Hair Today…Brits Show Concern About Losing Their Locks

07-05-2007 09:23

This month (22 April –2 May 2007) is the first ever National Hair For Life Month – a month dedicated to raising awareness of hair loss and the solutions available for the 4.8 million women and 7.9 million men in the UK who suffer from thinning hair.

According to a new survey published during the month and carried out by Regaine, hair growth specialists, a staggering one in five adults aged 24 or under are concerned about losing their hair.

As a specialist in hair loss, trichologist and founder of The Trichologist Clinic in Hampstead, Andrew Bernie says: “Hair loss is not just something that affects older generations. It can strike at anytime and for a young person who is likely to care about their looks, it can be devastating.”

Interestingly, the survey also reveals that hair loss is not just an issue which concerns men. In fact, four times more women than men have worried about losing their hair enough to want to seek treatment.

“One in four women are likely to experience thinning hair at some point in their lives so it’s not surprising that women do worry about the issue of hair loss,” says Andrew. “In many cases, the cause will be hereditary but there are times when other factors such as nutrition, stress and hormones will come in to play.” The poll also showed a clear north, south divide in attitudes towards hair loss. People in the south worry far more about losing their hair than those in the north. Despite this, northerners are nearly nine times more likely to seek treatment.

Darius Hughes from Regaine says: “The north south divide revealed within this survey is particularly interesting from a psychological viewpoint. Whilst those in the south appear more concerned with their looks, those in the north are more open to seek treatment and perhaps take a more pragmatic approach to the problem.”

On a more light hearted note but one which also indicates the national concern for hair loss, the survey revealed that the ‘comb over’ hairstyle was voted the least attractive style for a man to have. It was voted as being worse than the ‘mullet’, ‘skinhead’, ‘curtains’ and ‘kojak’ amongst others. David Beckham however, who is noted for sporting a wide range of hairstyles, was nominated as being the man with the most ‘mojo’ – his personal magnetism and charm putting him top of the poll.