Getting married this year? Fancy helping with #HairlossAwareness?

Before I start this post, I must first apologise for the lack of posts in the last couple of days! Work has been manic and whilst I was hoping to write and post a couple of blogs before the weekend, I ran out of time, then gallivanted off to enjoy a wedding in Kent! That is a blog post for another time (yes I find inspiration everywhere), but in the meantime, I have an opportunity for you...

You may or may not know this, but as well as producing a few shows themselves, major TV channels also commission and buy the rights to show programmes from independent TV Production Companies. It's why you see 'produced by' at the end of many TV programmes and it also helps the TV channels keep a rein on their budgets and plan ahead!

Anyway, a few days ago via Twitter (yep, still loving it), I received a mention from Remedy Productions; they tweeted me a picture and asked me to retweet it. See it here...

@PrettyBald Pls RT xx We're looking for beautiful #brides with #Alopecia. Email casting@remedyproductions.tv for info pic.twitter.com/0QlglC10ea

— Remedy Productions (@RemedyTV4) June 2, 2015

I'm sure many people will be hesitant at the idea of sharing their special day and intimate moments with the world! I know I would be / am! However, I want you to put that aside for a minute and think about what it could help achieve.

Alopecia, Trichotillomania, Female Pattern Baldness and every other type of hairloss affect thousands of women (and men) every single year! As well as the physical effects and changes, there's the mental ones and the emotional challenges people face everyday. One of the reasons people struggle so much is a lack of widely-available support and / or research. These 'problems' are aesthetic not life-threatening and therefore are not considered a priority for research or proper support. It is exactly why charities like Alopecia UK and The Little Princess Trust exist, but even they are underfunded and struggle to do everything that they need to.

At best this lack of awareness leaves people without access to the support and help that they need; at worst it can leave people alone and isolated with negative reactions and potentially an impacted self-esteem. One of the ways we can change that is to drive for more awareness. Awareness goes hand in hand with education and education over time will help to improve reactions, encourage additional research, raise additional funds and generally improve the lives of those who suffer with it. It's what I strive for and aspire to do and what I use many opportunities for.

Granted, you may not want to appear on TV, but if you think you are up to it, why not get in touch with them? Jen from Alopecia UK did and it made a huge difference all around the world. If you're not up for TV but think you might be ready to talk about your hairloss, there's lots of other things you can do too! How about:

• Emailing us your #hairloss story so we can share it on this blog?
• Even better, become a regular contributor keeping people updated on your progress
• Email your local newspaper / news website /radio station and ask to share your story. They love hearing real stories
• Share your story on your social media and reveal your true self to friends
• Think about fundraising for a charity, sharing regular updates about your progress
• Whatever else you can think of...

One thing I will add is that you need to do something like this when you are ready; there is no pressure to let it be known that you have a hairloss condition and you may not be ready or want to share that with anyone. That is fine and is something you have to decide for yourself - sharing helped me, but it won't help everyone and that will come down to your personal characteristics and comfort zones! 

If you are getting married this year and you feel you could be involved, do it! If not, don't worry - there will be other opportunities and we will endeavour to share them with you!

Victoria x

www.prettybald.co.uk Twitter: @PrettyBald

Guest post: choosing the right treatment option for you...

I love the power of Twitter and via its engaging 140 character posts, I became engaged with Dr Bessam Farjo, a hair transplant surgeon! Working in the industry since 1993, we're pretty convinced he knows his stuff and we're delighted to share his insights into treatment for hairloss and treatment choices! Enjoy...

WHAT’S THE BEST OPTION FOR YOU?

Blog by Dr Bessam Farjo, founder of the Farjo Hair Institute and medical director of the Institute of Trichologists.

Every week, it seems a new ‘miracle’ cure for alopecia is hitting the headlines, but it’s important that those living with the condition know all the facts before starting a new treatment. Estimated to affect over 1.7 per cent of the UK population, new potential treatments for alopecia will always be a hot topic, but it’s my job to ensure that people exploring treatments are correctly informed and advised before any decisions are made.

