Melanie Sykes and Alopecia: Why Her Hair Loss Story Matters

Alopecia and hair loss can affect everybody differently. The cause, pattern and progression can vary enormously from one person to another, which is why any sudden or unexplained hair loss should always be discussed with your GP or an appropriate healthcare professional. What we do think is important, though, is that conversations like Melanie’s make hair loss more visible.

And sometimes simply knowing that somebody else understands a little of what you’re going through can make a difference.

No, not at all.

Some people are completely comfortable showing their hair loss. Others love wearing scarves or hats. Some wear wigs every day and wouldn’t be without them, while others might only choose to wear one for work, a special occasion or simply on days when they feel like it, and lots of people move between all of those choices. We think that’s important.

Wearing a wig should always be a choice.

It isn’t about hiding who you are. For some people, a wig simply helps them feel a little more like themselves again. For somebody else, it might be a chance to try a completely different hairstyle or colour. And another person might decide a wig isn’t for them at all.

Melanie has spoken publicly about wearing headscarves and trying wigs as her hair loss progressed. Her experience reflects something we’ve seen many times within the Simply Wigs community: what feels right at the beginning of your hair loss journey isn’t necessarily what will feel right six months or a year later.

And that’s perfectly okay.

One of the positive things that can come from somebody in the public eye talking openly about alopecia is that it brings hair loss into conversations where, historically, it has often been hidden away. But behind every celebrity story are thousands of individual stories.

We know that because we hear them.

We’ve spoken to people who discovered one tiny bald patch and had no idea what was happening and we’ve helped people whose hair loss progressed incredibly quickly. We’ve spoken to people who have worn wigs for decades and people nervously opening their very first wig box.

No two stories are quite the same.

One of our customers, Charlie, shared her experience after being diagnosed with alopecia areata. It began with a small itchy patch and, as her hair loss progressed, she eventually discovered wigs and found a way of managing the alopecia that worked for her. Other members of our community have shared experiences of androgenetic alopecia, complete hair loss, shaving their heads, trying their first wig and gradually rediscovering their confidence.

We understand why people sometimes say, “It’s only hair.” Usually, they’re trying to help.

But when you’re the person losing your hair, it can feel like anything but only hair. Our hair can be tied up with our identity, our confidence and the person we expect to see when we look in the mirror. For some people, adapting to hair loss happens quite quickly. For others, it can be incredibly difficult. And for many people there will be good days, difficult days and everything in between.

There is no correct way to feel about losing your hair, just as there is no correct way to look afterwards.

• You might decide to shave your head.
• You might fall in love with scarves.
• You might choose a wig that looks almost identical to the hair you had before.
• Or you might decide that, seeing as you’re choosing a wig, you’ve always fancied seeing what you’d look like as a blonde.

That’s your choice and we think it should always stay that way.