I thought I would do a blog post about my hair loss story.
In July 2019, I noticed that whenever I brushed my hair, more hair than usual would fall out and the same thing happened whenever I washed it. Sometimes when I lightly dragged my fingers through the end of my hair, my hair would fall out in clumps. More and more of my hair fell out and a bald patch on the top of my head appeared.
I was so embarrassed by it that I bought a cheap wig online and started wearing it whenever I went outside.
I didn't think so much of my hair falling out was "normal" so I rang my GP surgery and got an appointment with my doctor. He suggested I get a blood test done to find out why my hair was falling out so I booked the blood test appointment and had it 2 weeks later then got the results. The results came back and my doctor didn't know why my hair was falling out so he said he would refer me to a dermatologist through the NHS but suggested I go private if I could afford it because the waiting list can be long. I discussed it with my mum and arranged an appointment with a local dermatologist a couple of months later. The dermatologist was really nice and asked me about my medical background then looked at my hair and said my hair loss was caused by the trauma of the operation I had in June 2019 and diagnosed me with Diffuse Alopecia Areata/Telogen Effluvium. She handed me a prescription for a steroid lotion that I was to put on my hair at night every day for 3 months and a shampoo to use when I wash my hair and gave me a list of 11 different blood tests to get done to rule out the hair loss being caused by anything else. A few days later I rang up my doctors surgery again and asked if I could book a blood test appointment then I brought the list of 11 tests with me to my appointment and they took a sample of my blood. I got the results back a few days later and there was no clear sign that the hair loss was caused by anything else.
I used the lotion and the shampoo for the recommended length of time and it helped my hair grow back but it was still quite thin and uneven in length. This is a photo of my hair at the end of October 2019.
On 28th November I got my hair cut to try and grow it back to an even length
Since then it has grown to below my shoulders.
On 10th December 2020 I received an appointment letter in the post to see a dermatologist through the NHS on 22nd January but unfortunately this got cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. On 15th February I received an appointment letter through the post for the rescheduled dermatologist appointment on 25th February. I went to the appointment and discussed different treatment options with the doctor and she asked me if I was interested in getting a wig through the NHS and I said yes so she submitted a referral for me then on 4th March the company who supplies wigs for the NHS contacted me and after discussing what type of wig I wanted and sending her photos for colour reference, 2 weeks later, she offered me a wig fitting appointment for 30th March.
