Category Archives: Hair Managment options

According to recent statistics, around 30 million women in the US suffer or have suffered from thinning hair, with a further 1.6 million UK women admitting some degree of female hair loss too.

Hair loss is a common problem, more common than you may think, and sufferers can go through a whole range of psychological traumas because of it. London trichologist Dr Philip Kingsley sheds light on why losing hair can have such a devastating impact of self-esteem, confidence and emotional well-being:

“You don’t need it to keep you either warm or cool, so its primary function is to increase attractiveness.”

In modern times, hair is a sign of beauty. You only need to switch on the TV and see a shampoo advert featuring a glamorous supermodel to see that. If a woman loses her hair, it causes her to reassess everything about her physical appearance, and can make her feel a loss of youth, sexuality and femininity.

This doesn’t have to be the case. The fact that there are many other sufferers of thinning hair out there means that there is a lot of support for female hair loss, in the form of specialist clinics and trichology professionals. These experts can help you find ways of managing your thinning hair – through solutions such as human hair wigs or the intralace hair system – so that daily life becomes easier.

There are a number of methods for managing hair loss and many cases a wig is not the best solution. Even in cases where someone has experienced total hair loss, there are alternatives. For example, the Intralace system.

What are the advantages of the Intralace system?
First of all, the Intralace system offers greater flexibility than a wig. For people suffering only partial hair loss, the Intralace system can be integrated with your natural hair.

It is also the case that, unlike with wigs, you only need one Intralace system. No spare is required because it is possible to attend the hair loss clinic when necessary if anything needs to be done. It lasts for two to three years and offers much greater freedom than a wig. It also offers a natural hairline, which means greater realism.

If you use the Intralace system, you can highlight and colour your hair when you visit the clinic and treat your hair completely as normal. You can do activities and play sports and can even swim with it in place. Maintenance is only required about once every six weeks.

Losing your hair to any degree can have quite profound psychological effects. It can reduce your self confidence and give rise to anxiety and depression. Different people will respond in different ways and a lot will depend on the extent to which that person is losing hair.

Different degrees of hair loss also require different management options. Slight, patchy hair loss can often be camouflaged using scalp make-up for example or even by styling the hair in a certain way. However, when hair loss becomes greater, you need to look to other treatments. There are several options and what you choose will probably depend on how much hair you have lost.

A consultation is advisable to discuss different hair management options. Here are three recommendations:

• Medi Connections – this treatment is ideal for hair that is thinning or for milder cases of alopecia areata. Medi Connections are essentially an ultra fine version of hair extensions.
• Intralace System – this can be used for greater hair loss, such as that resulting from trichotillomania. It can be integrated with existing hair.
• Intralace Freewear – this is used for alopecia totalis (total hair loss).

A well-known effect of undergoing chemotherapy is that a person loses hair. It may be that they only experience a thinning of their hair, or it could be that they experience alopecia totalis, which is total hair loss.

In the majority of cases, the hair will regrow after the course of treatment, but it will take a while to do so and in the meantime the person in question may want to manage their condition. It may also be the case that hair transplantation is required to fully restore hair, although full regrowth will normally occur.

Different treatments affect a person in different ways. Some drugs lead to hair loss more frequently than others and it also depends on the person being treated.

If you have undergone chemotherapy and lost some or all of your hair, you have a number of options in terms of how you deal with this. The Intralace system is popular as a full head of hair can be created using only an inch and a half of regrowth. Intralace is integrated with a person’s hair and can be looked after as if it is the person’s actual hair.

Scientific studies have shown that hair loss in women produces greater levels of psychological trauma for the sufferer than for men. Whilst losing such an intrinsic part of your physical appearance can be distressing for both sexes, hair has much more significance for women.

What do women feel when they lose their hair?

Many women experience a massive drop in self-confidence when they lose their hair, as thick healthy hair is so often linked with beauty, youth and sexuality in today’s image-conscious society. Women pick up on this very easily, and it can be hard to shake off.

Some women worry about their attractiveness, whilst others – such as alopecia areata sufferers – feel frustrated that they can’t do anything to stop their hair falling out.

Social expectations

The other problem with female hair loss is the reactions of the people around the sufferer. Unlike male pattern baldness, hair loss in women is not seen as ‘normal’ and there is not such a strong support system in place for it.

Treatment

Female hair loss sufferers need not struggle alone with their condition. Thanks to increased awareness, there are now clinics which offer new and advanced treatments specially designed to help women manage or overcome their hair loss symptoms.

Many people believe the myths and old wives’ tales surrounding cures for female hair loss, which mainly include home remedies and ways to increase the circulation to your scalp. Unfortunately, improved circulation will not help with hair regrowth if you are suffering from alopecia or pattern baldness.

Female hair loss can be a debilitating condition, causing no end of emotional stress and issues with low self-esteem, so it is no wonder that many women go to incredible lengths to try and get their hair to grow back. They try creams and ointments, standing on their head or washing with ice cold water, and many unusual diets.

This is not the right way to cope with female hair loss. What you need to do is to see your GP and then a hair loss treatment specialist. You need a formal diagnosis so that you can perhaps uncover the cause of your hair loss, and subsequently find the right treatment for it.

There may not always be a cure for your condition, however, which is why there are many hair loss management solutions out there. You can try human hair wigs or even more sophisticated techniques such as the Intralace system, all whilst getting the expert advice and support you need.