TV presenter Melanie Sykes has shown off her completely bald head – just days after opening up on her hair loss.
The star, 55, has been battling alopecia and days ago claimed that she was now “two-thirds bald”.
But taking to Instagram this morning, Mel showed that she had no hair left at all.
The telly star flashed a smile in the selfie that she simply captioned as: “Loss + Gain = Life.”
Her brave new post comes amid Mel’s honesty about her recent health issues and the impact to has taken on her.
She previously explained how the autoimmune condition has progressed over time and had left her with noticeable bald patches across her head.
Mel first opened up about facing life with alopecia last year.
She told how she was in “so much pain” after spending much of it unwell.
She said: “I’ve got an autoimmune condition, I am losing my hair, I keep having crazy inflammation all over and I am working on healing.
“In the last three months, I’ve done a meditation teacher training course.
“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…
What is alopecia and what causes it?
About two per cent of the population will experience alopecia at some point in their lifetime, with around one in every 4,000 developing the condition each year.
It can start at any age but is most common in early adulthood and can lead to a lack of all hair including eyelashes and eyebrows, nasal hair and public hair.
Alopecia areata causes patches of baldness about the size of a large coin.
“Alopecia” is the medical term for hair loss and “areata” means that it occurs in small, random areas. There are various classifications, including:
- Alopecia areata totalis: Total hair loss on the scalp
- Alopecia areata universalis: Total hair loss on your scalp and all body hair
The causes of alopecia areata are not fully understood but the loss of hair is because of inflammation around the hair follicles.
The cause of the inflammation is unknown but it is believed that the immune system, which normally protects the body from infections and other diseases, misfires and attacks the hair follicles.
Therefore, it is understood to be an autoimmune condition, says Alopecia UK.
Genetics may be behind the condition, but there are other things thought to trigger it, including a virus, iron deficiency or stress. Studies are not conclusive.
For women, sometimes birth can trigger postpartum alopecia.
In most cases of alopecia areata, hair will grow back in a few months to a year. At first, hair may grow back fine and white, but over time it should thicken and regain its normal colour.
There is no cure for the condition, only treatments that are not guaranteed to work.
People with alopecia may need to take extra precautions, including protecting their skin and eyes when outside and preventing stress.
“Mostly I’ve been living a very, very very spiritual existence.
“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.”
Last month, Melanie revealed that her hair had been coming out “really quickly”, after losing hair for more than a year.
She explained to fans how she has been trying on wigs, with her now ditching head scarves because she is keen to “get some hair”.