PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) – Even if you missed the Academy Awards Sunday night, by now you’ve certainly heard about “the slap.”
As people continue to react to the now-infamous moment, when Will Smith hit Chris Rock across the face after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, the real and not so funny issue of alopecia has come to the surface.
Pinkett Smith, who shaved her head because of her alopecia, has been open about her battle. Hair loss is no laughing matter, especially for women.
Hair is often seen, esthetically, as women's so-called "crown and glory." Dr. Candrice Heath is Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Temple University. She says hair loss is a pretty big deal, and many people don’t think about it until it happens to them.
"Hair has definitely been talked about in spirituality. For some it’s a form of their religion to do certain things with their hair, so it’s way more than just cosmetic,” says Dr. Heath.
Alopecia is a medical term for hair loss, and there are several different types. “For my patients with Alopecia Areata, which is really more of an auto-immune type of hair loss that really starts to attack the hair follicles, it can come and go. It may be triggered by stress, [but] sometimes it happens out of nowhere,” Dr. Heath explains.
Alopecia Areata results in patches of hair loss, and she says many patients simply don’t want to fight with it.
“I spend time with them to talk about the diagnosis and all of these things, and our approach, and they say, you know what? It would be easier to just shave all of my hair off. I love it when they go through revolution and they just sort of cut their hair or wear fewer hair pieces. It’s like a journey of confidence,” says Dr. Heath.
Many people, like Pinkett Smith, choose to shave their heads as a way to cope with the patches of hair loss. Shaving, however, is not a treatment, and the affected follicles will continue to be affected. Treatment is determined by the type of alopecia, and includes topical steroids, or injections, and there are new drugs that can target autoimmune induced hair loss.
More importantly, though, are the issues surrounding self-esteem and emotional stress that accompany the condition.
Dr. Heath says that the emotional needs of her patients must be addressed as well. “It definitely affects their ability to have a higher self-esteem. They do want to go to school, they don’t want to go to work, they’re tired of covering up the hair loss … so it definitely takes a toll.” But she says many suffer in silence and just attempt to cover it up.
According to the Alopecia Areata Foundation, the disease affects as many as 6.8 million people in the U.S. with a lifetime risk of 2.1%. It does not discriminate, and people of all ages, sexes and ethnic groups can develop the condition.
Anyone experiencing sudden hair loss should schedule an appointment with a board certified dermatologist because the healing journey starts with a proper diagnosis.
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