Sameera Reddy opens up about alopecia areata: ‘Had a 2-inch bald spot at the back of my head’

When Will Smith smacked Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss at the Oscars this year, its ripples were felt across the world, where people had mixed opinions about the controversy.
While some lauded Smith for taking a stand for his wife, others questioned his intent, given that he was seen laughing moments earlier when the joke was cracked.

Amid all this, people suffering from alopecia are opening up about their journeys, on why they do or do not think it is okay to joke about it. Among them is actor Sameera Reddy.
The mother-of-two, who advocates inclusivity and body positivity on social media, took to Instagram to write a long post about her struggle with hair loss. Check it out.

The 43-year-old wrote that the controversy made her want to “shed light that we all have our individual battles we are fighting and healing from and we need to create a positive safe space for one another”.
Talking about the auto-immune disease, Reddy wrote that in alopecia areata, the “cells in your immune system surround and attack your hair follicles. This causes the attached hair to fall out that causes patches of bald spots”.

“I got diagnosed with it in 2016, when Akshai saw I had a 2-inch bald spot at the back of my head. In one month, I discovered two more patches. It was really hard to deal with,” the actor wrote. She added that while the disease “does not make people sick, nor is it contagious”, it  can be “difficult to adapt to emotionally”.

“For many people, alopecia areata is a traumatic disease that warrants treatment addressing the emotional aspect of hair loss, as well as the hair loss itself. The doctor told me that in most cases, the hair can grow back and with Corticosteroids injections in the scalp, my three patches grew back slowly. But I’m very aware there is no cure.”

She also shared that right now she has “healthy hair with no patches”. “I’ve been told I have to be aware it can come back at any point in my life. I do take homeopathy and I holically hope to keep it at bay. In this fast-paced world, I pray people will pause, reflect and be sensitive to each other,” she concluded.
Dr BL Jangid, hair transplant surgeon and founder of SkinQure Clinic, Saket, Delhi, had previously told this outlet that women don’t become completely bald; they usually experience hair thinning, sometimes leading to the visibility of the scalp.
In alopecia areata, there are small round shaped bald patches.
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