Hair today, gone tomorrow?

Brits fear losing their hair above getting wrinkles or gaining weight when growing older, a new survey has found. The study, which questioned 1,000 men and women aged 18-45, invited recipients to reveal the physical changes they most worried about experiencing when growing older.

The results showed that losing or having thinner hair worried people most (26 per cent), closely followed by ‘getting wrinkles’ (24 per cent), ‘losing teeth’ (21 per cent) and gaining weight (10 per cent)

The fears are borne out by what people spend on their hair each month. Despite rising food and fuel bills and fears about the economy, more than 90 per cent of Brits currently spend thirty pounds a month or more on hair products and maintenance, with one in ten spending more than £100.

Even hair specialist, Andy McCarthy, founder of The Alopecia Clinic which commissioned the research, was surprised by its findings.

He said: “I meet people every day who are extremely anxious about the hair loss they’ve experienced and expect it to get worse with age.

“I find the link with aging interesting as it is far easier to conceal the effects of thinning hair than it is to hide wrinkles for example. There’s also the fact that age isn’t actually the major cause of most forms of alopecia.”

When asked what they thought the main causes of hair loss were, over forty per cent said age and more than a fifth thought that reactions to medication or hormonal imbalances were largely to blame. This is despite strong evidence supporting the fact that that stress is actually the main contributor to alopecia.

These findings are supported by a recent study by the University of Nottingham which acknowledged that alopecia can cause anxiety and depression, low self esteem, poor quality of life, and poor body image.

Andy, who experienced hair loss from the age of fourteen, added: “I think the thought of losing your hair can be very frightening for a number of reasons.

“Hair is an extremely important feature of a person’s appearance and a lot of confidence can be lost as a result of major physical changes such as hair loss.

“People also associate the condition of a person’s hair as being an indicator of their general health, so when hair looks thinner, it inevitably effects how you feel you are being perceived by others.”

There are many effective methods of treating alopecia including hair replacement systems, laser regrowth and hair volumisers which are safe, undetectable, permanent and non surgical.

The problem of alopecia is far more prevalent than many people realise and can affect either sex. Two thirds of men suffer from some form of baldness while one in every four women will be affected by hair loss at some stage in their lives.

For more information about treating hair loss, visit alopeciaclinic.com.