York dermo-trichologist David Charles helps women beat hair loss

CLAIRE BLAKELEY was a teenager when she started losing her hair.

“I was going through my GCSE exams at school when I started having problems,” said Claire, now 30.

“I think it was down to stress. I had the same problems when I went through my A levels.”

Claire had long, fine, straight hair, until it began to fall out.

“It started going at the hairline at the back of my head, so it was not obvious at first, but I had more or less total loss by the time I sat my A levels.”

Doctors suggested various drugs and procedures to rectify the problem, but Claire didn’t want to try anything invasive. She didn’t even wear a wig, preferring to wear a baseball cap. Luckily friends at her all-girls’ school were supportive. Strangers weren’t so kind.

“People can’t help but stare, but I just got used to it,” said Claire. It was harder, she says, for her parents. “It hurts for the people around you who feel bad for you. It was hard for my mum and dad who felt unable to help.”

Luckily, Claire’s hair grew back. She still has bouts of hair loss, but at the first signs of trouble she books an appointment with York-based hair and skin specialist David Charles.

“David has been treating me for ten years,” said Claire, of Leeds.

“I suffer from small patches of hair loss every now and then. As soon as it happens I have a treatment with David and it starts to fill in again.”

Claire is getting married in April and is growing her hair for her big day. She is trying to keep pre-wedding stress to the minimum to ensure her hair is as healthy as it can be for the occasion.

Stress is a main cause of hair loss among the clients seen by David Charles. The 51-year-old dermo-trichologist has been treating hair and scalp conditions for the past 25 years and is registered with the British Register of Complimentary Practitioners. To be registered, one has to prove that a number of case studies have been successful.

One in 100 people are troubled with hair loss, but David said many women suffered in silence.

“Lots of women have thinning hair,” said David. “They can lose their confidence dramatically and become very upset.”

Happily, he says, many hair problems are treatable. David has even had success with women who have lost hair through radiotherapy and were told by doctors their hair would never grow back. However David’s success with Claire is more unusual. Her condition, alopecia areata, is often difficult to treat. “She was lucky,” said David. A fellow sufferer is TV personality Gail Porter, who is still bald after losing her hair in 2005.

Almost all of David’s clients are women. Their problems include thinning hair and hair loss to itchy, flaky scalps and problem hair, which has lost its condition and shine. Clients undergo a consultation, where David asks a series of questions about their general health and diet before extracting some hair to examine under a microscope.

From this analysis, David can identify the cause of the problem and recommend appropriate treatments.

Therapy often involves massage and the application of various products to improve the condition of the scalp and promote hair growth.

Jean Shaw is another client who had a full head of hair restored by David. “I’d been ill for four months when my hair started coming out in clumps,” said Jean. “It was very thin, like straw. Basically, my hair was not nourished.”

Her dark brown hair had always been her best asset, so Jean was understandably devastated. “I’d always had lovely hair. It was my best feature,” said Jean, 73, who lives in Morley.

Flicking through a phone directory, she chanced upon David’s details, and booked a consultation. After a course of treatment, her hair grew back.

“My hair is lovely now,” said Jean. “It’s as good now as when I was a 20 year old.”

David runs his clinic from his son’s hair salon in Gillygate, Ross Charles.

David said the secret to healthy hair involved several factors. It was vital, he said, to use the right products.

“You need to be choosy what you put on your hair,” said David. Chemicals in shampoos and conditioners can sometimes cause more harm than heat from hairdryers and straighteners. David can recommend specialist shampoos and conditioners for clients to use at home.

Smoking is something else to avoid. “Smoking affects your hair because it doesn’t allow you body to absorb minerals,” said David.

Good nutrition was vital too, he said, adding that often people who went on intense diets could begin to suffer hair loss after only three days. Keeping stress to a minimum is equally important, he said.