Alopecia: what you need to know
You may have seen in the news that recently Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about her battles with alopecia- an incredibly brave and inspiring thing to do, especially from someone in the spotlight. We’re glad Jada shared her own personal story, because alopecia really isn’t as rare as you’d imagine- in fact, it affects two people in every 1000 in the UK. If you’re still a little unsure what alopecia actually is, we’re here to share with you everything you may want to know, including the symptoms, triggers, and treatments for the condition.
What is alopecia?
So, what actually is alopecia? Is it just losing your hair- or is there more to it than that? Although alopecia is actually just a general term for hair loss, there is often a cause behind this that goes further than simply “stress” or “getting older”. It is usually defined by small, round bald patches on the scalp at around the size of a coin- although some people with alopecia lose all their hair, which is technically termed alopecia totalis. A more rare alopecia involves losing all body hair as well as on the scalp, which is referred to as alopecia universalis.
What are the symptoms of alopecia?
A person with alopecia may experience a tingling sensation in the scalp.
Can the hair grow back?
A lot of people assume that if you have alopecia, you hair is unable to grow, but that isn’t necessarily true. Regrowth does take longer, sure- usually over a period of months or even years- but it can happen.
What causes alopecia?
Alopecia can sometimes be hereditary, meaning it can potentially be passed between close family members who share the same genetic predisposition to alopecia. However, anyone can experience alopecia, at any period of their lives. Less serious cases of alopecia can be caused by stress, diet changes, and illness, and in these cases, hair will usually grow back if the cause of the issue is reversed. More serious cases of alopecia can involve the loss of all hair.
Hair is lost when the affected person’s immune system mistakes the hair roots as “foreign”. Why this happens, and why only certain areas are affected, and why hair can grow back, it still not yet understood. You can’t catch alopecia from another person, like an infection- and unfortunately, it can’t be cured.
What we learnt…
Researching for this post has given us quite a wake-up call. We may spend most of our lives in the hair salon, helping to transform clients’ hair into a better version of itself, but really, when it comes down to it, hair is actually pretty overrated. It does nothing to alter the overall beauty of a person, and with the likes of Kristen Stewart and Amber Rose showing us how to rock a shaved head, that’s all the proof you need that hair really isn’t a big deal. We are all beautiful- whether our hair is long, short, bald, curly, straight, greasy, knotty, limp, dry, or dyed ten different colours. That’s something that’s worth remembering.