The British model hid the lack of hair on her head for 16 years with a wig, decided to take it off and was surprised at the reaction of others, according to Mirror.
29-year-old Laura Mathias from Manningtree, UK, said that at the age of 13, a hairdresser noticed a bald patch on her head. Over time, there were more such areas, and doctors diagnosed her with universal alopecia – a disease that causes complete hair loss not only on the head, but also on the body.
According to the heroine of the material, as a teenager, she was ashamed of her bald head and hid it with the help of wigs. “It seemed to me that only I had such a problem, because at that time there were no social networks,” the woman explained and added that she hated looking at herself in the mirror.
The fashion model said that she had not taken off her wig for 16 years, however, during the quarantine, which was introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, she started working from home and stopped wearing it every day. However, when friends came to her, Matthias hid her bald head again.
In April, the model decided to share her story on social networks and posted a picture without a wig. She admitted that at first she was terrified, but in the end she received many compliments from subscribers. Mathias was inspired by customer support, and after a few months she went out without a wig.
Now the British woman does not wear wigs every day and encourages women with a similar problem not to hide their individuality. In addition, Matthias is an ambassador for the charity Models of Diversity: she dreams of inspiring other girls with alopecia to accept their appearance.
Earlier, a woman used contraception and went bald. The British woman tried a uterine contraceptive device and lost her hair. Doctors diagnosed her with alopecia areata, a disease that affects the scalp.