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- Celebrities have been speaking out about the hair loss condition alopecia.
- Following celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith and Gail Mabalane, actress Ashley Tisdale has now also opened up about struggling with alopecia.
- She says the condition can lead to feelings of shame but adds that she has found meditation helpful.
High School Musical actress Ashley Tisdale says over the years she has found that her hair starts falling out when the autoimmune condition alopecia flares up during times of stress, most recently when moving house and starting a new job.
"Alopecia and hair loss are fairly common, but a lot of people feel embarrassed to talk about these issues. Any type of hair loss can affect your self-esteem, especially if you feel like you're the only one going through it. That's why I want to talk about it openly – because it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes it's connected to hormones, other times to heredity, and for me, it's connected to stress overload. Today on @frenshe, I'm sharing what I've learned about my alopecia, and how I help manage it," she wrote on Instagram.
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READ MORE | Jada Pinkett Smith opens up about alopecia since the Oscars: 'When you go bald, you don't have a choice'
On the website for her Frenshe skincare website, the 37-year-old star – who has 21-month-old daughter Jupiter with husband Christopher French – went into more detail about a recent incident.
"A couple of months ago, while simultaneously moving, starting a home renovation and kicking off a TV project, I noticed that a patch of my hair was starting to fall out. Nothing major – just a small section behind my ear – but still, it was happening, and not for the first time. A few years ago, the same thing happened when I was overly stressed, so I knew exactly what I was experiencing: alopecia," she explained.
Ashley said she found that her hair eventually grew back, adding that she tried to tackle the situation with yoga, meditation and therapy.
READ MORE | 'Losing my hair does not change who I am as a woman' - Gail Mabalane chats to us about hair loss
"I find what has helped me, is stress management. Obviously, mediation. A lot of the time, my cortisol is up, because I'm sometimes putting stress on myself for no reason, but it's really important to know what's a big deal versus what is not a big deal," she added.
Ashley also tried platelet-rich plasma injections (PRP) – which uses a patient's own blood cells to accelerate healing in a specific area. According to her, she's seen good results, although it is "expensive".
"It is more of an expensive route. But I do find it's really helpful for alopecia," she added.
The Masked Dancer judge has also found adopting an autoimmune paleo diet, which eliminates and then reintroduces certain foods to promote gut health, to be beneficial.
"It, first of all, just makes you feel better. And it really is healing towards the gut. You don't want to kind of be on it for a lifestyle diet, but it's good to do a 30-day thing with it. It's basically like paleo but you're cutting out grains and other foods that are allowed, like eggs. Obviously, alopecia is an autoimmune disease, so I would say that would be something to look at and see if it's something you can follow and try it."
