Alopecia Highlighted By New Photography Collection

Daniel Regan

, a 28 year old photographer, has sought to raise awareness of alopecia through a series of portraits of those with the auto-immune disorder, which can cause varying amounts of patchy scalp hair loss in the form of alopecia areata. The condition, which is thought to affect as much as 2% of the population, can  progress to become alopecia totalis, where all scalp hair is lost, and even alopecia universalis, where all body hair is shed.

Awareness Through Art

The striking black and white portraits feature men and women with varying degrees of alopecia. The disorder occurs when hair follicles prematurely and rapidly enter the telogen (resting) stage of the cycle, where they will subsequently shed. What causes alopecia is unknown, but it is thought that the condition can have environmental triggers ranging from long term chronic stress to physical trauma and allergies, as well as evidence that points towards a genetic disposition in some people.

It is generally the case that extensive alopecia cannot be treated medically, though the extent of the alopecia can wax and wane, and spontaneous remission can occur. For patchy hair loss, however, our unique 12.5% minoxidil cream has proven to be effective in many cases, although doctors may still recommend steroid injections which can be painful and often less effective.

Although TV presenter Gail Porter is a notable celebrity with alopecia areata who has done much to raise awareness of the condition, photographer Regan feels there is still a long way to go in terms of educating people about the disorder. It was this drive that lead him to present his work at the World Congress for Hair Science conference in Edinburgh.

"The Human Element of a Condition"

Regan commented that: "The conference involved some of the world’s leading professionals investigating hair science and I felt strongly that medical professionals needed to see my images to experience the human element of a condition that has a resounding psychological impact on its sufferers. I hope that my images illustrated the drastic change that sufferers experience in their body image and place pressure on those in the right positions to pay further attention to this devastating condition."

Minoxidil is a clinically proven hair loss treatment that has been licensed by the MHRA and approved by the FDA, the UK and the US medical regulatory bodies respectively. It is used as part of hair loss treatment programme, and is applied topically to the scalp twice a day along with appropriate hair growth boosters.