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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Francesca Silva

Last week, I went to my hairdresser’s for a long overdue haircut. The first thing my hairdresser did was muss up my hair. The second thing she did was point out a large bald patch on my crown.

I think you need to see your doctor right away because you may have alopecia”, she said. She went on to explain that alopecia is a condition where some or – in worst cases – all of your hair falls out. It could be due to menopause or stress or many other factors. But the gist of it was that I had that bald patch on my head. Oh joy.

My hairdresser (bless her) gave me a lovely haircut that somehow covered the bald patch. But I was understandably upset – I’ve never had problems with the volume of my hair and, in fact, these last few years my hair has increased in volume rather than decreased…until now.

Hubby was so supportive when I told him. He’s been losing his hair for quite a while (genetics in his case), so I tried to make a joke of it along the lines of “this is true love – we’ll go bald together”. But he understood how upset I really was and gave me a big hug and sat me down for a lovely, supportive chat – which was just what I needed. Have I ever mentioned how blessed I feel to have him in my life (yes I know, only a few thousand times)!

I saw my doctor the next day and he confirmed that I have alopecia. The good news is that he’s pretty sure it’s alopecia “areata” and not “totalis”, which means I’ll have bald patches rather than lose all my hair. He scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist for me and told me my options ranged from rubbing special creams on the bald patch(es) or having corticosteroids injected directly into my scalp over a period of three to six weeks. I’m opting for the creams – I’m not injecting anything into my head, thank you very much, especially anything with the word “steroids” in it. The last thing I need is to have a handlebar moustache to go with my new head of hair!

Now that I’m over the initial shock, I’m putting it all into perspective. It’s not as if I have a degenerative illness or a deathly disease. My doctor is convinced that I won’t lose all my hair and that it will, with time and treatment, grow back.

So, as Baloo the Bear says in Disney’s movie “The Jungle Book”, I’m “accentuating the positive”. I used to wear hats all the time and then stopped doing so – maybe it’s time to pull them out all and get stylish again!

Seriously, though, it’s taken quite a while for me to smarten up – but I’m finally convinced that I really do need to care for myself before I can care for others.

[tags]losing hair, The Jungle Book, alopecia, totalis, bald patches, genetics, Disney’s movie[/tags]

One Response to “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?”

  1. A.b. says:

    Very worthwhile post. Your website is quickly getting to be certainly one of my favorites.:)

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