Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

I’ve written about Amy Gibson before but since Fantasia carries Cyberhair and Amy’s Presence Wigs, and since Amy’s been in the news again, I thought it might be fun to talk about her again. As you may or may not know, Amy lost her hair at 14 which is what motivated her to design a line of wigs for women.

When Amy lost her hair at 14 she blamed God. She had no other explanation for why her hair fell out in clumps with every brushing. Within one year she was bald.

At this time Amy was already an actress on General Hospital and she kept her hair loss a secret from most of her colleagues on the daytime soap opera.

In Amy’s words “I thought I had leprosy at first, at the time, no one knew about baldness in women and I didn’t want to be that bald freak”. Amy was diagnosed with alopecia. Over the next 17 years, she received monthly cortisone shots to stimulate her hair growth. But the shots did little to spur permanent growth and wigs became a mode of survival.

Amy mastered the art of walking in the wind with her forehead slightly angled so her wig would not blow off. She concealed it from boyfriends fearing they wouldn’t find her attractive. Says Amy, “hair loss is such a sensitive issue for women. It affects your self-esteem in ways no one can really describe. You begin to feel that you are less than a woman.”

Eventually, Amy started making hairpieces for women. She launched a line, the Color Beautiful Collection in 2006.

Amy, who is now 48, is promoting her wigs, which are made with a high-quality synthetic fiber called Cyberhair. They look and feel like the real thing. While they can be removed for washing and styling, they are secured with a strong adhesive that allows the wearers to swim, sky-dive, water-ski and walk in strong winds or other extreme conditions with fear of losing them. Amy’s wigs cost anywhere from $1500-2500 and can be worn for up to a year.

According to the National Hairloss Association, 40 percent of hair-loss sufferers in the US are women. The causes are varied and can be genetic, related to stress, pregnancy and certain medications including oral contraceptives.

Amy says half of her clients have alopecia and others have undergone chemotherapy. Her goal is to provide them with stylish options. According to Amy, many women who wear wigs pick the wrong color, length and style for their face and lifestyle. “I was a mess for years. I never realized losing my hair was the biggest gift. We can’t undo what has happened to us but I have a solution. You are not alone”.

If you would like information regarding Amy’s Presence Wigs, you can go to Amy’s website: www.amyspresence.com or you can contact Fantasia and speak with one of our Hair Replacement Specialists who would be happy to help you.

In many cases, because alopecia areata is so unpredictable, many allow the bald patches to re-grow by themselves without treatment. Typically, if it’s just one or two small bald patches, doctors advise that you leave it alone. Sometimes this is referred to as watchful waiting. If the hair loss is not too bad, there is a good chance that it will re-grow after several months. Sometimes a simple change in the hairstyle will conceal one or two bald patches. If the hair loss becomes more extreme, a decision will probably be made as to whether treatment should be considered.

Something to note; alopecia areata won’t damage your general health so not treating will not lead to any general health problems. You need to be aware of possible side - effects that some of the treatments may have. Also, treatments promoting hair re-growth do not affect or “cure” the underlying cause of alopecia.

One treatment would be steroid injections. The theory here is that injecting steriods into the bald patches of the scalp supresses the local immune reaction that occurs in the alopecia areata. This can then allow the hair follicles to function normally again and for the hair to re-grow. A word of caution about this treatment. First of all, it does not work for everyone, and secondly, I am aware of a couple of people that had these injections for years and today have digestive/internal issues as a result.

Another treatment is topical or rub on steroid cream or gel. It does not work as well as the injections but it could certainly be worth a try.

Another treatment is topical immunotherapy which seems to be the most effective option for people with extensive alopecia areata. This treatment is only done by some skin specialist to you will need a referral from a doctor. With topical immunotherapy a substance is put on the affected skin to make the skin react like an allergy. Increasing strengths of this substance are placed on the affected skin once a week over several weeks until the skin looks like it has a mild case of eczema. The skin reaction seems to affect the process involved in causing alopecia areata in some way to allow hair to re-grow. Side effects from this treatment can be troublesome. For example, some people develop severe skin reactions. Treating children with topical immunotherapy is controversial. In a large study done with people having this treatment, 3 in 10 cases had good hair growth after six months. In 32 months, 8 in 10 cases has good regrowth. Regular maintenance treatment is needed to keep the hair loss from returning.

There is another treatment with a drug, Dithranol. It is thought to be less effective than topical immunotherapy but works in some cases. It is applied daily to the whold scalp and left for 20-60 minutes before it is washed off. One study showed that it helps hair re-growth in about 1 in 4 cases. Again, there are side effects such as itchiness, redness and scaling are the most common. Dithranol is not widely used for alopecia because it is so messy to use.

Other treatments may include:

• Special light therapy or phototherapy.
• Immunosuppressant medicine called ciclosporin. Again, side effects are an issue and hair loss often recurs when the medication is stopped.
• Dermatography (tattooing) is used to simulate eyebrows that have fallen out.
• Counselling is sometimes helpful for people who find coping with the disease difficult.
• Sun block or a hat should be worn to protect bald patches when out in the sun.
• There are complementary treatments such as acupuncture and aromatherapy but not enough evidence exists to determine how effective these treatments are in treating alopecia.

Wigs are probably the most common treatment choice for people with alopecia areata. Sometimes this is just easier than dealing with drugs and side effects.