When L-A Stopa couldn’t find a local support group to help her with her hair loss condition, she decided to create one herself.
Stopa, director of member investments and engagement for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, has alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes a person’s immune system to attack its hair follicles. Although the condition isn’t life threatening, Stopa understands the emotional effect it can have on people, particularly women and children.
“I wanted to show people that it is manageable,” she said.
Early warning signs
According to Dr. Susan Bushelman, a dermatologist with Dermatology Associates of Northern Kentucky, alopecia areata often begins as a round bald spot on a person’s scalp or beard area. Sometimes, the spot resolves on its own but other times the condition worsens and involves the entire scalp or even the whole body, including eyebrows and eyelashes.
Bushelman said treatments such as steroid injections, inducing contact dermatitis and light therapies can help, but improvement often is temporary.
“Support groups can be helpful for those struggling with the emotional issues so commonly associated with hair loss,” she said.
And hair loss can be especially devastating for women.
“Studies on the psychosocial impact of hair loss have found a significant negative impact on patients’ self-esteem, body image and self-confidence,” Bushelman said.
Find help from someone who understands
That’s why Stopa wants women in particular to know that they have options, “that they can live with it and they can do it with style,” she said. Stopa herself wears a wig and often loans wigs out to others to try, but women also can wear head scarves, shave their heads or have their eyebrows tattooed.
Stopa also wants anyone dealing with alopecia or other kinds of hair loss to know they are not alone.
“I’m not a doctor, but a lot of times, I think it’s really helpful to meet someone going through the same thing you are,” she said. “I want to show women and children, especially, that they can be gorgeous and confident with or without hair. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
Bushelman recommends anyone dealing with hair loss see a dermatologist to receive an accurate diagnosis that will guide his or her treatment. The most common cause of hair loss is telogen effluvium, which is shedding that can occur following a significant life event such as the death of a loved one or childbirth, but there are other types of hair loss, as well, that can be caused by hereditary factors, ringworm or trauma.
The first regional alopecia/hair loss support group is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. For more information or to reserve a spot, call L-A Stopa at (859) 444-7976 or (859) 578-6382, or e-mail her at lastopa@nkychamber.com.
For more information on alopecia areata, visit the National Alopecia Areata Foundation at www.naaf.org.
