Oscars Fight Highlights for Many the Toll Alopecia May Carry

March 28, 2022 — Last evening’s Academy Awards ceremony is a buzzing matter of dialog as we speak.

Troy Kotsur grew to become the primary deaf man to win an Oscar – and the extremely coveted greatest supporting actor award, at that.

But it was what occurred afterward that arguably stole the present.

Viewers and viewers members alike watched in awe as actor Will Smith marched on stage and struck award presenter and comic Chris Rock within the face after he directed a joke at Smith’s spouse, Jada Pinkett Smith, for her shaved head.

Pinkett Smith has publicly shared her struggles with alopecia areata, which is a dysfunction that causes your immune system to assault your hair follicles. For many, it can also carry stigma and may result in emotions of melancholy or psychological sickness.

The result’s hair loss, which may differ from quarter-size patches to dropping all of the hair in your head and even your complete physique. About 700,000 folks within the U.S. have alopecia areata, in keeping with a 2020 research. Of them, barely greater than half are girls, and greater than 77% are white.  (To be taught extra info on alopecia areata and hair loss, click on right here.) 

The incident set social media ablaze, and robust sentiments had been heard from those that have been personally affected by alopecia.

Illness Is Never Funny

Rock’s remark may be triggering to the tens of millions who’ve been affected by hair loss, says Carolyn Goh, MD, a dermatologist at UCLA Health.

“As someone with alopecia myself, I consider it a microaggression,” Goh says. “I’ve experienced many similar comments. These build up over time and wear us down.”

One U.Okay.-based Instagram consumer, Kitty Dry, says the expression on Pinkett Smith’s face represented the harm felt by so many with this situation.

“I want to preface this post by saying that in no way do I condone any sort of violence, but thank you Will Smith,” says Dry, 23, who was identified with alopecia universalis after dropping all her hair in 12 weeks.

“That slap was for anyone with alopecia who has ever been at the butt of an unwanted joke, comment or stare,” Dry says.

Others posted feedback elevating consciousness of the tragic passing of Rio Allred, a 12-year-old woman with alopecia who died by suicide final week.

Allred is alleged to have endured severe bullying at college, with classmates pulling off her wig and smacking her head, in keeping with the Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundation.

It’s frequent for many who have hair loss situations to really feel helpless, and typically confused, says Amy McMichael, MD, a professor and chair of the Dermatology Department at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

That’s why it’s important for these folks to see a board-certified dermatologist, so that they know they aren’t alone, she says.

“As dermatologists, we can not only diagnose the type of alopecia, but we can also render treatment,” McMichael says.

Alopecia Awareness

Dermatologists also can assist join sufferers to organizations that deal with the bodily and emotional struggles of those that have hair loss, such because the National Alopecia Areata Foundation and the Scarring Alopecia Foundation, McMichael says.

She hopes final evening’s occasion reveals folks the “many faces of hair loss” and reveals that these situations can occur to folks of all ages, ethnicities, and genders.

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation calls what occurred on the Oscars a “teachable” second.

“We encourage both our community and the broader public to learn more about alopecia areata so we can end the stigma around this disease,” the group mentioned in a press release.

Goh says that anybody with hair loss ought to be happy to discover potential medical causes and, if wanted, hunt down psychological well being therapy, too.