Tattoo for Alopecia Areata

I have struggled with Alopecia Areata since August 2019. What started as a small, just larger than 50c coin sized patch quickly took over nearly the entire top of my head, and by February 2020 I was almost entirely bald on the top of my head.

This presented many problems relating to my appearance and self esteem. I didn't want to shave it as I still had all my hair on the sides and back of my head, and didn't want to look like Doctor Phil 😂 I felt self conscious wearing wigs, thinking that everyone would be able to tell that it's a wig. I found myself over thinking every day when getting dressed, coordinating outfits with what would go with a hat or beanie, resulting in having a very limited scope of self expression in my presentation. This of course led to exacerbating my already existing depression and anxiety, and it was a very dark period of time in my life.

I decided then that the simplest way to get around this would be to shave, and get a tattoo covering my entire head. That way, people would focus more on the tattoo, than on the patches of bare scalp among the closely cropped hair, and wonder what was wrong with me. It would be a way to take ownership of a terrifying and uncontrollable situation, and make it work for me and my self image.

My hair has grown back about 90% since the worst of the loss. However, Alopecia Areata is a bit of an unpredictable beast. There's no guarantee that it will stay, and could very easily fall out again in a couple of months, years, or even tomorrow. There's no knowing what the condition will do, or how it will manifest. So I figure, best to nip it in the bud now, get the tattoo, and then at the next sign of loss just shave my head to expose the tattoo and eliminate months of worry, anxiety and low self worth relating to my appearance.

Some friends offered to contribute to the tattoo fund when I jokingly suggested it, so I figured why not set up this page? That way everyone that was keen to contribute could do so in one place. Every little bit helps get me one step closer to having security in my self and appearance. ❤