Hi, my name is Beth, I’m 25 and have been suffering with hair loss since I was 14 years old.

I know youngsters encounter bullying in and out of school. There’s nothing worse while you're young to feel different or ugly. Most days at school before I lost my hair, I would be complimented on how great my hair was, it was long thick and wavy. It sounds silly but that was what I missed hearing the most. I was so proud of my hair, I had no idea why I was losing it every day. For months I managed to cover up my bald areas with fake hair on bobbles and lots of products. Eventually though people started to notice and ask questions.

At 14 it was very difficult to come to terms with losing my hair, while all my friends started to appreciate their own hair more by trying different colours and styles I couldn’t. It’s hard not to resent people when you have something happening to your body that you can’t control, but I was very lucky in the sense that all my friends and fellow school mates understood (to a certain degree) what I was going through.

I never actually lost all of my hair I managed to keep my front and back hairline, which helped me cover most of the bald patches. After a while my mum sat me down and said we need to do something about my hair loss. I hadn’t felt like I could talk to anyone about my hair before, as I felt embarrassed and scared about what could be happening to me.

Over the next few years I saw so many different Doctors, Consultants, Trichologists you name it I’ve probably seen them! I tried a few different treatments including DPC, I had to go through to Pontefract from Malton every week while they applied a liquid to my scalp which causes an eczema on the scalp to try and kick start the follicles into working again. I have heard different peoples stories of this, all I can say is it didn’t work for me. After a year of doing this a blood test showed I was nearly anaemic. I then had to have Iron injections every week as my body wasn’t absorbing iron through the tablets.

Sounds awful right? At that point I would do anything to get my hair back.

While all of this was happening, I had started a course at York College. I had always wanted to work in the Hair and Beauty industry so I wasn’t going to let my hair stop me from doing that! At first meeting new people was hard, I felt like I had to explain to everyone why I was wearing a wig, even though no one realised (or at least they didn’t let on) It actually helped everyone learn more about Alopecia, which I don’t think they would have got from the class, so it wasn’t all bad.

That’s right...I said it...wig! While I was at school I was told my hair would grow back in a couple of months so not to bother with a wig. I was allowed to wear a hat instead which was ok but made me feel different to everyone else. One morning in year 11 when I got to school I was told it was the end of year photos! It would have been nice to have some warning, but no! So now in the school corridor 10 years later there I am smack bang in the middle of the picture with my hat on! I was devastated! My year 11 Prom was coming up so now I knew I had to bite the bullet and get a wig.

I was really scared about getting a wig, I pictured this dead animal looking thing sat on top of my head! How wrong I was! I went to Betty Brown Wigs in York, The owner at the time Elsie couldn’t have been nicer. I had no idea what I wanted or what to look for, she advised me on different options, colours and styles. I ended up with a mid length blonde wig, it took a little getting used to, but anything was better than the state of my hair underneath.

The big reveal was the prom! I loved it! The compliments started to come back and my confidence grew and grew! To the point that I changed my wigs every 6 months or so and wasn’t scared to go for a different style. I was never very open with people outside of my friendship groups about it, but if the subject came up I didn’t hide it!

I continued to wear wigs for the next 8 years. My hair didn’t improve much, it came and went in patches, and over the years I became to accept it more. Yes it was awful, yes it stopped me from doing things I loved at times but at the end of the day I didn’t have a life threatening illness that’s what I kept telling myself to get me through the bad days.

Eventually 11 years on I’m at the point where I’m not wearing wigs or pieces, I still have patches which as I’m writing this have got worse in the last few months, but I managed to use my own hair for my wedding day! (with a little help from a hairpiece and an excellent stylist).

What more could I ask for!