Hairdresser with alopecia has her confidence back thanks to new procedure

EVERY day, Jacqueline Gardiner stood in front of a mirror cutting people’s hair while her own fell out at an alarming rate.

It was soul-destroying for the hairdresser and it left her confidence shattered.

The mum-of-two from Polmont in Falkirk was diagnosed with alopecia 14 years ago.

“It was stress-related,” explained Jacqueline, 52. “There were various things going on in my life, such as my daughter being bullied.

“The hair came out really quickly, but it was also re-growing just as fast.

“I wore a wig for around 18 months as I didn’t have the courage to go out of the house without it. I also found it depressing to take the wig off at night.

“Eventually I plucked up the courage to remove it and decided to have really short hair for a while.

“It gave me a new-found confidence and spurred me on to open my own barber shop in 2010.”

But the stress of running a business caused her hair loss to return worse than ever before.

“I went shiny bald, and my eyebrows and eyelashes fell out,” said Jacqueline. “It was soul-destroying.

“For eight hours a day I stood in front of a mirror cutting hair and all I could see in the reflection was me wearing a wig. I felt surrounded by the fact that everyone else seemed to have hair and I didn’t.”

Jacqueline’s feelings hit an all-time low in 2014 during a holiday to Tenerife, when a woman asked her if she had cancer.

Around the same time she saw an article about Lucinda Ellery, a company in Edinburgh that practises a system called Intralace.

Jacqueline booked an appointment.

She explained: “It works by placing fine mesh on the scalp and any existing hair is pulled through the mesh. Human hair extensions are then sewn into the mesh.

“It has brought my confidence back and I forget I even have alopecia now, because I can go into the shower with it on and blow dry it. I can’t actually take it off myself.

“It’s recommended you go every six weeks to have it tightened and adjusted but I go every five because my hair has started re-growing.

“The system lasts two years and you have it refitted twice in that time.”

Jacqueline hopes the peace of mind the Intralace system – which costs around £1500 although varies case by case – is giving her will eventually lead to her having a full head of hair again.

However, in the meantime, she is eager to get the word out in the hope it will help others in her position.

“I believe this procedure should be offered on the NHS,” she continued. “The NHS is willing to provide wigs but this should be an option for those who don’t feel comfortable wearing them.”

She added: “I refused to speak about my alopecia until a couple of years ago.

“I certainly would never talk to customers about it, but this has restored my confidence and I don’t care who knows I have alopecia now.

“If you hide away, it only causes more stress.

“I feel as if I’ve got my life back now.”