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Alopecia
THE BALD FACTS
Gorgeous Scarlett is just one of the millions of young women around the world joining the bald brigade. When Scarlett Johansson turned up at the Berlin Film festival recently, she turned heads for all the wrong reasons. The superstar was sporting a noticeable thinning patch on the back of her head, and it seems she’s not the only one.
As any hairdresser will tell you, a woman’s hair is their castle, so can you imagine the heartache of suddenly waking up with clumps of hair on the pillow or watching in horror as the bathroom plughole piles high with hair?
Linda Poulous, age 47, knows well after losing all her hair at 17.
‘Out of the blue my hair started fell out in clumps. My doctor told me I had Alopecia Universalis and would lose my hair my eyebrows and my eye lashes for the rest of my life.’
Within six weeks, Linda was completely bald. Whilst this kind of Alopecia is rare (it affects less than one per cent of alopecia sufferers) slight patchiness or thinning hair is very common on women and hormonal hair loss or androgenic alopecia –this happens to 55% of women as they age but is only severe in 20% of them.
Stress
Yet another cause of hair thinning or loss may be caused as a response to stress. This kind of baldness is called Telogen Effluvium and occurs when the hair follicles are stimulated by the natural steroids produced during stress and prematurely move from their active growing phase to the resting state.
Difficulties with child birth, any prolonged illness or surgery and the distress of living a fast paced life are associated with this rapid hair loss. But because the hair bulb at the root of the strand is not destroyed once the life event is managed the hair usually grows back in six to eight months without treatment.
What to Do?
For alopecia universalis treatments to stimulate the follicle fail to work says Dermatologist Dr Ian Hamann. “Alopecia is unpredictable and treatments are aimed at encouraging hair to regrow. Whilst it may, often without treatment, there is no guarantee that the reaction that caused its loss might not happen again.”
Linda Poulous: ‘I felt so sorry for myself but I remember sitting unhappily in the outpatients ward, worried about the way I looked and all around me we children who were battling cancer!'
‘So I thought; grow out of it and get a life and I never looked back,’ says Linda who now happily wears wigs and scarves. ‘Hair-pieces have changed so much in recent times and these days there are fantastic natural looking wigs, based on silicon which accurately and comfortably fit your head and contain human hair which has replaced older synthetic fibre.'
Wigs containing human hair cost up to $6000 but for people who can't afford this or where the hair loss is only partial your local hospital’s wig library may be able to help. Most large hospitals and in some states, the Cancer Council can help and advise about a Wig Libraries.
TOP TIP
It was once thought to be just an anti-dandruff shampoo but Nizoral may also help reduce hair shedding when used three times weekly for six months, according to a study presented to the American Academy of Dermatology.
Hair Raising Facts
There are a lot of myths about baldness here’s just a few.
Wearing a cap will cut off blood supply to the scalp. Dr John’s verdict: Wrong! Hats can disguise baldness, protect from skin cancer and don’t hurt us unless they are super tight.
Massaging the scalp will improve hair growth. Dr John’s verdict: Not much evidence for this one either!
Hair protects us. Dr John’s verdict: True. When walking under a low tree for example, your hair can warn you you’re about to strike an object with your head.
Baldness is on your maternal grandfather’s side. Dr John’s verdict: Wrong again! baldness can come from both sides.
For help and support on hair loss see http://www.alopecia-sydney.com or http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aasa/.
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