Female alopecia, the great taboo

They look at Julia. They think she is sick. That she has cancer. She has no hair. Sure, she’s cancer. Júlia also looks at them. She doesn’t turn. Let’s see who lasts longer. Let’s see who looks away from her first. Julia wins. Júlia Moreno is 24 years old and was diagnosed with alopecia four years ago. It started with the diffuse type, which is characterized by loss of hair density. Now, he has developed the type universalis (total loss).

“I started with alopecia the first year of university. I remember how my hair fell out on the notes,” he explains. “At first I thought it was temporary. I ended up seeing that it was serious and I decided to go to the doctor.” From then on, Júlia began a long journey of tests, analyzes and treatments that contained a long list of side effects.

“To go to university I spent an hour getting ready. I had to draw my eyebrows, hair by hair. It was a nightmare”

“My immune system was attacking the hair follicles, causing my hair to fall out. So I was prescribed an immunosuppressant medication.” In addition to calming his immune system, the doctors decided to choose this treatment because one of its side effects is hair growth. However, Júlia had fewer defenses in her body. Over time, the idea of ​​having to rely on pills when the alopecia did not cause pain or disability, led her to want to abandon the treatments. She was treated with intravenous cortisone, which forced her to go to the hospital every day for a week, where she spent an hour on a stretcher while they injected it. Later, she tried a drug they give to people with cancer. She then went back on cortisone and underwent a grape rays to achieve better blood circulation to the hair follicles. The only thing she managed to do was get a little darker. Finally, Júlia said enough.

“During the first few months I had stopped being myself. I hid and stopped doing the things I loved the most, like dancing and surfing. To go to university I spent an hour getting ready. I had to draw my eyebrows, hair by hair, and that was a nightmare. One morning, before going to class, he gave me a breakdown“.

“Now there is a ‘boom’ of girls who post photos and videos, but at first it wasn’t like that”

In addition to having the support of those closest to her, it was a great help for Júlia to see other women who had dared to expose their alopecia. “I remember that the American program of America’s Next Top Model. One of the finalists Jean Turnerhad alopecia and became my referents”.

Julia took another step. One day, he decided he would hang a set of three selfies no wig and no scarf. She had to explode. “It’s not cancer, it’s just alopecia. It’s been a really hard road though. I’ve been hiding it for a year until today that I’ve mustered up the guts to post a picture like this,” she wrote in the caption. “I remember that the mobile did not stop vibrating. I received many notifications and comments. I felt free after a long time“.