The Oscar Slapgate controversy shook the world. One of the highlights of the ceremony was Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for mocking his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's medical condition. For the unversed, Jada is battling Alopecia. Now, after the incident, Sameera Reddy has opened up about her battle with Alopecia and spotting a 2-inch bald spot at the back of her head in 2016.
In a post on Instagram, Sameera wrote, "The current #oscar controversy made me 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 other What Is Alopecia Areata? It is an auto immune disease . When you have Alopecia Areata, 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."
Sharing her experience, the actress added, "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. Alopecia Areata does not make people sick, nor is it contagious. It can, however, 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 in no cure. And there is no particular reason why a person gets Alopecia Areata.
Educating her followers, Sameera shared, "Other types of alopecia are—alopecia totalis (when entire scalp turns bald); alopecia ophiasis (when even the hair loss is also on occipital, temporal, and parietal regions of the scalp); and alopecia universalis (when the hair loss happens across the entire body) And though right now i have healthy hair with no patches ( that I am grateful for everyday ) 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 holistically hope to keep it at bay. In this fast paced world i pray people will pause , reflect and be sensitive to each other."
Jada shared a video flaunting her shaved head in December. Opening up about Alopecia, she said, "Now at this point, I can only laugh. I mean 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." She added, "And so, it just showed up like that."
(Source: Instagram)