Frankie’s Alopecia Story

My name is Frankie. I am turning 8 in August and I have Alopecia.

My mum noticed a small bald patch in my hair when she was washing it one day in May 2020. Mum accused me of playing with her razor but I hadn’t touched it. Mum watched it for a couple of weeks and since it was getting bigger we went to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed me with Alopecia and prescribed a steroid cream but the bald patch continued to get bigger and more bald patches started. The doctor then sent me to a specialist dermatologist who prescribed prednisolone. This medicine made me feel very emotional and I hated it. What was worse is that the medicine didn’t help either so we decided to stop taking it. Over 6 months most of my hair fell out and I now have Alopecia Totalis.

At the start I didn’t like it and I thought no one would want to be my friend if I was bald. Now I am ok with it. I still have all my friends and no one is mean to me.

Recently I started going to art classes. A sponsorship from the Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation has helped me do this. I have made new friends at art classes and everyone treats me the same as they treat everyone else. They help me forgot that I have Alopecia and I feel good.

Alopecia Areata…. It’s life changing

Thank you to Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation for the sponsorship.