A 21-year-old woman says she has learned to love her bald head, with the support of her fiance who says her baldness 'isn't a big deal'.
Sierra Dawn Eggum, who now lives in Washington state after moving from Martinez, California, was diagnosed with alopecia totalis back in 2013.
She told Barcroft TV: 'Alopecia is an auto immune disorder that causes your body's immune system to, somehow for whatever reason, think that your hair is a foreign body or virus.'
Journey: 21-year-old Sierra Dawn Eggum (pictured holding some of her old hair) says she has learned to love her bald head after she lost all of her hair as a result of alopecia totalis
Upset: The condition is one that causes the body's immune system to look at hair like a virus or foreign body - making it fall out from the root of the hair follicle
Support: Sierra said she is thankful for her fiance, Zane (pictured right), for helping her to become more confident in her appearance, as he says her being bald doesn't bother him at all
Diagnosis: The California-native was diagnosed with the condition when she was in high school in 2013. She first noticed her hair was falling out during a gym class
'I remember the doctor looking at that spot and telling me it looks a lot like alopecia, and I had never heard of that word before and at that time I struggled to even pronounce it.'
The young woman first noticed something wasn't right when her hair began falling out during high school.
Struggle: Sierra said the first day she noticed her hair was falling out was after a gym class in high school, when she scratched a part of her head and found eight hairs in her hand
She said: 'I remember very clearly the first day it happened. It was the very end of my 8th year and I was in gym class. We were running around the track and it was quite a hot day in California.
'I ended up sweating a lot on my head and with sweat it would get a little bit itchy. I remember reaching behind my head and I scratched one spot that was quite irritated at the time.
'And then I noticed I felt something almost release from my scalp.
'It was such an odd feeling. It was almost like something was plucked out of me. And I withdrew my hand and I looked down and I saw at least eight hairs within my hand. And all of them had the entirety of the hair root.
'I just brushed it off at that time. However I didn't realize that it was going to get much, much worse from there. My hair continued to fall out in that same exact spot over and over.
'Every time I washed my head, whenever I scratched it, whenever I just brushed it or with my hand, more and more would come out just from that particular spot. And what was a pea-sized bald spot became the size of a tangerine,' she added.
Due to her condition, Sierra, who is currently out of work, felt segregated from her school peers and lost her confidence.
Devastated: Sierra said that as time went on, she began losing more and more hair whenever she washed, scratched or brushed her head, causing a large bald spot on her head
Different: Although the 21-year-old said she wasn't bullied as such for her looks, she definitely felt different from her peers, and would often hear people talking and whispering about her
Treatment: Although there is no cure for alopecia, Sierra uses a cream to help ease the discomfort caused by the condition
She said: 'I didn't necessarily get bullied. It was more like I was shunned and pushed away from people. They didn't necessarily interact with me and it was like I was given the silent treatment for most of my high school life.
'I would hear people talking about me, I would hear people whispering saying "look at her, what is wrong with her?",' Sierra explained.
Lovers: When she was 18-years-old, Sierra met her now fiance, Zane (right), on an online forum, and the two immediately clicked with each other
The 21-year-old said that she so badly wanted to feel good about herself when she looked in the mirror, but she couldn't.
'I think people assumed that I was doing this for attention because I never did cover my head with wigs or hats,' she added.
Unfortunately there is currently no treatment for alopecia. However, there are some creams that can help to aid the discomfort.
Sierra said: 'When I feel irritation on my scalp, I usually look in the mirror and sometimes there is a lot of visibility with the irritation where I could see raised redness or there's just a lot of red spots.'
She regularly applies a cream called betamethasone dipropionate, an anti inflammatory topical cream that helps with itching and other symptoms associated with the condition.
When Sierra was 18-years-old, she sought refuge in an online forum, where she met, now fiancé, Zane.
Sierra said: 'I wanted to be able to go to a place even if it was online where I just felt normal for once, I didn't want to feel like I was the spectacle of the world so I found an online platform that I joined.
'So I had the ability of people looking me from the inside and me being able to express, oh I like these things and this is who I am instead of people just seeing me as the bald one.
Connection: Sierra revealed that she was nervous to Skype Zane for the first time, but was pleasantly surprised with his positive reaction to her baldness
Understanding: Sierra said Zane has helped her to become confident with her baldness, as he said it 'isn't a big deal' to him
Happy: After meeting Zane in person after several Skype calls, Sierra began living with him for months at a time, before eventually moving to live with him in Washington state
'So I joined that and [Zane] was actually one of the first people on there, he was on the very top of the list and when I looked at you I thought that you were super cute,' she told her fiance.
'I remember the feeling I had when I first Skyped him as well, I was very scared because I didn't really inform him about what I looked like, I didn't tell him that I was losing all my hair.
'I was kind of looking at you waiting for you to say something but you never did and that was the first time ever, ever since my condition started that someone didn't even question it,' Sierra said to Zane.
Grateful: Sierra said she feels grateful that she lives in a society where most people are accepting of her appearance
Zane added: 'When I first saw her in the video chat I thought she was really cute. And I did notice her baldness.
'I didn't care whether it was something wrong with her physiologically or whether it was a fashion statement. It didn't bother me.'
After meeting Zane in person, Sierra began living with him for months at a time - and finally decided to move from her family home in California to live with him in Washington state.
The couple are now engaged, and Sierra is thankful that her fiancé has helped her learn to love her bald head.
Zane said: 'She thanks me all the time for treating her like a normal human being and being a good partner and every time I ask her why she is thanking me for doing something that comes so naturally like, it is not a big deal and never has been.
'You are a spectacle to be sure but not for the reason you think you are,' he added.
Sierra said: 'You helped me feel like my true self and who I want to be and who I strive to be and I don't need artificial means and I don't need to manipulate myself in order to be something I am not, and I thank you so much for that.
'I just have to come to terms with the fact that I'm bald again and I will probably be bald or balding for the rest of my life and I have to just buck up and deal with it and you know, I'm just lucky to be alive in a society where people are mostly accepting and don't bat an eye,' she added.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/05/woman-with-alopecia-says-her-fiance-has-helped-her-to-love-her-bald-head/
Main photo article A 21-year-old woman says she has learned to love her bald head, with the support of her fiance who says her baldness ‘isn’t a big deal’.
Sierra Dawn Eggum, who now lives in Washington state after moving from Martinez, California, was diagnosed with alopecia totalis back in...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/05/14/10604148-6773339-image-m-2_1551796423503.jpg
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