As many of you will know, alopecia areata is renowned for its sudden and random onset, whilst other forms, such as traction alopecia and female pattern hair loss, are more progressive.

Treatment of alopecia areata can be controversial and, if you’re happy to live with your hair loss, my first piece of advice would be to leave it alone to see if it recovers on its own. Alopecia areata is a very unpredictable condition and there is always the potential that it will grow back without any treatment at all.

If you’re keen to consider taking action, many doctors will advise you to start with steroid injections, as these are generally deemed the most effective form of treatment. These injections contain corticosteroids – an anti-inflammatory medicine which is essentially a man-made version of a hormone usually produced by the adrenal glands. As alopecia areata is a condition caused by the immune system ‘attacking’ its own hair follicles, the steroid injection works to suppress the immune system, so that hair follicles have the opportunity to grow back. These injections are usually administered to the affected area on a regular basis – but it differs from patient to patient.

Another option available on prescription is oral corticosteroids, such as Prednisone. Again, these steroids work by suppressing the immune system to allow hair to grow.

Many people will also be given the option of applying steroids topically, but the real long-term benefits of this are unproven.

For those suffering from female pattern hair loss, there are an abundance of additional options available. Minoxidil – which is available to buy in lotion or foam (Regaine) – most likely works by regulating the potassium channels in cell membranes, and allows increased production of protein. This was proven by published research we collaborated on a few years ago, with University of Bradford.

Low level laser treatment may also be something that people with female pattern hair loss would like to consider. Laser treatment works by projecting laser light energy directly on to the scalp to help strengthen the cells within hair follicles, thus promoting growth.

Of course, hair transplant surgery is also an option for female pattern hair loss sufferers – although this needs to be carefully considered. Some women are more suited to surgical treatments that others, while some are not suitable candidates at all. There are a several different surgery options, including Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and ARTAS Robot.

The main difference between these procedures is that follicular units grafts are harvested in strips from the donor area for FUT – which are then microscopically dissected and prepared – whereas grafts are extracted individually in FUE. The ARTAS robotic procedure is a minimally invasive option that uses digital imaging and precision robotics to harvest healthy grafts for transplantation by the FUE method. There is no need for the surgical removal of a strip of tissue from the back and sides of the head, which means there’s no need for stitches or staples to close the wound. Benefits of FUE include a quick recovery time and the ability to return to normal activities soon after surgery, while FUT surgeries typically allow the transplantation of more hairs.

Other people claim that platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP), Derma Roller and even Minodoxil are worthwhile treatments for alopecia areata. However, in my opinion, I think that the likelihood of results with these treatments is purely coincidental, as the hair more often than not comes and goes anyway.

At the Farjo Hair Institute, we work hard to make sure our patients are armed with all the information they need to make the best decision for themselves, whether that is surgery, medicine or ‘watchful waiting’.

Dr Bessam Farjo

Want to keep reading...? Here's another guest post by Mark Blake Trichologist, with a Q&A on alopecia...

Victoria x

www.prettybald.co.uk Twitter: @PrettyBald

Sarah Vine and a BBC Radio Five Live interview...

You may or may not know that famous British journalist Sarah Vine (also married to Michael Gove), suffers from thinning hair and has had since she was 14. Well yesterday, she shared an in-depth insight into her own experiences, in her Daily Mail column; from covering it up, to destroyed self-esteem and even a few treatments she tried along the way!

Whilst she and I have differing hairloss conditions - for Sarah it's female pattern baldness AND telogen, for me it's Alopecia Universalis - it seems our own experiences have seen many similarities along the way.

