Change Your Life in a Year

Change Your Life in a Year

“I found confidence after a ten-year battle with apocecia”

Charlotte Endacott, 34, runs a Gymboree baby play classes franchise. She lives in London with her four-year-old son, Thomas.

“It‘s hard to believe I started the year almost bald. When drying my hair after a shower ten years ago, I felt a bald patch at the back of my head. Within six weeks I had only a patch of hair the size of a grapefruit. Doctors diagnosed me with alopecia areata and, over the next few years, I saw dieticians, dermatologists and acupunctuarists, trying every treatment from pills to Chinese medicine. People ignored or patronised me, and I felt like a freak.

When my father died in 2007 - the same year I fell pregnant - the condition peaked. I’d landed a huge acting part in The Mousetrap in London’s West End, so I bought a wig to wear on stage. But in 2009, another director wouldn’t cast me because of it. My confidence shattered and I quit acting

My sister then heard about The Lucinda Ellery Clinic, which offers hair loss treatments. Lucinda suggested an Intralace System: a permanent mesh with panels of real hair sown in. It would look natural, but at the time I felt too low to try it. However, two years later, having broken up with my partner, I was ready for a fresh start, so I booked an appointment. The treatment took eight hours and afterwards I looked at my new long red hair and burst into tears. I walked out the door with my head held high for the first time in a decade.

Now my confidence has been transformed. I’ve started dating and even signed up for acting classes. Although I still have alopecia this hair feels like it’s mine. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t have the treatment sooner, but this was obviously supposed to be my year. And it’s been my happiest in a long time.”