Hair Lose

							      Every day I hope my h
       Danielle Bear, 28, from London reveals how she lost her hair, and why she’s
       involved in Coleen Nolan’s new show The Secret Guide to Women’s Health…
        NEW SERIES THE SECRET GUIDE                                                                              that I was “ugly” and that he “must have
        TO WOMEN’S HEALTH                                                                                        done something awful to end up with
        Tue 16, 10pm, Sky Real Lives (278 HD/243)
                                                                                                                 me looking like that”. I was left feeling like
       When I was a child, I had thick, long                                                                     a monster, but I stayed with him, because
       hair. When I became a teenager I loved                                                                    I believed no one else would have me.
       to experiment with it. I’d dye my hair                                                                       I never spoke to friends or family about
       all the colours of the rainbow, from                                                                      my alopecia. They all tried to show their
       blue-black to red or streak my hair blonde.                                                               support, but I thought that if I didn’t talk
       I was full of confidence with lots of friends                                                             about it, it didn’t exist. I wore a wig, drew
       and a long-term boyfriend. I hadn’t a care.                                                               my eyebrows on and never went out
           But at 18, I noticed my hair had started             After her initial hair loss, Danielle wore a wig without sunglasses, in case people could
       to thin. It was falling out in tiny patches,                                                              see that I didn’t have eyelashes. The wig
       but would grow back again. Even though                 to fall out in huge clumps. I rushed to the        was uncomfortable and it never really
       my boyfriend and friends didn’t notice,                doctor, but in the space of a few days             suited me. I was struggling to cope. My
       I was horrified. I immediately went to the my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, even my                          mum did try to talk to me about what had
       doctor but there was nothing they could body hair, started to fall out. Nothing                           happened but I found it far too difficult.
       do. I went to dermatologists, GPs, hair                would stop it. I was tested for stress,            I was totally withdrawn. The person I saw
       specialists, trichologists and naturopaths. thyroid problems and iron levels before                       in the mirror wasn’t me anymore, and
       I tried everything possible to stop the hair I was offered various kinds of topical                       I hated it. I became so shy that I began to
       loss. The patches were only tiny, but deep solutions, including steroid injections                        hate leaving the house and I just stayed in
       down what was really on my mind was my in my scalp to slow the loss, but soon                             bed all day. I even stopped exercising as
       mum. She has alopecia. Her hair fell out               it was too late. My hair had gone.                 it was too uncomfortable in the wig and
       when I was born and for 27 years it has                   As a woman, especially in your youth,           I began to gain weight. Then at my lowest
       never grown back. My greatest fear was                 your looks are incredibly important to you. point, I finally split with my boyfriend.
       that it had started to happen to me, too… I know they shouldn’t be, but they are. I was
                                                              21 and I should have been having a whale A NEW BEGINNING
       A DEVASTATING WEEK                                     of a time, but all I wanted to do was hide.        A few years later I started to date a good
        A while later, I had become used to the               The doctors had no cure and, as I wasn’t           friend of mine called Woody. He had
       tiny patches in my hair, and they were easy physically sick, I was left alone without                     known me when I had hair, and he knew
       to hide. I began university and started to             emotional or psychological support.                that I had lost it. It didn’t bother him, and
       make friends. Then one morning while                      Life went from bad to worse. My long-           every day he would tell me that I was            WORDS: EMMA LOUISE FORD PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
       I was brushing my hair, it suddenly started term boyfriend reacted terribly, saying                       beautiful. I couldn’t wish for a better
36                                                                                                               boyfriend. I finished university and
         Hair loss: the facts                                                                                    moved from my hometown in Adelaide,
                                                                                                                 Australia to London, to work as a Critical
          There are three main
          types of hair loss:
                                           of hair are lost. In most cases
                                           hair grows back in a year.
                                                                           •         Telogen effluvium
                                                                                   General thinning of the hair,
                                                                                                                 Care Dietician in a hospital. For three
                                                                                                                 years I had absolutely no hair, top to toe,
         •   Male pattern baldness         One in five will develop
          The most common, mainly alopecia totalis (no scalp               •
                                                                                   normally temporary.
                                                                                     The charity Alopecia UK     but then suddenly, without apparent
          seen in men and hereditary. hair) or alopecia universalis provides advice, support                     cause, my eyebrows and lashes grew
         •   Alopecia areata Affects (no hair on scalp or body).
          mostly teens and young           There is no completely
                                                                                   and information. Call
                                                                                   020 8333 1661 or visit
                                                                                                                 back. Then within another year, my hair
                                                                                                                 grew back! I was ecstatic! I felt liberated.
          adults, where small patches effective treatment.                         alopeciaonline.org.uk         The joy of not having to wear a wig, draw on
                                                                                                                 eyebrows or constantly think about what




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