For example, Sarah says "I stopped exercising, not just because I was embarrassed about the way the thinning strands would separate and cling unflatteringly to my scalp when I sweated, but also because there didn't seem much point when my ugliness was on the top of my head for all to see." Whilst my hairloss was slow and wasn't an all-over shedding, when my alopecia was in the initial stages, I remember tipping myself upside down in a yoga class, giving myself a head rush as I straightened suddenly, realising that the patches would be on show for all to see if they opted to look through the window. In a crowded gym, where many attend to 'show off', I remember feeling like a fraud for being there when I was somehow less than perfect! Needless to say I cancelled my gym membership and have failed to rejoin since!

Reading on in her column, this also made me nod vigorously to myself "It fundamentally damaged my sense of self as a female, too. So much of the culture of beauty revolves around having long, thick, glossy locks that I felt I could never match up. I was so pathetically grateful for any male attention I made some seriously unwise choices in that department." Whilst I can't concur in the men department, I do remember struggling with the social 'ideal' that is oft foisted upon us. As my friends posted facebook pics of their new cuts, colours and styles, I was carefully scraping and securing strands of hair over ever-enlarging patches in a hope I'd get away with it a little longer and cringing at the sight of my odd head shape in a bad wig. In fact, sentences like these simply serve to remind me of the survey results from Dove US which highlighted 44% of women stated they were 'defined' by their hair - not just that they liked it, but that it was intrinsic to who they are as people! Sad but true!

One final point that I really related to was this: "...at the end of the day, it’s true: hair loss may be demoralising, undermining, upsetting and even embarrassing. But it is not fatal." Whilst the phrase "Its just hair" was one of the ones I frequently heard AND hated, at the end of the day it is just hair and I am grateful I'm not sick! Don't forget, search #100HairFreeDays above to check out all the positives of hairloss I've identified.

I'm seriously impressed with how open and honest Sarah Vine's column is on this subject and how brave she is to share the pictures, and I think she makes some very true and valid points! I only hope it serves to help those that read it, hairloss sufferer or not, and at the end of it all will somehow improve and diminish the stigma that many of us feel within society. The only difference (well actually there are many) between mine and Sarah's experience is that she's found comfort in a weave to cover it up, and I've embraced regular wig wearing, and more often than not you'll find me bald-headed too!

Following her fabulous column, which you can read here, BBC Radio Five Live interviewed Denise Hayes on the challenges she faced getting a job with a similar hairloss condition, highlighting just how appearance can contribute. Following the two, I am very proud to announce that in just over an hour, at approximately 10.35pm, I will be talking live on BBC Radio Five Live and you'll be free to listen in here. I'll be part of a much larger feature on hairloss in general and will follow an interview with Sarah Vine! Wish me luck! If I can, I'll share a link tomorrow and don't forget if you miss it you'll be able to listen again on BBC iPlayer!

Victoria x

www.prettybald.co.uk Twitter: @PrettyBald

WANTED: Are you the next Pretty Bald Blogger?

The Pretty Bald blog is growing and we're in need of some more bloggers, case studies and real-life stories; could you be the next guest poster, interviewee or regular columnist?

At the moment we have four bloggers (Myself, Jen, Kayleigh and Danielle) and we all happen to have Alopecia! We're now looking for individuals with other types of hairloss to tell us their stories or to become a regular columnist. We're also looking for Hairloss experts to write one-off blog posts.

Got what it takes? Please email us to tell us about yourself and apply...

Want to be a regular blogger? You will:

- have something interesting and unique to say

- suffer from a short or long-term Hairloss condition; at the moment, we're not looking for female alopecians (although we're of course happy to consider you) - our followers are asking for people with chemotherapy hairloss, trichotillomania, female pattern baldness, male alopecians, male pattern baldness and other forms of hairloss. We're getting emails asking for insights to support these conditions

- be able to commit to a minimum of one blog post per month, preferably more

If you don't have hairloss, but are an expert in a specific field, we'll also be happy to consider you!

Want to be a case study / real life story?

Please send us an email with some information about you... Some pictures would be great too and we'll email you back with any additional questions we need answering. We'll then write it up and post it out on the blog!

The reason?

