The journey to a diagnosis

“It took a long time to be officially diagnosed with alopecia. After finding a small bald spot, I initially went to see my GP but I didn’t have the greatest experience with my GP.

“I really didn’t know what the reason for my hair loss was in the beginning. My assumed hair practices were blamed by several doctors, along with post-partum shedding. My concerns were dismissed so often I actually gave up for a while and just suffered in silence.

“Persistence and a lot of my own research led to me finally being diagnosed with alopecia caused by post-traumatic stress (PTS). I first started losing my hair when I had my first baby. I was dealing with a lot of trauma at this time.

“My hair would just fall out and grow back less and less overtime, meaning other factors such as lack of iron and auto immune diseases were ruled out. I’m still not 100% sure what the issue is. Not a lot of research has been done when it comes to black women’s hair loss. But stress was a huge factor.”

Gina Atinuke Knight: What it‘s like to lose your hair to alopecia