A solution to a hairy situation
When Dubliner and mother-oftwo Claire Fullam, 30, noticed a tiny bald patch the size of her fingernail at her hair parting in May 2016 she wasn’t alarmed initially.
Blessed with a glorious, long, red mane, she was used to a certain amount of hair loss. So she simply made a parting elsewhere, hiding the tiny blip of exposed scalp, and got on with her day. ‘Then it started getting worse,’ remembers the student support officer at Marino Institute of Education. ‘It was like tumbleweed around my house. I could see bunches of red hair around my area at work.’
She went to her GP who found five or six bald spots and referred her for further tests. ‘I have private health insurance but there was still going to be a six-week wait. I knew myself I didn’t have time.’
So she arranged a private consultation with a trichologist - a dermatologist specialising in the health of hair and scalp. ‘Straight away they told me I had Alopecia Areata, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Within three weeks I was in a wig.’
Alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune disease which attacks the hair follicles. There is no cure. The sudden loss of her crowning glory – 75% of it in just two months – had a devastating impact on Claire.
‘I struggled a lot. There was a week I couldn’t get out of bed. I was having panic attacks and being physically ill. Then my mother rang me and said, “Claire you’re going to have to cop on.”’
Claire and her husband Ian, a special needs assistant in a local primary school, have two children, Farragh, 7, and Elliott, 3. The couple, both from Marino, first met as teenagers and have been together for 12 years. ‘I think having a solid relationship helped. Ian had to try and be strong the whole time for me.’
Claire wanted advice and information, so she asked Ian if he would mind if she went public about her own experience. ‘I was afraid he would be embarrassed that he has a bald wife. He said, “Claire all I care about is that you’re okay.”’
So Claire wrote a Facebook post and it went viral. ‘I got thousands of messages from all over the world from women and men telling me their stories. I started Snapchatting my journey and now I have 25,000 followers.’
Along the way she made some profound discoveries of her own. ‘I used to say, “My hair is my thing”. Now I know people love me with or without hair. I learned you can’t rely on anything physical to define you.’
At the end of August, 15 months after it began to fall out, Claire was thrilled to discover her hair had started growing back. ‘It was white and coarse but it was hair so I didn’t care less! In January, I took the wig off. I had two inches of hair.’
When she lost 85% of her hair the previous year, Claire kept the 15% that was left instead of shaving it off.
‘I’m glad I did because now it has given me options. I got Great Lengths hair extensions in Newbridge in March and they’ve transformed me into looking like myself again.’
The latest Great Lengths campaign, 100% You, highlights how the firm’s natural hair extensions can help with common hair problems, creating results which can no longer be achieved with natural hair. Over time, hair weakens as a result of many factors including styling, weather, colouring and the natural ageing process. The Great Lengths extensions aim to help restore the look of what has been lost, naturally, using 100% human hair which is ethically sourced, and help women feel more confident.
‘My idea of extensions used to be Victoria’s Secret models with hair down to their a***s,’ she laughs. ‘But they don’t have to be. They make me feel like I’m back to myself again.’ n VISIT greatlengthshair.ie