We're working to make Pretty Bald a unique resource that offers support and advice through real-life experiences, not just expert opinion. Through this, we hope to support others, and also work to change perceptions within society, making it easier to thrive in spite of these conditions, not just hide and hope for a cure!

The reward?
Initially, we're working to raise as much money for charity as possible, so this is a voluntary opportunity; long-term however, our bloggers will benefit from free products to review and hopefully some other exciting things too!

If you do have anything else you want to contribute or of course want to see us write about,  please let us know! There's a lot of exciting things coming up and we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it! 

Victoria x

Having a BALL !

Welcome one and all !!

On Saturday the 28th of February , I was invited to a very classy charity ball by my partner, whose sister had worked very hard in organising.
So, a charity ball means looking your best. Beautiful dresses , fabulous stillettos, flawless makeup and the perfect  hair.......Oh boy.

Not only did I have to look the part, but it was the first time meeting a lot of friends/family of my other half's. So looking good was important ..... no pressure then.

At this point all I was concerned about was my hair,well lack of it. When I had my own locks, I would of most likely, flipped and clipped and curled and twirled it everywhere . But now ... I'v got a standard brown wig to play with. Yay.

To start with ,i was lucky enough to get myself a hair cut by my boyfriends mother. She cut me a stylish fringe and then thinned out the ends of the hair , to make it less wig like and more like real hair.
After, I took the straightners and started going over the hair to defrizz the synthetic curls. (Which were not attractive) making sure Im flicking the ends to shape my face.
As someone who absolutely hates having hair in their face, I pulled back a few strands of hair from the front and clipped them to the side . Given me ,what I like to call , my ethereal look . ( don't ask.)
Feeling pretty proud of myself , I looked in the mirror ...... 'This still looks like a wig' I moan to partner in frustration.

Kieran, who is my partner, being the clever man he is ,came up with the idea of trying to create a parten! 'Yes!' I squealed. Using a concealer stick , he parted the hair to the side , (how I like it). He then dabbed a few spots of concealer on to the lace which was now on veiw. Then, using only his fingers, blended the concealer onto the lace and the hair line, creating  a realistic parten........It worked ! It looked so much better.

Knowing I had the hair just the way I wanted ( with what I had. ) I felt confident to walk down the stairs and show of my look with a smile !

I will add a tutorial soon .

Danielle x

Could an everyday thrush cream help cure #baldness or help grow #LusciousLocks?

You think I'm joking with this title? Think again! An emerging trend in America is seeing women use an over-the-counter cream for yeast infections like thrush to help thicken hair and potentially even reverse hairloss! So does it work? Apparently the answer is POSSIBLY!

Before we get totally overexcited and all rush out to buy a tube of canesten, it's probably worth looking at the 'science' behind these claims...

The active ingredient in all these ointments and creams is an anti fungal treatment called miconazole nitrate - or in America it is anyway! It is an FDA approved ingredient found in over the counter medicenes for yeast infections and is therefore considered low risk to use, but how, if indeed it does, can it help with hairloss? 

Well first, it depends on the type of hairloss! In male and female pattern baldness, a hormone called dihydrotestosterone is responsible for rendering the hair follicles inactive and killing off the hair. Miconazole and other anti-fungal treatments like ketoconazole have properties which help block the hormone dihydrotestosterone; in fact, according to an article in the Huffington Post, several studies have found that ketoconazole in particular is an 'anti-androgen' which specifically combats the hormone. It is believed that this similarity between miconazole and ketoconazole could make the over-the-counter thrush treatments partially successful in helping with female and male pattern baldness.

Now, before all our readers dash out and buy a tube of the otherwise embarrassing cream, it is important to note that these findings have not actually been verified and there are no scientific studies available which verify this link! What's more it hasn't actually been tested for use on the scalp and possible side-effects are unknown! I for one am probably going to give trying this one a miss, but if anyone does take a punt, please let us know how it pans out!

Victoria x 

www.prettybald.co.uk

Twitter: @PrettyBald