Unlike other types of hair loss condition, particularly ones that are hereditary, traction alopecia can affect anyone. It is caused by excessive strain or tension being inflicted on the scalp over a long period of time.

Traction alopecia is a gradual hair loss condition, where the hair starts to thin, recede or fall out in response to a continual pulling force applied to the hair. Therefore, it mainly affects people who opt to wear their hair in styles which put excessive tension on the scalp. This means that you could be at risk if you regularly wear:

• Tight ponytails or pigtails
• Braids
• Hair extensions
• Weaves

Hair weaves

Hair weaves present the biggest risk of the wearer developing traction alopecia, especially as the style is becoming more and more popular. The tight braiding and close-fitting hairpieces involved in getting and maintaining a weave can cause the hair to thin and even fall out. Ironically, weaves are often worn to cover existing hair loss.

A number of models and actors regularly wear hair weaves, as well as sporting all kinds of different hair styles, as part of their jobs, which makes the chance that they may suffer from traction alopecia all the more likely.

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.

You may have heard of telogen effluvium, in which emotional or physiological stress can cause the hair to rapidly thin or fall out completely, but you may not know be as familiar with the hair loss condition known as anagen effluvium.

Put simply, anagen effluvium is the rapid loss of anagen hair (hair follicles in the active growth phase) caused by cancer treatments such as systemic chemotherapy and radiation therapy (to the head).

This pathological hair loss is caused by the aggressive chemicals used to treat cancer, particularly treatments which use alkylating agents. The hair loss is often patchy at first, but becomes near total hair loss after numerous treatments. Many other drugs and medicines, often those used to treat common illnesses and diseases, can also cause anagen effluvium hair loss.

Hair regrowth

The good news for sufferers of anagen effluvium is that after the course of treatment is finished and chemicals are not introduced to the body any longer, the hair usually starts to grow back. It can take approximately six months for the first signs of hair regrowth to emerge, although this may of course vary from patient to patient.

Anagen effluvium is the pathologic loss of anagen hairs, classically caused by radiation therapy to the head and systemic chemotherapy, especially with alkylating agents.

We have already looked at alopecia areata and alopecia totalis, the two most common types of the hair loss condition known as alopecia, in which hair loss is restricted to the scalp or to small patches on the body. We now move on to the most dramatic and emotionally devastating variety of the hair loss condition – alopecia universalis.

Alopecia universalis is the most severe form of hair loss, involving the total loss of hair from all parts of the body, including the eyelashes and eyebrows. This onset of this condition often occurs rapidly, which can be very distressing for most sufferers.

The cause of alopecia universalis is believed to be an autoimmune disorder, in which the body attacks the hair follicles. The condition can afflict anyone of any age, and factors such as emotional stress and genetics are often named as triggers. This is the same way that researchers believe that alopecia areata and alopecia totalis are caused.

If you suffer from alopecia universalis – and an estimated 1 in 100,000 people do – you are not alone. There have been numerous well-known sufferers, such as the British comedian Matt Lucas, former Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew, NBA basketball player Charlie Villanueva and Australian racing driver Dean Canto.