I’m Tracey and my visible difference is alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is the loss of hair in patches on the scalp or body.
I noticed my first patch when I was nineteen. It wasn’t until I was thirty years old that I completely lost all my hair. I was very well known for my hair back in the 90’s as it was incredibly thick and curly. People would often stop me in the street to ask me where I got my perm from! The only person who could blow dry my hair properly was from an Iranian salon, and it would take four hours!
I was known as the girl with the amazing hair, so developing alopecia areata was incredibly challenging for me, and has impacted me massively over the years. I felt like I’d lost my identity.
Tracey before she developed alopecia areata
Embracing my bald head hasn’t come easily to me. I have only been brave enough to go out bald once and that was last year while on a solo holiday in Cyprus. A waitress in a cafe commented that it was good that I was in remission and that the treatment was working, as she thought I had cancer. I smiled and agreed with her, because I didn’t want to have to explain my condition to her. This was upsetting and frustrating.
My dermatologist suggested that I look into support from Changing Faces. I had heard of the charity before, as my daughter had a visible difference when she was a baby, but I had never considered that Changing Faces could help people with alopecia.
The support I received from Changing Faces has helped me more than I ever thought it could. It’s made such a difference to the way I think about my visible difference. Now I follow the mantra “be kind to yourself”. It’s so important to be gentle with yourself and be your own support team. I am one hundred percent “Team Tracey” moving forward.
While I love my wigs, I hope to be able to embrace my bald head one day. I would love to combine “bald Tracey” with “Tracey” and not let baldness have such a negative impact on my everyday life. We should all feel proud of being unique in our own special ways.
Since getting wellbeing support from Changing Faces, I have set myself a goal for 2026 to learn to love my bald self. I know that it’s not going to happen overnight, as I haven’t been able to do it in twenty years, but I really do want to stop hiding. I want to be able to wake up and choose whether I want to wear a wig or not based on how I’m feeling. I am more determined than ever to reach this goal!
