Without doubt losing your hair whether you are a man or a woman is traumatic. It’s perhaps even more so when it’s unexpected. It’s also something that tends not to be discussed; it is one of the last remaining taboo subjects.

That all changed recently, when a 60 year old woman found a bald spot after a routine appointment with her hairdresser. She decided to go public.

She told local reporters: “I had noticed that the back of my hair on one side wasn’t going like it normally did, but I thought it was my hair being contrary.”

She added: “But then I went to the hairdressers and she told me I had a patch. She said, ‘I think you have alopecia.’

“I was completely devastated. I had visions of myself walking around with a head like a billiard ball. It’s a bit like waking up in the morning and finding all your teeth on the pillow.”

Loss of hair can be caused by any number of factors, including stress, depression and illness. In the lady’s case she had noticed a significant development since her previous hairdresser appointment; scratching her scalp didn’t help either, so she decided to visit her GP.

But the underlying cause was a mystery. She did have a number of blood tests, one of which found a borderline problem with her autoimmune system, but nothing serious. Autoimmune problems cause the body to attack its own healthy tissues.

Her GP decided that the cause was more likely to be the type of hair products she was using. However this didn’t satisfy so the woman contacted a Trichologist.

Happily, while not solving the problem completely, the treatment offered by the Trichologist is working.

The lady herself remains positive. She said: “It’s not the end of the world. Once I came to terms with it, I realised there are people in this world who have worse things to contend with.”