By ReShonda Tate | Defender Network | word in black

This post was originally posted on Defender Network

(WIB) – For years, Kim Roxie has been helping women enhance their beauty. The Houston native has achieved national fame as a makeup artist with her company Lamik Beauty. But throughout her brilliant career, she kept a secret: she didn’t always feel beautiful because alopecia had stolen her crown.

“As a young girl I had beautiful, naturally curly hair and I hated my hair because I grew up in a time when straight hair was all the rage. I would have put so much strain on my scalp and edges. I just overused my hair,” Roxie said.

The 38-year-old mother was diagnosed with alopecia, a degenerative disease that causes hair loss, in her early 20s.

“I was losing and finding bald spots in certain areas. I went to a dermatologist who didn’t look like me and he didn’t help me,” she said. “I tried castor oil, growth serums, all sorts of things, and nothing helped. Then I went to see a black dermatologist and she confirmed that I had two types of alopecia different.

Roxie recommends a good support system for anyone dealing with hair loss.

“I belong to a hair loss support group. We zoom in and talk about our hair loss, and I can be so transparent.

A common problem

Like Roxie, many women of color suffer from alopecia. According to Harvard Medical School, approximately one-third of women will experience some form of hair loss in their lifetime. And a peer-reviewed study published in 2018 found that black and Hispanic women in the United States have a “significantly greater” chance of developing alopecia areata in their lifetime than white women.

Jada shines a light

The recent Oscars fiasco shone a light on the debilitating disease that affects so many women every year. Actor Will Smith has a front row seat to his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has been battling alopecia since 2018. Pinkett Smith has spoken out about the diagnosis, addressed the challenges of the condition, and publicly shown evidence of hair loss with confidence and frankness.

She even posted a video on Instagram to talk about a new patch of baldness caused by alopecia. The video, which has over 2 million views, shows a smiling Pinkett Smith acknowledging the discovery.

“Look at this line here,” Pinkett Smith, 50, said, pointing to her scalp. “Now it’s going to be a little harder for me to hide it, so I thought I’d share it so you wouldn’t ask questions – but you know, mom is going to put some rhinestones in there, and I I am going to make myself a little crown.

Pinkett Smith is among notable women of color who have broken their silence on hair loss, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who revealed she had alopecia in 2020. The Massachusetts Democrat said that she felt compelled to go public to free herself from the shame of her condition and provide true transparency to everyone empowered by her hairstyle.

“I felt naked, exposed, vulnerable. I felt embarrassed. I was ashamed. I felt betrayed,” Pressley said. “And then I also felt like I was participating in a cultural betrayal because of all these little girls writing me letters, coming up to me, taking selfies with me. Hashtag twist nation.

Good Sunday! #baldsquad #baldbaddies #baldisbeautiful Thank you for the warm welcome #alopecia nation #hairlosscrew. New Year. New decade. New truths. New loot. #theyarereadyforthatsmoke pic.twitter.com/M3ggSNrV9B— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) January 19, 2020

hair matters

When Roxie watched the Oscars, her heart went out to Pinkett Smith.

“I felt her hurt. When someone does that and they laugh at you, you think it’s an autoimmune disease. It’s nothing you can control. The joke wasn’t just a very low blow, and I didn’t appreciate it. Sometimes people like to minimize alopecia by thinking, “Oh, it’s just hair. They don’t realize your hair is an extension of you.” , said Roxie, who posted her own bald photo after the Oscars, a gesture she said was liberating.

“It was healthy to shave my head so you could accept me. Everyone around me had to accept me. You think, just shave your head, it’s okay. But people look at you weirdly Luckily, everyone around me accepted me for myself. And that made me feel better. So when I put a wig back on, I always feel good about myself.

Is it alopecia or normal shedding?

It’s normal to lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day, but for most people, new hair grows at the same time to replace it, according to Memorial Hermann in Houston.

“Hair is in constant recycling, growing, resting, and shedding,” said Dr. Christopher Levert of Memorial Hermann Medical Group.

Dr Jennifer Ukwu, of Memorial Hermann Medical Group in Pearland, said many people struggle emotionally with this change of identity.

“Seventy million people have it, it appears in the 20s to 30s. What is most often discussed is tension or traction alopecia, which occurs with tight hairstyles over time , and this one is a bit more treatable. Alopecia areata is actually an autoimmune form. There’s no cure,” Dr Ukwu said.

Ukwu said diet, topical creams or steroids can help slow the progression for some people. However, Webb said adopting it was the best medicine yet.

Along with eating a balanced diet with adequate protein, experts suggest that people with alopecia get a diagnosis from a board-certified dermatologist who can perform a biopsy. For black women, it’s important to seek out a doctor who specializes in African American hair loss because not everyone has the same expertise, she said.

ALOPECIA 101

What is alopecia?

Alopecia is a general term that refers to any form of hair loss.

What are the types of alopecia?

Traction alopecia – Caused by the tension on the hair due to tight hairstyles and extensions.

Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia (ACCC) – A form of cicatricial alopecia that occurs on the scalp and causes permanent hair loss. CCCA occurs almost exclusively in black women between the ages of 30 and 55, and research suggests it can affect up to 15% of these women.

Autoimmune alopecia – Caused when the immune system begins to attack their hair follicles

Alopecia areata – The most common form of hair loss.

How is it diagnosed?

Doctors diagnose alopecia by taking a biopsy of the scalp and then sending it to pathologists who study skin cells under a microscope to determine what may be causing the hair loss.

People with alopecia areata are more likely than those without it to also develop related conditions, such as thyroid disease, diabetes, allergies, and asthma.

What causes alopecia?

The cause of alopecia areata is unclear, but doctors believe it may have a genetic component. If a parent has alopecia, for example, their child has a 1-10% chance of developing it as well. Alopecia areata can also be triggered by stressful events and nutritional deficiencies, such as iron deficiency.

Support for this Sacramento OBSERVER article was provided to Word In Black (WIB) by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. WIB is a collaboration of 10 black-owned media that includes print and digital partners.

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