Influencer embraces hair loss from alopecia, encourages other women

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Aging Untold) — A Charlotte influencer who lost her hair to alopecia is using her platform to encourage other women facing the condition.

Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that causes patchy hair loss and affects nearly 7 million people in the U.S. It is the second-leading cause of hair loss in the country.

For nine years, Angela Agnew was proud of her long, flowing hair before she noticed it thinning.

“Then I finally went to a specialist, and I asked her, I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on here?’” Agnew said.

Agnew said she had to accept a reality she couldn’t control.

“To realize there was nothing else I could do, that this was something that I had to accept, it was hard,” Agnew said.

From hiding to going public

Agnew lived in silence, hiding under wigs, until she saw another woman being bullied online for thinning hair. She then shaved her head on camera.

Aging Untold expert Amy O’Rourke said the emotional weight of hair loss is something many women carry alone.

“So, for men and women, losing your hair can be a big deal. Loss of identity,” O’Rourke said.

“First, I think of how heavy it would be to be hiding that, and then you lift it out and get rid of it, and how much lighter you can handle your life. It gives you so much more energy not having to clamp down on this issue that you’ve been struggling with,” O’Rourke said.

Agnew’s hair loss is permanent, but her impact is growing.

“Angela just saying I’m going to embrace this thing, I’m going to come out, I’m going to be proud I’m going to be who I am. I was struck with how beautiful she is,” O’Rourke said.

“The positive for me that has come from this is the encouraging of other women,” Agnew said.

Agnew is now an advocate against bullying and a voice for other women dealing with hair loss.