Female celebrities
with alopecia

Jada Pinkett Smith on the Oscars 2022

Jada Pinkett Smith open about alopecia

Alopecia can extend to the silver screen, to glossy magazines and to the red carpet, too. It affects famous women and men all over the world, some of whom have decided to share their story. Jada Pinkett Smith's been open about dealing with hair loss for years. But she's not letting it bring her down. Due to the recent incident that occured at the Oscars, it is now more than ever a topic that deserves the right attention.

In 2018, Pinkett Smith opened up about her "issues with hair loss" during an episode of Red Table Talk, explaining, "It was terrifying when it first started. I was in the shower one day and had just handfuls of hair in my hands and I was just like, 'Oh my god, am I going bald?'

Jada1-9435696b Alopecia Jada Pinkett Smith - Dr. Feriduni

The 50-year-old actress, activist and Red Table Talk host, who lives with the autoimmune disorder alopecia (which attacks hair follicles resulting in bald spots and hair loss), shared a candid video showing off one of the bare scalp patches that she's simply embracing.

"Now at this point, I can only laugh," Pinkett Smith said as she ran her finger across a bald line patch along the center of her scalp. "Y'all know I've been struggling with alopecia and just all of a sudden one day, look at this line right here. Look at that."
With a laugh, Pinkett Smith continued:

"So it just showed up like that and this is going to be a little bit more difficult for me to hide. So I thought I'd just share it so y'all are not asking any questions."

Rather than get upset about it, the actress prefers to put a positive spin on her hair loss. "But you know mama's going to put some rhinestones in there. I'm going to make me a little crown. That's what mama's going to do," Pinkett Smith said.

Other celebrities struggling with hair loss

Stars like Khloé Kardashian, Naomi Campbell, Kristin Davis, Keira Knightley, Viola Davis and more have all spoken candidly about their struggles with hair loss, from how their thinning strands caught them by surprise to how it affected their overall confidence.

Keira Knightley (left) colored her hair for years without experiencing any side effects—but it eventually caught up to her. She have dyed her hair virtually every color imaginable for different films and it got so bad she started losing chunks of hair. Embarrassed by the hair loss, Knightley wore wigs to conceal her changing hair for five years.

After contracting COVID-19 in March 2020, Khloé Kardashian (centre) admitted to losing a great deal of her hair. “It happened in chunks, and it was like two or three weeks after I had COVID," she recalled in an interview. "I was really bummed—you don't feel good about yourself.” Since then, she's focused on making lifestyle changes to get her hair back to its thick and full state.

Even supermodels have hair loss struggles like the rest of us, and Naomi Campbell (right) isn't an exception. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Campbell explained that years of hairstyling in fashion shows and campaigns left her with bald spots. The model also mentioned that wearing extensions ultimately wreaked havoc on her scalp. "I do take more care of my hair now, because I lost all of it with extensions," she said. "I am more careful, and I do different things."

The impact of hair loss

Jada's mindset indeed appears to be positive, but aside from that, struggling with alopecia certainly is not easy. At Dr. Feriduni Hair Clinic, we know more than anyone how this affects your mood, your way of thinking, your way of acting. It is okay to talk about it with someone, even if you think it is the hardest thing. There are professional people who can help, sometimes just by listening.
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Women with alopecia

Losing your hair can be pretty devastating, and if it's an experience that you know all too well, you’re not alone. Hair loss is more common than you think, and it doesn’t discriminate or target specific people. In fact, a 2007 study on female pattern hair loss once estimated that around 55 percent of women will experience hair loss at some point in their lifetime. Hair loss with women is also known as Androgenetic alopecia, which can be classified according to the Ludwig scale:

Androgenetic alopecia in women is characterised by thinning hair, often concentrated exclusively on the top of the head. Androgenetic alopecia in women usually appears during menopause and is only seldom seen as an indication of an undetected illness. When androgenetic alopecia appears in women before menopause is reached, it may be a sign of a hormonal disorder. In such a case - especially when the person is exceptionally hirsute or suffers from acne - an endocrinological examination is recommended to establish the cause of the hair loss. In contrast to other forms of hair loss, androgenetic alopecia is an irreversible process - once a hair has fallen out, no new hair will grow.

Alopecia areata

With alopecia areata, the hair is lost in certain patches and it will only to grow again after 1 or 2 years. Such patches can be anywhere on the scalp and multiple, with a diameter of 2,5 to 5 cm. Hair can regrow in one patch, while again falling out in another patch. Alopecia areata totalis results in the scalp losing all its hair. However only a small percentage of all hair loss patients suffer from this form of baldness. In most cases, hair loss is restricted to the head. There is however one form of hair loss - Alopecia areata universalis - where all body hair (including eyebrows, beard and pubic hair) is lost. Alopecia areata is probably an auto-immune disease where the body itself attacks the hair in a destructive and sometimes irreversible manner, as if seeing hair as something alien to the body. In many cases alopecia areata is an incurable and irreversible process. This is especially the case when alopecia areata occurs when the person is still a child or when the patient suffers from other auto-immune disorders such as thyroid disease, vitiligo or allergies.

Of course, why someone loses their hair can’t always be narrowed down to just one cause. Stress, diet, and various forms of alopecia often top the list of culprits, as does postpartum hair loss and side effects from COVID-19.

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Female celebritieswith alopecia