Alopecia: A woman describes how she couldn’t look in the mirror

Poppie said she felt she had to hide her alopecia, adding: “I felt I had to cover it up when I was at school.

“In my head no one could know, wearing a wig was a chore. It was quite isolating.”

“I would even wear a wig out in the garden in case the neighbors saw me.

She decided going to university was a good point in her life to take a different approach and said her new friends were incredibly supportive.

“It’s been a long five years, but I’ve learned to own it. If I don’t want to wear a wig, then I won’t, if I want to wear a wig and style it – that’s fun too,” she added.

Poppie said there was an “incredible community” both online and in person, and she turned to a local support group to help her regain her confidence.

“Now I look at the positives and how I can help other people,” she said.

Ben Lowrey, 40, took a different approach when he channeled his energy into fitness and became a nude model.

In 2012, the exercise fanatic, who lives in Rhondda Cynon Taf, lost all his hair in a matter of months.

“I couldn’t control my hair, but fitness was something I could,” he said.

“I didn’t have a lot of negativity, more of a positive focus on being in shape.”

He joined an agency, became a “butler in the buff” and posed as a life drawing model for hen parties and events.

“I became a lot more confident, it wasn’t just being naked – it was taking control of a room and talking to groups of people and being part of their special event,” Ben said.

He said that if he had the choice, he wouldn’t choose to grow his hair back.

“Alopecia has forced me to be confident in other ways, to focus on my values, goals and principles,” he added.

Ryan Rush’s story begins when he was much younger.

His first bald patch appeared in his hair when he was four years old.

The 22-year-old, who lives in Caerphilly, said it continued to develop until he was ten.

“I took my eyebrows for granted, losing them affected me more than the hair on my head because they are more noticeable and harder to disguise,” Ryan said.

In high school, he said, as his condition progressed, he had several negative comments directed at him.

Ryan added: “It was mainly verbal bullying, but overall it wasn’t too bad. I think the attention was more out of curiosity.”

He had never met anyone with the condition until he was on holiday as a teenager and believes representation is important.

He also saw model Adam Rhazali, who has a condition, on a billboard in Cardiff last year.

“It was amazing, just to see someone like me putting myself out there,” he said.

“I felt proud, confident and more comfortable.

Dr Manju Kalavala is consultant and clinical director of dermatology at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and said it was “good news”.

He saw a “huge increase” in demand from people with hair loss, but there was a wait of up to two years after the pandemic.

“We worked hard and managed to knock it down,” he said.

“Right now we’re running around a 42-week wait time. At the same time, we realize we can’t keep patients waiting that long.”

Dr Kalavala said schemes trialled by Cardiff and Vale Health Board have now been adopted across Wales to help patients get help as soon as possible.

“We do teledermatology so GPs can send a referral with a photo attached,” he said.

“We respond in a few days and can request tests and offer advice, so it helps speed up the process while they’re waiting for us.”