“There was hair on my pillow. I had to unclog the shower after each use. I’d be cooking and just see hair fall to the counter. I took the plunge.”
‘People will think you have cancer if you wear a headscarf.’ I lost half my hair in 3 months.’: Woman with alopecia embraces baldness
‘I gently lathered shampoo and rinsed. I felt a fullness in my fists, countless strands in tangled clumps among the suds.’: Woman with alopecia urges ‘losing hair doesn’t equal losing value’
“Over the following weeks, fishing clumps of hair from the drain became part of my routine. People commented, ‘What a waste of a body.’ This disease isn’t cruel, the stigma is.”
‘I’ll only play if you take your wig off.’ I was shocked and hurt. I let her bully me in my own house.’: Woman advocates for girls with alopecia, ‘Bald is beautiful’
“My wig fell off when I was playing on the monkey bars. My twin brother saw and came over to shield me as I tried to put it back on. I dreaded lice checks at school.”
‘I could never date someone without hair.’ I’ll never forget the look of disgust on his face.’: Woman with alopecia ditches wig, ‘It has shown me I can do anything I set my mind to’
“I would go into the bathroom stall during halftime and re-apply the tape that held my wig on. I saw nothing beautiful about my bald head. When they called me ‘baldy’ or said, ‘Lindsay is ugly,’ I believed it was true. I took my wig off mid-run. And for the first time, I saw nothing beautiful about it. I finally felt like I was the Lindsay I was always meant to be.”
‘Smoking when you have cancer? Are you insane? You might as well jump in front of a train!’ My first time going outside as a baldie was horrible.’: Woman with alopecia advocates for hair loss, ‘I am beautiful, with or without hair’
“I was known for my beautiful hair. It was one of my biggest ‘selling points.’ One day, I woke up and my hair started to fall out. ‘When you are almost bald, please come back and we will look at it again.’ Five days later, I was back. I went from having really beautiful hair to being a baldie with a wig.”
‘Her hair loss isn’t from stress.’ The pleasant chit-chat stopped. ‘There’s no cure for this.’: Little girl diagnosed with Alopecia starts head scarf company to ‘help all of the bald kids’
“We noticed a handful of brown curls on Rosie’s pillow. ‘Maybe she’s stressed about the new baby?’ The next morning, even more curls. ‘Maybe she’s allergic to her shampoo?’ Monday came and the last of her hair fell out. Our pediatrician assured us it was stress. It wasn’t. Our hope that this would be a temporary condition, even a funny story someday, slowly faded. Instead, we had to get used to the unkind stares and finger-pointing.”
‘I called my mom to tell her about my dream. ‘Maybe you’re pregnant.’ I took a test. Two faint lines.’: Woman with alopecia elated over surprise pregnancy after public miscarriage
“In a Target bathroom, I took a pregnancy test. I just knew. I cried by myself in that stall, holding my belly, hoping everything would be okay this time. I kept the secret from my husband for 3 days to surprise him.”
‘I let my daughter shave my head so I could look like her’: Beautiful moment dad shares with daughter who has Alopecia
“Today was supposed to be a fun, family vlog but it turned into so much more.”
