A 7-year-old girl who lost her hair from Alopecia celebrated "Crazy Hair Day" at school with an idea worthy of the name. The girl wore an impressive design on her bald head, and all her classmates were astonished.
In January 2017, Gianessa Wride of Salem, Utah, started to lose her hair. Her mother, Danielle Wride, first noticed a bald spot on Gianessa's right side of the head. After that, the hair around the kid's temples started to thin as well.
Crazy Hair Day For Utah Girl Suffering From Alopecia
Very concerned about the discovery, Wride tried to schedule an appointment with a dermatologist. However, before Gianessa could reach a doctor's appointment, almost all of her hair had fallen out. Extremely upset, the girl's mother ended up cutting off the remaining bits.
The girl didn't understand what was going to happen to her, at first. Her mother was very supportive of Gianessa's condition. Wride explained to the girl that no hair doesn't mean you can't be stylish.
"Some people have blonde hair or black hair; some have curly hair, straight hair, short hair, long hair. She just doesn't have any hair. And she is still fabulous!" said Wride.
Then came March 28, the day Gianessa's school celebrates Crazy Hair Day. First, her mother was concerned about the pressure that would come with this day. Then, she decided to prepare something amazing for her kid.
"I knew I wanted to do something fun for her," added Wride.
Taking her job very seriously, Wride went to Walmart in search for inspiration. There she found a pack of jeweled scrapbooking stickers and thought that a colorful idea with fun designs could make her kid stand out. She came home with the stickers and decorated Gianessa's head with a beautiful colorful design.
The idea wasn't just a hit. Some kids at Gianessa's school complimented her on how cool she looked, and even expressed a serious desire to look like that, too.
Some other kids even said that they wanted to shave their heads to embrace that cool look themselves.
The girl's mother is afraid that Gianessa's condition may have been triggered by stress. The kid witnessed her grandmother passing away, and also went through two different family moves across the country.
Alopecia, An Autoimmune Condition
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune condition where the immune system, which is primarily designed to protect the body from foreign invaders, mistakenly attacks the hair follicles. This condition can lead to hair loss on the head and everywhere on the body.
Some scientists have theorized that this condition can also be caused by extreme stress.
"Acute emotional stress may precipitate alopecia areata by activation of overexpressed type 2 beta [corticotropin-releasing hormone] receptors around the hair follicles leading to intense local inflammation," notes one of the studies.
However, the condition remains primarily genetic, and researchers haven't found a cure at the moment.
"Although there is neither a cure for alopecia areata nor drugs approved for its treatment, some people find that medications approved for other purposes can help hair grow back, at least temporarily," notes the National Institute of Arthritis and Muscoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
