The 34-year-old mother-of-two took to her Instagram account to detail the reason behind her big chop, in which she also revealed that she was diagnosed with alopecia.
READ MORE: Gail Mabalane cut of all her hair – and she looks stunning!
“A few months ago I went to the salon for a routine hair wash. To my shock, after my wash, a big chunk of my hair was GONE!!!” Gail wrote candidly in the post which featured a picture of her.
After enduring several weeks of unsuccessful self-medicating, the actress decided to consult a dermatologist, who then diagnosed her with alopecia. Which according to WebMd is an autoimmune disorder that results in hair loss caused by an attack on the hair follicles by the immune system.
READ MORE: What is hair loss (alopecia)?
“I decided to consult a dermatologist. CCCA - Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia was the diagnosis. Simply put ... a very common cause of Alopecia or hair loss in black women,” she added in the post.
“So why am I sharing this? Apart from the fact that wearing a wig can get tiring ... I wanted to use this opportunity to say to women: if you have any form of hair loss (hairline included), please consult a professional,” she wrote.
“Had I not gotten the necessary treatment, this could have resulted in permanent hair loss. Sometimes, it’s not hair activator that’s needed... but treatment.”
READ MORE: "Losing all my hair taught me that my hair doesn’t define me"
Gail is not the first local celeb to open up about alopecia. Local actor Warren Masemola has often been quite public about his struggles with the condition growing up and how it helped shape his career.
Check Gail’s full post below.
