EARLY last year hair salon manager Amanda Day suffered a personal tragedy, which affected her not just emotionally, but physically too. “I was devastated. Shortly afterwards, my hair started to fall out and I was diagnosed with alopecia,” she says.

Not wanting to wear a wig as they can be hot and itchy, Amanda investigated various alternatives and discovered a solution was available in Newcastle. Under the hair loss system, replacement hair is integrated with the remaining hairs – “more like extensions than a wig, and something that I felt much more comfortable with,” says Amanda – but unfortunately her experience was not a good one.

“It was horrific,” says Amanda, salon manager at Contemporary Darlington. “The system was fitted badly and there was no empathy from the people working on my hair. My team could see how badly I was affected by my hair loss and how upset I was, and being such a caring and amazing group of people, they asked if they could train to provide the service. They knew they could provide a far better service and they wanted to help people who were suffering like me.”

Within a couple of weeks Victoria Fellows, from the Darlington salon and Mica Thornton, from Contemporary Yarm, were training with a Hair Loss Integration specialist from Birmingham.

“We could see the impact hair loss was having on Amanda, did some research and discovered this system,” says Victoria. “The results looked great, but it wasn’t readily available in this area. For various reasons, one in four women suffer from hair loss at some point, so it surprised me that a solution wasn’t more widely available in the North-East. It was very exciting to be able to introduce a new, non-surgical, non-invasive solution for women in our area.”

The hair loss system is suitable for women with between 20 per cent and 80 per cent hair loss. It is integrated with the client’s own hair so you can wash it, brush it, sleep in it and go swimming if you wish. You can use it while you are waiting for your natural hair to regrow or, if you are managing permanent hair loss or thinning, as a hair management option for life.

“It gives you more freedom than a wig, looks incredibly natural and feels like your own hair,” says Victoria. “It was perfect for Amanda and we knew clients would love the results, too.”

It’s not cheap – prices start from £900 – but the initial system can take from six to ten hours to build. The client’s hair is integrated into a surgical mesh, customised to head shape and individual hair loss pattern, and is then secured with beads. Hair wefts are attached and a closure is made from 100 per cent human hair. Every four to six weeks the system needs to be tightened and realigned due to hair growth underneath.

“I love my new hair and it’s given me my confidence back,” says Amanda. “Working in a salon I know how important a woman’s crowning glory is to her and how devastating it is to lose your hair, so it’s fantastic that we have people trained up to offer such an excellent solution.”

* Call Contemporary Darlington on 01325-480930 or Yarm on 01642-788662 to book in for a free 30-minute consultation.

WOMEN AND HAIR LOSS

• An underactive thyroid and iron deficiency (both more common in women) can both aggravate thinning.

• The menopause is often a trigger for accelerated hair loss and women with inherited alopecia often find thinning gets much worse once their periods stop.

• Other causes of hair loss are pulling on hair (traction alopecia) when using straighteners, plaiting or braiding, etc, but this is reversible, and stress.