Eileen
Thomas is ecstatic that a lifetime’s practice of arranging her hair
to cover up bald spots is now over with.
Mrs
Thomas, who suffered burns to her scalp as a seven month old baby,
has been unable to grow hair on the scarred parts of her head for
most of her life.
However,
a hair restoration procedure developed and performed by hair
restoration specialist, Dr Jennifer Martinick, has changed all that
for her.
In
September 2004, Mrs Thomas had 350 hair follicles transplanted to a
bald spot above her forehead.
Now
sporting a thick growth of hair in her former bald spot, she is
sharing her story in the hope she can help others who have
experienced similar traumas.
Mrs
Thomas said she was overwhelmed that the wounds which prevented her
from growing hair for almost five decades could be healed by a short
afternoon procedure.
The
transplant cost her just over $2,500.
Mrs
Thomas’ bald spots stems back to an accident in Dundee, Scotland
when as a seven month-old she fell out of her pram and into a coal
fire.
From
then on she was unable to grow hair in the coal-cinder scarred parts
of her head.
She
spent her childhood and most of her adult life trying to cover up her
bald patches with hats, headbands and careful positioning of her
hair.
“I
was very self conscious about my bald spots, but didn’t do anything
about it because it wasn’t life threatening,” said Mrs Thomas.
“I
was also very busy in my twenties with four young children and didn’t
have as much time to think about myself.”
When
Mrs Thomas reached her early thirties she finally asked her general
practitioner if there was anything she could do.
This
was during the 1970s - a time when hair restoration was nowhere near
as sophisticated as it is today.
The
doctor referred her to a surgeon who recommended a scalp reduction.
She eventually had four of these procedures, but as she got older the
effects of gravity saw the scalp loosening and her bald spots were
exposed again.
“This
was the only solution on offer,” she said.
“One
surgeon did it for free to help me out, but unfortunately the
solution didn’t last.”
Mrs
Thomas said she didn’t learn about the new hair restoration
techniques now available until, after relocating from New South Wales
to Perth, a local plastic surgeon recommended Dr Martinick.
“I
went to see a plastic surgeon about getting another scalp reduction,
but he told me that no matter what he did my bald spots would
eventually come back as my scalp loosened up again,” Mrs Thomas
said.
“He
then told me that Dr Martinick was doing some wonderful work with new
hair restoration techniques.”
Dr
Martinick, who is the resident hair restoration specialist at the
Bondi Junction Private Hospital, said the successful transplant
offered hope to many thousands of burns victims who thought they
could not grow hair on scarred areas.
Her
technique, “known as the coronal technique” had been used to
treat over 60 burns or accident victims at her clinics around the
country.
“I
want people to know that if you have a scar in a hair bearing area it
can be treated with hair transplantation,” Dr Martinick said.
Amongst
the other patients who have benefited from Dr Martinick’s techniques are a farmer with a gun shot wound to his head, an eight
year-old Indian girl with burns who was treated in Mumbai, and a
Sydney dentist whose scalp was badly damaged in a car accident.
Mrs
Thomas said few people realised that modern hair restoration was
virtually impossible to detect.
“I
am telling my story in the hope that other people, in particular
young kids, will become aware that they can have things done,” Mrs
Thomas said.
“If
I can save one kid from going through what I went through I will be
very pleased.
“We’d
like to think that kids don’t tease each other but they do and that
can be very painful.”
