs or other, more advanced hair replacement solutions.
A number of female hair loss conditions are caused by emotional or physiological trauma, stress or hormonal changes in the body. This is why it is important to learn ways to beat stress, to avoid conditions such as alopecia areata and telogen effluvium which can cause considerable hair loss.
The following are a few useful tips to help you avoid or cope with stress:
1. Find out what stress really is. The sooner you are able to understand stress and its effects on the body, the better you will be able to recognise the signs and take positive action to reduce stress.
2. Sort out work problems. If excessive workload or bullying at work is causing your stress, you need to speak to your boss about it right away. Don’t be afraid to explain how you feel – everyone gets stressed sometimes and your health is more important than any deadline.
3. Talk out your problems with a close friend or someone you can trust. This can make you feel a hundred times better, as you work through what’s bothering you and release some tension.
4. Learn how to relax, and do things that help you to release stress. Some people like to read a book to wind down, whilst others prefer exercise to let off some steam and get an adrenaline boost.
Female hair loss can have many causes, not all of which you can do anything about (i.e. hereditary conditions). However, some types of hair loss can be caused by something you’re doing or more accurately – what you’re not doing.
The body needs certain vitamins, minerals and nutrients in order to stay healthy and specifically, create red blood cells. If you aren’t eating properly or getting enough of these nutrients as part of your daily diet, you could run the risk of developing anaemia. This condition has a wide range of symptoms, one of the most notable being hair loss.
There are three main types of anaemia that can trigger hair loss. These are:
Iron deficiency anaemia
This is the most common form of anaemia, caused by not getting enough vitamin C and iron in your diet. Symptoms include rapid hair loss, depression, dry hair, weight loss and paleness. Women are more susceptible to the condition than men due to menstruation.
Copper toxicity anaemia
This can be triggered by many things – eating too much meat, smoking, using prescription medications containing copper – and it can cause hair loss, insomnia, headaches and even hypoglycaemia.
Pernicious anaemia
This is a type of anaemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency and generally affecting people over 40 years old. It can cause weight loss, hair colour change, rapid hair loss and dry hair.
One of the worst things about suddenly or unexpectedly losing your hair is that you can often feel quite alone in what you are going through, like no one else could possibly understand.
It is true that it’s hard for people who haven’t experienced hair loss problems to really get how it feels, but sufferers tend to experience similar reactions. By knowing how other people with female hair loss feel about their condition, you needn’t feel alone.
The following are a few of the most common psychological responses to female hair loss. See if any of these sound familiar:
• Anxiety, panic and worry as hair starts to thin or fall out
• Feeling frustrated, helpless and desperate to take back control over your own body
• A drop in self-esteem and self-confidence
• Feeling unattractive and less feminine due to hair loss
• Worrying about the effect hair loss will have on relationships
• Endlessly thinking about hair loss and wishing you had more hair
• Trying anything and everything to get hair to grow back
If you have experienced any of these responses, you are not alone. Talking about your feelings with other hair loss sufferers who share them can really help you to cope, as will going to see a hair loss specialist for reassurance and professional advice.
Losing your hair can be difficult enough to cope with, but struggling to find the right medical help for your condition can make you feel even worse. If your doctor isn’t supportive or helpful enough, you need to find a new one to ensure that your condition is being treated correctly.
Here’s what to look for in a doctor, dermatologist or female hair loss specialist (trichologist)…
Your doctor should:
• Explain things clearly without being patronising
• Give you all the information you need, including contact details for support groups and hair loss charities
• Understand that you may be scared, frustrated and panicky
• Reassure you that other women are going through the same thing as you
• Listen to you, take your concerns seriously and try to answer all of your questions
On the other hand, your doctor should not:
• Make inappropriate or insensitive comments
• Treat your concerns and worries lightly, or refuse to believe you
• Tell you how you feel, rather than listening
• Be callous about the emotional effect of female hair loss
• Show impatience with you
• Cut short your appointments or miss out any vital steps in the diagnosis process
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects approximately 5 to 10% of women aged 12 to 45. It is an endocrine (hormonal) disorder that can affect fertility, but it has lots of other side effects and symptoms too.
The following are the main symptoms of PCOS:
• Irregular menstruation or missing periods
• Hyperandrogenism – this means that women with condition generally have increased levels of male hormones such as androstenedione and testosterone
• Abnormal weight gain
• Excess body hair (hirstutism)
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Oily skin or acne
Along with these symptoms, women with PCOS may also experience hair loss. This can vary from thinning hair to bald patches and mass shedding.
This symptom is likely to be caused by a female hair loss condition called telogen effluvium, in which an increased number of hairs enter the resting (telogen) phase and fall out. Hairs go through three stages – anagen (growth), catagen (transitional) and telogen (resting) – and at different times.
In women with PCOS, telogen effluvium is likely to be triggered by the hormonal changes taking place in the body, as well as possible thyroid problems.
If you think you may be suffering from PCOS and telogen effluvium, you should see your doctor or a trichologist (hair loss specialist) as soon as possible for a diagnosis.
Alopecia universalis is an advanced for of alopecia areata, a condition where the hair falls out in patches. It causes hair loss all over the body, including eyebrows, eyelashes and even pubic hair.
The condition is extremely rare, affecting only approximately 1 in 100,000 people. However, those people who do have alopecia universalis can often feel alone in their predicament as they believe no one else knows what they are going through.
It may give alopecia universalis sufferers some comfort to know that there are people all over the world with the condition, some of whom are very well-known.
High-profile figures with alopecia universalis
• John D. Rockefeller – the oil magnate and businessman often thought of as the richest man in history
• Duncan Goodhew – the former Olympic swimmer
• Matt Lucas – comedy actor most famous for the Little Britain TV series
• Art Harris – CNN reporter and journalist
• Dave McPherson – the lead singer and guitarist for InMe, the British rock band
• Charlie Villanueva – the professional basketball player who plays for the Detroit Pistons
• Dean Canto – the Australian racing driver
• Pierluigi Collina – a referee with the Italian Football Referees Association (AIA)
When most people see a child with no hair, they often assume that the child has a form of cancer or other illness. However, although chemotherapy treatment for cancer does cause hair to fall out, it is not the only cause of children’s hair loss.
Some forms of hair loss in children are more temporary than others, but all can be diagnosed properly if you just keep calm and take your child to see your GP.
The following are a few of the most common causes of children’s hair loss:
• Ringworm (also known as tinea capitis when it occurs on the scalp) – this is a fungal infection which causes patches of hair loss, itchiness, inflammation and scaling on the scalp.
• Alopecia areata – another common cause of hair loss, this condition causes small spots or patches of baldness on the scalp. It is thought to be caused by a problem with the immune system.
• Trichotillomania – this is a condition in which the child feels the compulsive urge to pull out their own hair. It happens a lot amongst children, but most grow out of it given the proper attention.
• Telogen effluvium – like in adults, this is a condition triggered by stress, illness, fever or surgery. The stressful or traumatic event can cause more hair than normal to go into the resting phase, after which it falls out. However, the hair should grow back after six months or so.
