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In the press...

Sarah’s story takes stress out of
hair loss in women

By LYNDSEY WRIGHT (Hexham Courant, 17/03/06)

MOST young women obsess about their hair, spending hundreds of pounds each year on the latest products and styles. It is seen as an expression of personality and even a person’s identity, and is often taken for granted.

That was so for Sarah Amies, of Hexham, who had beautiful long blonde hair as a teenager.But at the age of 20, and in her first year at university, it started to fall out in clumps.

Within a year, she was bald and quickly diagnosed with alopecia – a heart-breaking condition where the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles, causing it to fall out.

Sarah spent years obsessing over the loss of her hair and dreaming that it would one day grow back. But, 17 years on, she has come to terms with the fact her lovely long locks will never return. And, aware of the difficulties and embarrassment that hair loss can bring, she has gone on to start her own business selling wigs, called Hair to Wear.

“When I first started to lose my hair I was painfully embarrassed,” said Sarah. “I used to have really beautiful, naturally blonde, long hair but when I was 20 it started to fall out at a very alarming rate.

“It was very traumatic for both me and my family. When I returned home from university for the summer my appearance had changed dramatically and was quite shocking.

“It was a very difficult time, but I just could not talk to anyone about it and felt extremely self conscious and unattractive.” She added: “Over the years – it took a long time – I have come to terms with it and can accept that in my case, my hair is unlikely to grow back.

“Alopecia was a little known condition until recent years, with fewer than two per cent of the British population diagnosed with it.

Well-known celebrities including Little Britain star Matt Lucas and Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew have suffered from it since childhood. It is reported to be on the increase and has featured heavily in the national press recently, mainly because television presenter Gail Porter was diagnosed with the condition last year.

Because the hair follicles are not actually damaged there is always potential for the hair to grow back, and in many cases it does. But Sarah says: “Initially this is one of the most difficult things about living with alopecia. No-one can tell you how much worse your hair loss will get or how long it will last.

“The fact that there is no definitive explanation for what causes alopecia – stress and trauma are common theories – and there is no cure, makes it much more difficult to deal with. You beat yourself up about it and wonder why it’s happened.”

Sarah can remember clearly the embarrassment she went through in having to choose a wig, and in turn wants to make it easier for other people in similar circumstances.

“I know when I first started wearing wigs it was through the NHS,” she said. “It was such an humiliating experience. When I went in I just took the first thing they put on my head because I didn’t want to prolong the process. But I think the fact that I know what they are going through will make it easier for people to deal with.”

Sarah, who runs the business from her home on Kingsgate Terrace, has had interest in her varied selection of wigs from private hospitals, alopecia support groups and cancer support groups.

For more information on Hair to Wear, or on alopecia, Sarah can be contacted on (01434) 609542, or e-mail sarah@hairtowear.co.uk

Bare-headed, but undaunted

By HANNAH DAVIES (The Journal, 30/05/06)

A hard-hitting TV documentary will tomorrow follow former model and presenter Gail Porter on her journey as she comes to terms with her baldness. Hannah Davies finds out how alopecia has affected Gail, and talks to fellow North sufferer Sarah Amies about her experiences of the condition.

"For a girl, when you have got lovely long blonde hair it is very difficult to suddenly lose it all.

"I just felt really ugly. My hair, which I felt was part of me as a woman, was disappearing. As far as I was concerned I was very ugly and unattractive."

Sarah Amies, 38, from Hexham, Northumberland, is an intelligent, attractive woman with her own business, a successful past career in merchandising and an engaging personality.

But since she was a teenager Sarah has been wracked with a lack of self-confidence and insecurity about her appearance after suffering from alopecia universalis - total hair loss.

It is estimated one in 50 people in the UK suffers from some kind of alopecia.

In addition to TV presenter Gail Porter, who lost her hair in 10 days during September last year, Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas, Princess Caroline of Monaco, former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, and models Anna Fitzpatrick and Margaret Baker are also well-known alopecia sufferers.

It is not known for certain what causes the condition. Factors from stress to hereditary issues are all cited. The hair loss is not necessarily permanent either - Princess Caroline's grew back. But the most serious cases are also the ones where hair is least likely to grow back.

The impact on alopecia sufferers' lives can be dramatic: withdrawal, lack of self confidence and depression are all common.

