Growing Up With Alopecia

Me prior to the disease

Alopecia hit me when I was 11 years old, and when it arrived, it was swift.  It was fifth grade when my hair started falling out in clumps.  I'd wake up in the morning and my pillow would be decorated with my blonde strands.

In a matter of three months in the summer between fifth and sixth grade, my head went from what most 11 year old heads look like to completely bald.  It was a scary and confusing time.  I had lost 100% of my body hair and sixth grade was right around the corner.

The first day of school in sixth grade came quick, and my pale head was as smooth as a cue ball. My thoughtful and wonderful mother contacted my sixth grade teacher a couple weeks prior about the possibility of allowing me to wear a hat during the school year.  The school had a "no hat" policy that didn't allow students to wear hats during the school day.

My brother and I the year I wore a hat to school.

My incredible and empathetic teacher Mrs. Lasswell had no problem with allowing an exception to the rule.  She must have informed her colleagues because there were very few problems with letting me wear a hat during that first day of school.  I wore that Anaheim Mighty Ducks hat to school every day of 6th grade with the only bumps happening when substitute teachers came in unaware of my exception.(after I described the situation, they were always fine with it)

As cruel as adolescent boys can be, my experience with teasing wasn't too terrible.  I was a lucky in having a very supportive family, great friends, and being good at sports. I grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota.  This meant that if you were good at sports, then you were one of the "popular" kids. (I should probably say if you were good at the right sports, then you were popular. Luckily for me, I was pretty good at the right sports.)

There was the occasional kid that called me "baldy" or "Powder"(in reference to the 1995 movie about a pale bald kid). The name calling hurt.   It's good to shrug off what you can. Any kid who means to hurt you by name calling isn't worth your breath or time. But, if the pestering continues, having a few lines ready help.  Like,"At least I can shave off my problem area." or  "Your mom seems to like my smooth head."(yes childish, but occasionally effective) or   "With a body like this, who needs hair."   I don't remember using them much, but it was nice to have them ready.

My mom instilled in me a great appreciation for my talents and a sense of empathy towards others with much more serious conditions.  She sometimes said, 'Things could be worse,' and she was right. Her positivity and love were infinite.

8th grade when my hair came back red

Throughout that year, I received cortisone treatments coupled with topical applications as well.  I remember not being the biggest fan of the injections, as they weren't very pleasant.  After 9 months of treatment, my hair started coming back.  It came at a very fortunate time...the summer before 7th grade and my transition into the high school.

My hair came in blonde and straight that seventh grade year....  The 'hat exemption' was not going to fly in the high school, and I went from being the oldest in the school, to the youngest/smallest/most afraid.  The teasing in regards to my hair would halt for the time being.  Halfway through the year, it became more mop like in that it turned curly and brown/red.

17 year old Zach 

I received cortisone shots intermittently when bald spots would flare up throughout high school.  The spots would come and go and the topical treatments seemed to help.  But my senior year, the bald spots got to a point where I couldn't cover them with my hair as I had done through high school.  So, I decided to buzz it, and then bleach it, which helped cover up the spots.  This certainly helped my image and gave me more confidence those last few months of high school.

When I went off to college, my hair changed color yet again, and the bald spots got worse.  My hair that was growing turned black and was impossible to bleach well.  I was buzzing my hair to keep it short, but even on the lowest setting on my buzzer, my head still looked like a soccer ball w/the black rooted short hair and bald spots in between.

I was in the weight room one day freshmen year and a kind stranger came up to me...an older guy in his later 20's/early 30's. He started chatting with me and eventually asked me if I had alopecia.  He said one of his good friends had it. He said his friend shaved it with a razor down to the skin and that it helped with his image.  While one would assume this to be common knowledge, literally this was the first time shaving my head all the way down was suggested to me.  Not soon after, I began shaving my head, and was a lot more comfortable and confident.  Since the ripe young age of 19, I have pretty much shaved my head ever since. I never saw that man again, and if I would, I'd have a big thank you for him.

My experience with this disease has been a colorful one.  I have/had the societal advantage of being male.  A man's hair pales in comparison to a woman's in terms of cultural expectations.  I give a lot of credit to women young and old dealing with this condition.

If I'd give some advice to youngsters out there, it would be "Keep your chin up. It gets better." If losing your hair is the worse thing that happens to ya, that ain't so bad.  We've got a much lower risk for lice, take less time preparing to go out/clean, and save a bunch of money on haircare!

Me dressed as Mr. Clean for Halloween.

Some advice for younger bald dudes would be embrace it, laugh at yourself, and wear sunscreen. Find accessories too. There's a lot of cool hats/bandanas/shades out there.

If you ever have any questions or need some more one liners, please feel free to shoot me an email at reasonablemanzach@gmail.com.