Melanie Sykes has shared a striking new photograph revealing her completely bald head after speaking candidly about her ongoing struggle with alopecia. The TV presenter, 55, took to Instagram to post a beaming selfie as she embraced her changing appearance following months of being open about her hair loss.
Alongside the image, she simply wrote: 'Loss + Gain = Life.' The post arrives just days after the former presenter disclosed the full extent of her hair loss, revealing that her condition had progressed considerably over the past year.
Speaking Frankly About Her Health
Speaking frankly about her health, she recently said: 'I'm two-thirds bald, really. Every time I say I'm bald I laugh, I don't know why... Thank God I can laugh.' Her openness has been met with widespread support from fans and followers.
Melanie Sykes has previously disclosed that she has been living with an autoimmune condition while managing a number of health challenges, reports the Mirror. She explained: 'I've got an autoimmune condition, I am losing my hair, I keep having crazy inflammation all over and I am working on healing.'
Health Challenges Force Course Withdrawal
Melanie also informed fans that she had been compelled to step away from completing a meditation teacher training course due to deteriorating health. 'I was too ill to finish it like. The last two days of it I couldn't do. It's meditation teacher training, I don't necessarily want to teach, but I can do...,' she said. 'Mostly I've been living a very, very very spiritual existence.'
Last month, Melanie disclosed that her hair had been falling out 'really quickly', having experienced hair loss for over a year. She revealed that she had been experimenting with wigs, and had since abandoned head scarves as she was eager to 'get some hair'. She mentioned trialling wigs and had ceased wearing headscarves, hopeful that exposing her scalp to sunlight could stimulate regrowth.
Understanding Alopecia and Its Symptoms
Alopecia is a condition that results in hair loss and can affect the scalp or other areas of the body. There are various forms of the condition, with alopecia areata being amongst the most prevalent. It occurs when the body's immune system erroneously targets healthy hair follicles, leading to hair falling out.
While anybody can develop alopecia, it is most frequently diagnosed in those under 40 and is often associated with other autoimmune conditions. Stress, genetics and family history are also considered contributing factors, although the precise cause isn't always identifiable.
Symptoms can range from small, circular bald patches on the scalp to more extensive hair loss. Some individuals ultimately experience total loss of scalp hair, known as alopecia totalis, while others lose hair across their entire body, a rarer form called alopecia universalis. While there is presently no cure for alopecia, treatments including steroid injections, topical medications and immunotherapy can help stimulate regrowth in some individuals. Hair frequently returns, but the condition can be erratic, with phases of regrowth followed by additional hair loss.
Melanie's Diagnosis and Stress Link
Melanie first discussed her diagnosis publicly last year. The star revealed she developed an irregular heartbeat and 'rapid' hair loss after being 'harassed' when allegations emerged against TV chef Gino D'Acampo, whom she worked alongside on the ITV series Let's Do Lunch with Gino and Mel from 2011 to 2014.
'I went into the New Year with so much energy. I've slowed things down because I got a heart problem, which I developed during the whole Gino D'Acampo bull**** that happened in the news,' she said in a video. 'And suddenly, the stress levels in my life shot up because I left that industry years ago but it won't leave me alone.'
