Gretchen talks about progressive alopecia: "It really affects my self-esteem"

Singer Gretchen, 66, spoke candidly about her diagnosis of progressive androgenetic alopecia, a condition that causes severe hair loss.

The queen of twerking said that alopecia had a huge impact on her life and that she often acted so that her husband, musician Esdhras De Souza, would not see her without her hairpieces.

"I practically have no hair left. It really affects my self-esteem", he said about his diagnosis in an interview.

"How many times have I slept with the lace at the foot of the bed! I would take it off after he [Esdhras] turned off the light, get up before he woke up, with the light off, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and put the lace on so he wouldn't see me."

Despite trying to hide, Gretchen said her husband has always been a great source of support while dealing with the impacts of alopecia.

"He says: 'Honey, take off that lace at home, you'll be left with nothing. What interests me is not your hair. What interests me is you, your way of being and what you are to me'", he said.

"When I started to understand the way he saw me, I understood that I could experience these problems. I even thought about actually using a clipper and having no hair."

The artist's condition was worsened by a chemical cut and micropigmentation on the scalp. To try to hide the loss of hair, she resorted to the procedure, but in addition to not having the desired effect, the technique further damaged the parts affected by alopecia.

Gretchen also highlighted that the consequences of the condition affect women in a "painful" way: "For men, alopecia practically doesn't bother them. They put on a cap and everything is beautiful. But for us [women], without hair, putting on a cap is the same thing as being bald. So, for women, alopecia affects their self-esteem a lot."

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Source: CNN