Monthly Archives: January 2011

We’ve already looked at a couple of the most commonly used hair loss treatments for people with less than 50 per cent hair loss, but what about more severe cases?

As with treatments for milder conditions, there are many options available for people with more than 50 per cent hair loss. These options can often be expensive, invasive and ineffective, so it is useful to know the pros and cons of each before making a final decision.

PUVA treatment

PUVA (psoralen + UVA) treatment involves taking a light-sensitive drug then undergoing a brief exposure to UVA light.

Pro: This treatment only takes three to six weeks to complete
Con: It is quite time consuming, as two to three sessions a week are required
Pro: It can be effective for more recent hair loss
Cons: The treatment does not have a very encouraging success rate at just 6 -12 per cent

Immunosuppressive medication

Pros: The treatment is designed to suppress the immune system so that the hair will have a chance to regrow
Cons: As it suppresses the immune system, the risk of infection is higher
Pros: This treatment is available on prescription via the NHS

If you notice your hair is starting to thin or fall out, the first thing to do is to go and see your doctor to get a formal diagnosis. Your doctor may refer you to a hair loss specialist, or they may prescribe or recommend a treatment.

There are a lot of treatments for hair loss now available, but not all of them may be worth the time and money for everyone.

If you are diagnosed with having less than 50 per cent hair loss, the following treatments may be available to you. Here are their pros and cons:

Topical Minoxidil (also known as Regaine or Rogaine)

Pro: This medicine has been known to be relatively effective on people with patchy hair loss
Con: It does not normally work for people with alopecia totalis or universalis
Pro: Although not available on prescription, a 5% solution of this medicine (lasting one month) costs around £20 online
Con: Side effects may include scalp irritation, itching or scaling.

Corticosteroids

Pro: This treatment, administered via lotion, cream or injection, is generally very effective in mild cases of alopecia.
Con: If taken for a long time, corticosteroids can lower the body’s ability to fight off infections
Pro: This medication is available on prescription
Pro: It takes around 4 to 6 months to show noticeable improvement

It can be difficult enough dealing with alopecia or another hair loss condition yourself; but supporting someone else with it can be even harder.

If your child (or pupil, if you are a teacher) has alopecia, you may need some guidance on how best to support them. It can be hard to know what to say or do, as well as trying to understand what the child is going through.

The alopecia support website for kids, www.headzup.org.uk , recommends bearing the following steps in mind:

• Get involved – You need to put aside your own feelings and encourage your child to feel comfortable talking about alopecia. Be honest, informative and supportive, so as to boost the child’s self-esteem but not give them unrealistic expectations.

• Give your child a say – When it comes to treatment and hair loss management, let your child decide what to try and what route to take next.

• Get as much information as possible – This knowledge will allow you to confidently advise and reassure your child.

• Tackle bullying – You first need to recognise if your child is being bullied, then encourage them to open up to you. Next, contact the school to get to the root of the problem.

One of the reasons why female hair loss conditions such as alopecia are so distressing for sufferers is because of how suddenly they can occur. Seemingly without warning, some alopecia sufferers have woken up one morning to find that some of their hair has fallen out. If this happens, the first question that often comes to mind is “why me?”

Whilst you will only find out the likely cause of your hair loss condition by visiting your GP or hair loss specialist for a formal diagnosis, a common factor in alopecia sufferers is genetics. Your susceptibility of developing alopecia can be affected by hereditary factors. In fact, around 25 per cent of alopecia patients have a family history of the condition.

However, alopecia is not a single gene that can be passed on; it is a combination of different genes that predispose you to the condition.

Other factors

As well as hereditary factors, you may be more likely to get alopecia if you have had asthma, eczema or a thyroid disease.

Combined with these factors, there is also evidence to suggest that the onset of alopecia is triggered by emotional or physiological trauma or stress.

Trichotillomania is a hair loss condition and impulse control disorder characterised by the sufferer pulling out their own hair as a result of compulsive urges. It is not as well-known as conditions such as alopecia, but is starting to attract more awareness thanks to documentaries such as Channel 4’s “Girls on the Pull”.

Where does the name come from?

Trichotillomania comes from the Greek trich (meaning ‘hair’), till (meaning ‘to pull’) and mania (meaning ‘an abnormal love for a specific action’).

What are the signs and symptoms of trichotillomania?

People who have trichotillomania are likely to show signs of broken hair or bald patches mainly on the scalp, although hair can be pulled out from any area of the body. Sufferers are often secretive about their behaviour, which is why the condition frequently goes unreported.

Why does it happen?

Some people with trichotillomania report a sense of tension before pulling out hair, and relief or gratification afterwards. Some sufferers do not concur with this, whilst others pull their hair in a trance-like state. The condition is also strongly linked with stress, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.

Is there a cure for trichotillomania?

Children with trichotillomania often outgrow the condition, whilst adults may need to consider behaviour modification programmes or psychiatric assessment.

In a candid interview with the Daily Mail recently, the model and actress Danielle Lineker has opened up about her battle with alopecia when she was just a teenager.

Danielle, 31, used to be known simply for being the much younger wife of the former footballer Gary Lineker, who is now a popular TV sports presenter. She has now carved out a career of her own in modelling, TV and theatre, but she wasn’t always so confident.

Admitting she was extremely shy as a teenager, Danielle says that she was trying to overcome it when she developed alopecia at age 17. The condition is likely to have been triggered by the stress of her A-level course. She says:

“I felt overwhelmed by my A-levels. I was the first person in my family who’d done them and I didn’t want to let them down. That’s when the alopecia started.

“I lost most of the hair on top of my head for about seven months. I had a bald patch on top and I had to resort to an embarrassing “comb-over” and coloured in any gaps with eyeliner. I don’t know if it was a subconscious thing to do with my studies.”

Danielle has now overcome her female hair loss condition, which she claims is due to a positive outlook and the support of her husband and family.