A hard-hitting TV documentary will tomorrow follow former model and presenter Gail Porter on her journey as she comes to terms with her baldness. Hannah Davies finds out how alopecia has affected Gail, and talks to fellow North sufferer Sarah Amies about her experiences of the condition. "For a girl, when you have got lovely long blonde hair it is very difficult to suddenly lose it all. "I just felt really ugly. My hair, which I felt was part of me as a woman, was disappearing. As far as I was concerned I was very ugly and unattractive." Sarah Amies, 38, from Hexham, Northumberland, is an intelligent, attractive woman with her own business, a successful past career in merchandising and an engaging personality. But since she was a teenager Sarah has been wracked with a lack of self-confidence and insecurity about her appearance after suffering from alopecia universalis - total hair loss. It is estimated one in 50 people in the UK suffers from some kind of alopecia. In addition to TV presenter Gail Porter, who lost her hair in 10 days during September last year, Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas, Princess Caroline of Monaco, former Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, and models Anna Fitzpatrick and Margaret Baker are also well-known alopecia sufferers. It is not known for certain what causes the condition. Factors from stress to hereditary issues are all cited. The hair loss is not necessarily permanent either - Princess Caroline's grew back. But the most serious cases are also the ones where hair is least likely to grow back. The impact on alopecia sufferers' lives can be dramatic: withdrawal, lack of self confidence and depression are all common. Sarah was just 14 when, out-of-the-blue, her eyebrows fell out. Shocked but not overly concerned, as she was very fair and her lack of eyebrows was not too noticeable, Sarah soon forgot about it. The hair loss had appeared to stop there, but when she was in her late teens bald patches around the size of a 10p piece began appearing on the back of her head. These grew back after a while. Finally, when she was 20, all of Sarah's long blonde hair began falling out. It was then she was diagnosed with alopecia universalis. "When I lost my eyebrows it wasn't too bad - I was pretty fair but it was still pretty upsetting," she says. "Bald patches appeared while I was in the sixth form which was more disturbing - I was relieved when they grew back, but it was still worrying. "Then when I reached 20 and was at college, my hair began to fall out quite badly at the back. Soon I had no hair left anywhere on my body." Sarah's family moved to Riding Mill in Northumberland from Stourbridge in the Midlands when she was 15. The former Hexham Queen Elizabeth High School pupil studied textiles and consumer services at London's South Bank Polytechnic (now university) in 1988, which is where her complete hair loss took place. "My friends were supportive, but I think they found it quite difficult as well. Because I wasn't really able to talk about it they found it difficult to talk about it with me," Sarah recalls. "I think my family was devastated. I'd go away to university, come back three months later and there would be quite a lot of hair gone in that time. It would shock and upset them. "It was really traumatic, but all I could do was keep on with things as best as I could." Sarah found it upsetting to talk about her alopecia to others, preferring to ignore it as much as possible. Instead she got on with her life and adjusted to hiding her hair loss. "It has always been frustrating because I didn't know when or if it was going to come back. But unlike other people I haven't had any re-growth and I think it is unlikely I will now. "While I was still at college I used to just wear head scarves and I hated the thought of wearing wigs. "When I started a job, though, I thought I'd better conform and get a wig - which I hated. "The wigs 15 years ago were not very pretty or realistic, but I'm happy wearing one now. Today's wigs are fantastic - they have come on so much since I was a girl. I could never walk around without one on now." Sarah decided to make some big changes to her life last year, following a visit to a life coach in London. "Moving back to Northumberland has always been in the back of my mind. The life coach helped me think about what I really wanted to do, and I thought I want my own business, to do something relevant to me. "I thought, `I haven't had any hair for 18 years and I'd like to help other people in that situation.'" Sarah moved to Hexham in November last year. In March she set up Hair To Wear, which supplies a variety of different styles and types of wigs to people. "I don't think you can truly understand what it is like to lose your hair unless you have been through it yourself. "You feel like you are losing your identity as well. A lot of people express their personality through their hair - cutting it, dying it - and with having none you lose that. "Also, having no eyebrows, I felt my face was blank sometimes. But you get used to it and work out how to use make-up and find yourself again." Hair To Wear has gone from strength-to-strength and Sarah has clients from as far afield as Hartlepool and north Northumberland. It has only really been since she set up her business that she has come into contact with other alopecia sufferers. "Previously the only other person I knew with hair loss was a friend of mine. When she started to lose her hair I started talking to her. "Coming into contact with other alopecia sufferers helped me because I met people in the same situation - I was surprised at how many were out there. "Alopecia is alienating. People don't really understand what it is like until you have been there." Through coming into contact with fellow sufferers Sarah has set up her own alopecia support group, based in Hexham. She says sharing experiences has given her a self-confidence she previously did not have. "Instead of hiding my condition I'm now happy talking about having alopecia," she adds. "I've started being open about the condition and the fact that I wear a wig. People say they can't believe I wear a wig, but years ago when the wigs weren't particularly good I always had that feeling of being self-conscious. I wasn't open and I always felt I was so conspicuous. "The group has given me more confidence. The people I have met over the last couple of months have been great. When you have alopecia you can really relate to each other and get a greater understanding of how you feel. "You can talk about what is happening to you and give each other support. I have a customer who is only 15 - which was around the age I was when I first lost hair. "I used to think alopecia was so devastating, that my life was over, but through meeting other people you gain strength and they help you get on with it." For more information about alopecia visit www.alopeciaonline.org.uk. For information about Sarah's business, Hair To Wear, or the alopecia support group, call her on (01434) 609542. | 
