All posts by miriam

This months Saga magazine has an article about female hair loss.  It states that approx 50% of women experience some form of hair thinning after the menopause.

The article mentions thickening hair products – there are a number of hair thickening products on the market which are a good way to help with mild thinning.  These products (sometimes known as coloured hair thickner or scalp makeup) can be applied to the hair to cover the parts of the scalp that is on show.  They are not suitable for areas where the thinning is severe or if there are any patches of hair loss.  These products are generally easy to apply and will wash out when you next wash your hair.

The article in Saga Magazine also includes the journalist’s experience of her visit to Lucinda Ellery. For a large number of ladies who experience a reduction in volume of their hair then Medi Connections or the Intralace System are the most effective ways of disguising the hair loss areas.  Although hair thickening products can be effective, clients who use them will often report that they would like something that lasts longer and something that does not need to be applied so frequently.  Using either Medi Connections or the Intralace System will give you natural looking volume and a head of hair that will feel like your own.

There are lots of ladies who are fortunate to have a full head of hair all their life but for those who are not so lucky then there are great techniques available to replace the hair that is missing.

The October issue of Easy Living (available in the shops now) has an article written by journalist Lisa Markwell about her recent chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.  She talks about how affected she was when her hair started to fall out during her treatment.  She came to see Lucinda Ellery for a consultation to discuss using the Intralace system until such time as she felt comfortable with her new hair growth underneath.  Lisa, like many other women that contact us, explained how she really could not feel herself until she had hair that looked like her own and that she could treat like her own.

The Intralace System is integrated with your growing hair and will not affect your regrowth.  The system is designed to last for two years but typically a post-chemo client will need the system for less than its life span.  It needs to be maintained (usually every 6 weeks) as it is connected to your own hair so as your hair grows, it will move away from the scalp and a trained technician at Lucinda Ellery needs to adjust it for you so that it remains secure.

One client who contacted us today having read the article in Easy Living magazine commented that Lisa Markwell had described in the article exactly what this client had felt about losing her hair from the cancer treatment.  She was very happy to hear that an option like the Intralace System is available to help someone manage their hair loss during such a difficult time.

I am sure Lisa appreciates that sharing her experience has raised awareness on how deeply upsetting it is for any woman to experience hair loss.

Channel 4’s ‘Embarrassing Illnesses’ and Embarrassing Teenage illnesses have both featured the hair loss conditions Alopecia and Trichotillomania.

More and more worried parents are calling us about their children’s hair loss problem. One lady enquired on behalf of her thirteen year old daughter who was being badly bullied at school because of her patchy hair loss. We know that hair loss is embarrassing anyway but children can be very cruel to each other.

The young girl in question dreads going to school everyday and has told her Mum that she would prefer to die than have to face her bullies. How sad that not only has she got to cope with all the other teenage challenges but her peers are teasing her about something that she can not control?

Children with hair loss problems will shy away from certain activities to avoid bringing attention to their hair – swimming and sleepover would be very difficult. I know one young girl who said she gained a reputation for being a loner so that people would not ask her to stay over and so that she could avoid the inevitable girly conversations about hair. Don’t underestimate the lengths people with a hair loss problem will go to just to avoid a hair conversation.

It is important to find the right cosmetic solution for children with hair loss. Timing is also crucial. A child will not want to go to school one day with patchy hair loss and arrive the next day with a full head of hair. Finding the right solution can make day to day activities much easier. We recommend speaking to an advisor at Lucinda Ellery so we can explain our services. We offer a free of charge consultation for children on the basis that we can offer advice in general and where appropriate, recommend one of our cosmetic options. What we do is not always suitable for younger clients so everyone is seen on a case by case basis to make sure we are right for them.

We appreciate that parents want to make the right choices to help their child.

Update

The company referred to in this post – Hair Direct – has sadly gone out of business. When we find a another company that can supply similar products to the public that are suitable for use with our systems we will update this post again with details.

We have tried many products that are used to help keep a hair replacement system in place. Usually a skin friendly tape and a skin friendly liquid adhesive are the most important ones in terms of keeping things secure. You also need certain products to clean the lace on the system and to clean your own scalp.

A great company we have come across is www.hairdirect.com. They stock a wide range of products and the service is excellent. They are based in the United States so you should consider this in terms of delivery times but our experience of them is that they are super efficient. You also have the option to send them an email to ask advice about what type of product would work best with your hair system. Certainly the white liquid adhesive, brisk spray, double-sided blue tape and the super-solve adhesive remover work well for our clients.

If you are using a wig and need to make things more secure then you should consider contacting them to see if they can recommend a product for you. For those with sensitive skin there is a ‘cloth tape’ which has worked very well for those of our clients who could not use the other types of tape due to their skin type. There is a wide selection of products available on their website so to avoid confusion maybe the first step would be to email them an outline of your requirements. Great company with tip top service.

We get a number of telephone enquiries everyday from people wanting to organise a consultation or from people that want to find out about our services in general.

One client recently enquired with us and she said she was overwhelmed to discover that there was actually a name for her type of hair loss and also that there were other people with the same problem – Trichotillomania. She explained that her call to us was particularly difficult as she had never told anyone the real reason for her hair loss. Her parents had assumed that it was Alopecia and so she went along to various appointments but was never willing to say that her hair loss was a result of hair pulling. I explained to her that we have had similar calls in the past – many of our Trichotillomania clients would have kept their hair pulling a secret. This hair loss type is something we deal with on a daily basis and it is very important to put the caller at ease – imagine having kept something like that to yourself for years and years, I can appreciate that having the conversation with me was quite daunting but the client was happier having taken the plunge.

There is now more information about Trichotillomania on various websites but not everyone uses the net and this lady said she would not have even considered doing a search for hair pulling – she really did think she was the only person that did this. She happened to be reading a colleague’s magazine during her lunch break and there was an article about a client of ours with Trichotillomania in the ‘real life’ section. She stored the info in her head for 6 months before making the call to us.

This lady has now been to see us for a consultation. She had the opportunity to speak to another of our clients with the same problem and she is now focused on getting the help that was recommended. She is having her hair done with us but alongside that she is now having appointments with a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. Talking through the problem with both us and her CBT specialist has been a real positive step forward for her. It would seem that this is a happy ending to a lonely experience.

This is a hair loss type that can be caused by many factors to include childbirth, severe illness, medication, hormones or dieting. 

There tends to be a sudden reduction in volume as opposed to patchy hair loss.  Of course, like all types of female hair loss it is distressing but it does tend to correct itself after a number of months.

If you are worried about your hair then you should consider visiting a registered consultant trichologist who will be in a position to advise as to what is the best course of treatment for your hair.