WE DON'T JUST TRANSFORM WOMEN'S HAIR LOSS WE CHANGE LIVES Laura's Trichotillomania Story
Wearing a hair system has made my life more enjoyable and focus on things other than hair!
“I hardly even think about my hair, just get up in the morning and go. There are so much more important things in life!”
Laura’s trichotillomania story began when she was six.
It went on for years throughout school and during university. During her teens and early twenties she was very self-conscious about having patchy hair, but the compulsion to pull her own hair out proved too powerful.
“At times I have been almost completely bald. Can you imagine pulling thousands of hairs out, one by one? But it’s like someone telling you that you’re never allowed to scratch an itch ever again. You just forget, and you do it and end up feeling cross with yourself and thinking ‘What’s wrong with me?’ all of the time.
I avoided anything that meant getting my hair wet and remember being petrified of rain because then all my hairspray would come out and you’d see all the spiky bits of my hair – because that’s how it grows back. Or I’d be walking past a bus and thinking the people on the top deck would see that my hair was really thin.
There were lots of things I avoided doing – anyone touching my hair, being around friends who were doing hairstyles and being on edge if people were talking about hair. I even avoided my graduation because I didn’t want to wear the mortar board, which would have meant having to take my hair out of a ponytail.”
Trichotillomania had taken over Laura’s life.
Then one day she found Hair Solved on the internet and became one of our very first clients. The Enhancer System proved to be the perfect hair solution for her. Instead of battling to overcome the urge to pull her hair, she felt able to relax and get on with life.
“Wearing a hair system has made my life more enjoyable. It’s so nice to get up in the morning and go out how you are. I’ve got more confidence and focus on things other than hair!
It’s human hair so I can straighten it, curl it and do what I want with it, just like you would your own hair. I regularly go swimming now with my daughter, but before I wouldn’t have done. My daughter has fair hair, so I might try and match her when I have my next system fitted. I usually go for reds, but that’s all part of the fun really!” People are always saying ‘I love your hair colour, how do you do that?”
Laura found she only needed a completely new system fitted every three years and found Hair Solved to be far more reasonable than other solutions.
“The bills from the company I used to go to were horrendous. They charged by the 5 minutes, so it meant that I would even be thinking that I didn’t want to go to the toilet. Hair Solved have been a million times better in that sense… they’ve got different ways you can pay. They definitely try to help people, whereas I think with some other companies it’s more about your money.”
Now Laura’s on a new journey with her hair.
Having adopted the Enhancer System for more than 10 years, during the Covid pandemic Laura decided her hair needed a rest.
“I didn’t like walking around without the hair system on with the little hair I did have as it was so patchy, thin and uneven. But with a shaved head I felt different. It was freeing.
A few years on Laura feels the same way. “If I wear a wig or hair system then it’s because I want to rather than because I feel I have to. For me, hair can be an extension of my outfit – a way to express myself – as well as a practical layer to keep warm in winter or protect my scalp from the sun in summer.”
Over the past few months Laura has been experimenting with Hair Solved’s new system for complete hair loss, the Enhancer Flexi.
First Impressions of the Enhancer Flexi.
“When I first saw the Flexi that had been made for me, I was thrilled with how it looked. The colour was perfect, and when I held it, it felt incredibly soft and lightweight. As soon as I put it on, it felt secure right away. The lace at the front was neatly trimmed, the parting was styled – and just like that, I was ready to go!
I sent a few pictures to me friends and received the following messages back “Perfect colour and makes you look younger!”, “LOVE IT!!!! That will be gorgeous to try new styles with!!!”, “Lovely
Laura’s evolving story shows how versatile hair solutions need to be to accommodate individual hair loss and thinning needs, changes in the life cycle of our hair, as well as our own personal and lifestyle choices.
In the news.
A long-term ambassador for the Hair Solved community, just this month Laura reached even more women with her story, appearing in the Daily Mail and on ITV’s This Morning. Thank you Laura for continuing to share your personal journey as a means of supporting and reducing the stigma of trichotillomania and hair loss for others.
If you’d like to talk to us about the Enhancer System, Enhancer Flexi or our hair extensions, just give us a call on 0800 065 4501 or click the contact button below.
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