Talking trichology with Dr Hyacinth Oates

SHE is a loyal, hardworking, energetic, passionate and straightforward trichologist whose dream is to fully establish and standardise her passion of trichology — diagnosing and treating hair and scalp problems — at the local level.

Dr Hyacinth Oates, 70, told All Woman that oftentimes people think trichology is cosmetology, but explained that the former deals with the science of the structure, function and diseases of the human hair, and clinically, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders of the human hair and scalp.

Moreover, she said this love for looking after people’s hair started when she was a child at the age of seven or eight, as she found creative ways to style people’s hair.

“They had this big nail that they would wrap sweets around while making them and I found one, placed it in the stove and pressed some heads. We had something called brown paper that we used to curl hair and I’d curl people’s hair and if we didn’t have that I’d use the newspaper instead,” she said.

Dr Oates said she migrated to England where she completed her education. It was during this time that she truly realised her passion when it came to choosing her career path.

Her mother Dillon, now 90 years old, recounts the day Dr Oates made up her mind. She said she was very disappointed.

“I remember when she came home and showed me the paper to sign and said she wanted to go into the hairdressing class. I was so mad. I quarrelled and said, you come to England and got a good education and you want to come stand up over people head!” she exclaimed. “I wanted her to do nursing or teaching and it took a friend of mine called Miss D who told me to let her do what she wanted and if she didn’t like it, then she could choose something else.”

Now Dillon says she has lived to see her progress and watch her daughter excel.

From her initial training as a cosmetologist at Wilfred’s School of Cosmetology in the United States, Dr Oates established the Extra Touch Beauty Institute in May Pen, Clarendon, which saw her fulfilling part of her mother’s initial dream.

“The institute provided students with the skills and attitude that enabled them to become full-service cosmetologists incorporating the principles of health and wellness into the practice, making them image consultants, therapists and hair revolutionaries. They were also taught to embrace cosmetology and its noble history, while being reminded that hair is one of the few businesses in which our presence is felt at every level,” she said.

However, Dr Oates said she recognised that a healthy attitude towards physical beauty could mean the difference between happiness and unhappiness, because of trends promoted in the fashion industry.

She explained: “I realised that those who develop any form of hair and scalp disorders can experience social and health concerns, which oftentimes lead to a host of negative emotional consequences. These may include anxiety, self-disgust, eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.”

Subsequently, this led her to search for answers to the many hair and scalp problems that plagued the beauty industry, and as a result she started studying trichology.

“There were some serious problems in the hair care industry with relaxers, breakage, application of relaxers, people pulling at their hair. There were many questions that needed answers, which led me to my investigations and studies,” she said.

Dr Oates’ training came through the International Institute of Trichologists, USA, the Institute of Trichologists, UK, and the International Association of Trichologists in Australia. She now has a partnership with the last mentioned organisation in establishing trichology as a profession in Jamaica, offering international certification to the beauty services industry and health care providers.

Dr Oates is also the CEO of the only trichology training institute locally — Trichology Hair and Scalp Clinic and Training Institute located in Palmer’s Cross, Clarendon.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Dr Oates has served as the past president and director of the International Association of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists, and has recently formed the Professional Association of Trichologists — a regulatory body of trichologists locally — which she currently chairs.

Apart from looking after the general health of the human hair, Dr Oates enjoys farming — a skill she learnt from her neighbours in Clarendon back in 1974 — reading, witnessing in her role as a Jehovah’s Witness, baking, researching, dancing and listening to music.

Based on her dissertation — The long and short-term effect of alopecia areata in children, Dr Oates also enjoys going into schools and working with children who may suffer from traction alopecia, and educating them on some of the causes, which she says include hormonal imbalance and dietary issues.

“Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome triggers hair loss, malabsorption triggers hair loss, and young men who are balding may very well be suffering from androgenetic alopecia,” she explained.

Her philosophy is to do as much as you can for as long as you can, and she intends to truly establish trichology locally and get people to be aware of it as a profession, before taking a rest.