Southampton Studio - Alopecia Management

Alopecia explained

While there are other types of hair loss, we see a lot of Alopecia at our Southampton studio. In one sense that's not surprising since the word simply means hair loss, and it's the other word usually alongside it that defines what type it is. However the full name of the best-known version - Alopecia Areata - is often shortened in media articles and discussion and is the type which is most visible and alarming, since it causes distinct bare patches and can appear very suddenly.

There are a number of other different types of Alopecia - you can see more information about most of them on our Living with Hair Loss blog post - The different types of Alopecia explained - but the areata form is probably the best known as it tends to be highlighted in the media if a celebrity suffers from it.

The other most common form is Androgenetic Alopecia which comes on much more gradually and usually causes overall diffuse thinning. This type, as the name suggests, is hereditary. If your mother or grandmother or aunt suffered from it then there's a good chance you will too at some point.

Medicine isn't much help

Unfortunately western medicine has so far had little success in combating either of these types of hair loss, although you wouldn't realise that from the many adverts that promote a variety of processes - often proclaimed as a new breakthrough from America - using lasers, infra-red light helmets, or injecting platelets into your scalp. Such processes have not been proven to have much, if any, benefit, and alongside the vast array of "hair loss shampoos", creams and lotions, and whatever the latest "superfood" is this week, are more often aimed at parting you from your money than fixing your widening parting. In most cases of apparent success it is merely down to the unpredictable nature of Alopecia Areata, which can sometimes disappear on its own - though it can just as easily return later as was the case with TV presenter Gail Porter. The androgenetic form can't be reversed and is a progressive condition.

One of the few cases where drugs can sometimes help is with Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia which affects the front and side hairlines leaving behind scar tissue on which hair can no longer grow. If caught early enough its progression can be slowed down with steroid creams and immunosuppressant drugs which can reduce inflammation - but even there in most cases they delay but don't cure the condition.

The type of transformations we can make to women's hair

Our Solution

We don't offer either medical treaments or any of the pseudo-scientific ones. What we can do, and have been doing successfully for nearly 40 years, is disguise hair loss so well that no-one will know that you suffer from it. Our expert staff at the Southampton studio have long experience of how such conditions can be completely concealed, and of reassuring women who despair of ever having attractive hair again that they can be more glamourous than they ever imagined.

Our options include different varieties of our Intralace Systems, and ultra-fine Medi Connections extensions, depending on the type and extent of hair loss in each case. These are not "standard solutions" - each system is specifically tailored to the individual concerned, the type of hair loss they have, and the amount, strength, and location of their remaining hair.