Inclusive Care in Alopecia: Beyond Diagnosis
Transcript: Nikki Vontaya on alopecia areata
Nikki Vontaya
All transcripts are created from interview footage and directly reflect the content of the interview at the time. The content is that of the speaker and is not adjusted by Medthority.
It's crazy to say that I was diagnosed with alopecia more than 20 years ago at this point. So I was diagnosed when I was nine years old. Hair had placed such a huge significance in black people's lives as a whole, especially people of colour, all around. So I was always the kid with the big, thick, long hair that was getting pressed, permed, the works, you know, the usual things. And I think I went for my first perm and a few weeks after that I was cheerleading and my cousin had to braid my hair and she found a spot that was about this big in the middle of my head. And I went to the doctor and the doctor told me that it was alopecia. And from there that was when I started wearing wigs. My hair has never completely fallen out altogether. I've always just been very, very spotty. I know some people lose eyebrows and lose sideburns and everything. I've always kept my sideburns. I've always, for the most part, kept my eyebrows here and there. It might fall out, but I've always had a spottier version of alopecia across my entire body. And so that I got it when I was nine and my hair would grow in and then it would fall out and then it would grow back and it would fall out. It was just a back and forth journey for me. And I would say that it impacted my life quite significantly in a lot more ways that now that I'm older, I realise...
Now that I'm older and also have gone to therapy and have realised how much it has impacted not just, you know, my experience as a kid, but my personality type, how I interact with people, things like that. It has affected me in so many different ways that I'm still healing and growing from and understanding how much an impact, you know, losing your hair at such a young age and getting teased and you know, things like that. And not being able to have hair as a kid had such a huge significance on me and my journey. And specifically as a woman of colour, you know, you always have this good and bad, which I'm not really into these good and bad hair types. You know, people always say, "Oh, you have good hair, you have good hair, you have bad hair." But growing up and wearing wigs and I wear these thick bangs, that it just wasn't a fun experience at all. And I always wish that I had hair like everyone else. And especially, I grew up in the church as well and you know, I would always hear a woman's hair is her crown and jewel and you're hearing that all the time and knowing that I didn't have it, it was something that I had to work through. And I feel like now that I'm in my thirties now, I'm just now entering the phase in my life where I am comfortable with my alopecia and I'm owning it more. But yeah, that's a little bit about my journey.
Developed by EPG Health. This content has been developed independently of the sponsor, Pfizer, which has had no editorial input into the content. EPG Health received funding from the sponsor to help provide healthcare professional members with access to the highest quality medical and scientific information, education and associated relevant content. This content is intended for healthcare professionals only.
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