Sarah was just 14 when, out-of-the-blue, her eyebrows fell out. Shocked but not overly concerned, as she was very fair and her lack of eyebrows was not too noticeable, Sarah soon forgot about it.

The hair loss had appeared to stop there, but when she was in her late teens bald patches around the size of a 10p piece began appearing on the back of her head. These grew back after a while.

Finally, when she was 20, all of Sarah's long blonde hair began falling out. It was then she was diagnosed with alopecia universalis.

"When I lost my eyebrows it wasn't too bad - I was pretty fair but it was still pretty upsetting," she says.

"Bald patches appeared while I was in the sixth form which was more disturbing - I was relieved when they grew back, but it was still worrying.

"Then when I reached 20 and was at college, my hair began to fall out quite badly at the back. Soon I had no hair left anywhere on my body."

Sarah's family moved to Riding Mill in Northumberland from Stourbridge in the Midlands when she was 15.

The former Hexham Queen Elizabeth High School pupil studied textiles and consumer services at London's South Bank Polytechnic (now university) in 1988, which is where her complete hair loss took place.

"My friends were supportive, but I think they found it quite difficult as well. Because I wasn't really able to talk about it they found it difficult to talk about it with me," Sarah recalls.

"I think my family was devastated. I'd go away to university, come back three months later and there would be quite a lot of hair gone in that time. It would shock and upset them.

"It was really traumatic, but all I could do was keep on with things as best as I could."

Sarah found it upsetting to talk about her alopecia to others, preferring to ignore it as much as possible. Instead she got on with her life and adjusted to hiding her hair loss.

"It has always been frustrating because I didn't know when or if it was going to come back. But unlike other people I haven't had any re-growth and I think it is unlikely I will now.

"While I was still at college I used to just wear head scarves and I hated the thought of wearing wigs.

"When I started a job, though, I thought I'd better conform and get a wig - which I hated.

"The wigs 15 years ago were not very pretty or realistic, but I'm happy wearing one now. Today's wigs are fantastic - they have come on so much since I was a girl. I could never walk around without one on now."

Sarah decided to make some big changes to her life last year, following a visit to a life coach in London.

"Moving back to Northumberland has always been in the back of my mind. The life coach helped me think about what I really wanted to do, and I thought I want my own business, to do something relevant to me.

"I thought, `I haven't had any hair for 18 years and I'd like to help other people in that situation.'"

Sarah moved to Hexham in November last year. In March she set up Hair To Wear, which supplies a variety of different styles and types of wigs to people.

"I don't think you can truly understand what it is like to lose your hair unless you have been through it yourself.

"You feel like you are losing your identity as well. A lot of people express their personality through their hair - cutting it, dying it - and with having none you lose that.

"Also, having no eyebrows, I felt my face was blank sometimes. But you get used to it and work out how to use make-up and find yourself again."

Hair To Wear has gone from strength-to-strength and Sarah has clients from as far afield as Hartlepool and north Northumberland.

It has only really been since she set up her business that she has come into contact with other alopecia sufferers. "Previously the only other person I knew with hair loss was a friend of mine. When she started to lose her hair I started talking to her.

"Coming into contact with other alopecia sufferers helped me because I met people in the same situation - I was surprised at how many were out there.

"Alopecia is alienating. People don't really understand what it is like until you have been there."

Through coming into contact with fellow sufferers Sarah has set up her own alopecia support group, based in Hexham. She says sharing experiences has given her a self-confidence she previously did not have.

"Instead of hiding my condition I'm now happy talking about having alopecia," she adds. "I've started being open about the condition and the fact that I wear a wig. People say they can't believe I wear a wig, but years ago when the wigs weren't particularly good I always had that feeling of being self-conscious. I wasn't open and I always felt I was so conspicuous.

"The group has given me more confidence. The people I have met over the last couple of months have been great. When you have alopecia you can really relate to each other and get a greater understanding of how you feel.

"You can talk about what is happening to you and give each other support. I have a customer who is only 15 - which was around the age I was when I first lost hair.

"I used to think alopecia was so devastating, that my life was over, but through meeting other people you gain strength and they help you get on with it."

For more information about alopecia visit www.alopeciaonline.org.uk. For information about Sarah's business, Hair To Wear, or the alopecia support group, call her on (01434) 609542.

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