Discover Molly’s hair loss story of alopecia and her journey to recovery with the help of the Simone Thomas hair loss clinic in Bournemouth:
A hair loss discovery
About 3 years ago, 7-year-old Molly, who loves playing with her hair, found a bald area about the size of a 50 pence piece. Claire, Molly’s mum, immediately called her surgery and the GP saw her that day. Their GP told them it was alopecia and referred them to a dermatologist.
Claire’s initial thoughts were that Molly could experience complete hair loss and what impact would this have on her witty, caring and fun loving daughter. Molly named her patch a ‘smoothie’ as she disliked the word bald. Claire refrained from telling Molly that she may lose all her hair to keep her positive, so that she was not under any more stress.
Several months later, they attended the dermatologist appointment and the patch had worsened, with several smaller ones starting to appear. Appallingly, the dermatologist told Molly with no sensitivity that she could lose all her hair. They left the dermatologist with a torn off piece of paper with the words ‘alopecia areata’ and a whole heap of unanswered questions!
Dealing with Alopecia
From that moment on Molly asked her mum to check her hair every day and look for new areas of hair loss. A year later they returned to the dermatologist as arranged, but by then the hair loss had worsened. At the appointment, they were dismissed and told it was “not that bad”. Molly was given asteroid cream to rub in the areas and told to massage the hair loss areas 3 to 4 times a day to encourage the growth, and to return a year later.
Unfortunately, the steroid cream irritated Molly’s skin so she stopped using it. She became obsessed with massaging her bald spots as she was under the impression that this would make it all grow back. She started to lose eyelashes, half an eyebrow, leg and arm hair which came and went periodically. She also lost her nose hair which causes her nose to drip unexpectedly which was extremely upsetting.
Finding the Simone Thomas hair loss clinic
Recently, Molly experienced greater amounts of hair loss which has knocked her for six. She cries daily, and it’s a big battle to go to school in case she’s laughed at. A friend of Claire’s, Alix Farenden, was a huge support. He came across Simone Thomas and her hair loss clinic in Bournemouth, and prompted Claire to make an appointment. Claire and Molly went along for their appointment and spoke with Simone, who has extensive knowledge about hair loss in children.
Claire said:
“We have learnt more about this condition in the few weeks we have been attending appointments at the salon than we did in years through the hospital. They put us in touch with The Little Princess Trust who agreed to fund a wig for Molly. They regularly look at Molly’s scalp through a nioscope to check for new hair growth, do regular scalp microdermabrasions and recommended Nioxin products. They treat Molly like a princess, bought her a new outfit to match a new unit she has had fitted. All this has helped give Molly her spark back – the whole team there genuinely care for her and are willing to take this journey with us! Molly has stopped crying every day, although has her moments but is so much more at ease. She is more positive and I thank the hair loss clinic for this. Alopecia will not ruin Molly’s life, it will be something that lives with her and not the other way around. Molly and I can’t thank Simone and her incredible team enough for everything they have done and everything they continue to do to help and support us!”
Simone comments:
“It is a pleasure to work with Molly, she is a lovely girl and anything we can do to help and support her on her journey with alopecia hair loss we will do. We understand how devastating it can be to experience hair loss”.
Claire and Molly have arranged for Sue Hampton, author of Waterhouse Girl, to visit her school on the 26th November to help the children with creative writing and to raise awareness about alopecia hair loss. Claire and Molly are also actively fundraising for The Little Princess Trust who funded the cost of Molly’s unit, as they want to give something back to help the next child.
If you are suffering from hair loss, or know a child that does, please get in touch with the Simone Thomas hair loss clinic in Bournemouth. We have a range of hair loss treatments for women and men that are non-surgical and produce fantastic results. Arrange an appointment today by calling 01202 760003.
