Woman’s Alopecia Cured by Accident?
Sarah Ford suffered from stress when she was 15, and her hair subsequently started falling out in patches. By the time she was 20, her Alopecia had spread, and she had lost all the hair on her scalp. Just two years later, she lost her eyelashes, eyebrows and body hair too, in a progression of the condition known as Alopecia Universalis.
Confidence blow
Sarah's confidence was severely affected by her Alopecia she was bullied at school, and subsequently spent almost 10 years with a scarf tied around her head every time she left the house. She commented: “I felt like I didn't fit in. Losing my hair didn't help matters. I made every excuse not to go to school. I thought it was bad when I started to get bald patches but at least I could try and hide that. It was awful when I lost it all. People would look at me and think I had cancer. I felt really self-conscious.”
It's not known what causes Alopecia but it is characterised as an auto-immune condition, and factors such as extreme stress are thought to trigger patchy hair loss.
Steroid success?
At the age of 23, Sarah married Neil Ford, her childhood sweetheart, wearing a special, tailor-made headdress to cover her baldness. In April 2013, the mum-of-two was suffering from a chest infection which had aggravated her asthma. Visiting her GP, she was prescribed a course of steroids. Mrs Ford was very excited to notice her hair started to grow back within a few weeks of starting the medication. Today, she has a full head of hair and her confidence is returning.
“A waste of time”
Mrs Ford spoke to her GP to see if she could continue taking a low dose of steroids, but was advised it would be unsafe. She had never tried any hair loss treatments in the past, as she had been advised they were “a waste of time”.
She commented: “The dermatologist I saw back then was quite ignorant and just told me not to bother. I want people with Alopecia to know there is the possibility of your hair growing back even when you have been bald for years and to look into all the options.”
Results not guaranteed
Although steroid creams and injections are sometimes used as alopecia hair loss treatments, these do not work in all cases and they usually treat small patches of hair loss rather than total baldness. Self-medicating is most certainly not recommended: Any course of treatment intended to cure a hair loss condition should be administered and monitored by a hair loss specialist.
If you are experiencing patchy hair loss and think you may be affected by Alopecia, a hair loss specialist can help to rule out other causes for your hair loss and prescribe a bespoke hairloss treatment plan to suit your individual needs. We treat many Alopecia patients who often experience fantastic results like those shown in our extensive collection of Hair Loss Success Stories.
The Belgravia Centre
Visit our photographic Hair Loss Success Stories gallery to browse our constantly updated collection of over 1,000 male and female patients’ progress images, alongside their feedback. If you are worried about hair loss and would like to speak to one of our experts, call us now on 020 7730 6666 or send us a message to book your free, discreet one-on-one consultation at either of our Central London clinics. Alternatively, if you are unable to visit us, you can complete our Online Consultation Form instead.
Related stories:
| Treatment Options for Alopecia Areata | Jemima Khan Experiences Hair Loss from Stress | Alopecia Areata: In Depth |
The Belgravia Centre
The Belgravia Centre is a world-renowned group of a hair loss clinic in Central London, UK. If you are worried about hair loss you can arrange a free consultation with a hair loss expert or complete our Online Consultation from anywhere in the world for home-use treatment.
View our Hair Loss Success Stories, which includes the world's largest gallery of hair growth photos and demonstrates the level of success that so many of Belgravia's patients achieve.