Melanie Sykes has defiantly shown off her newly bald head on Instagram just days after opening up about the severity of her alopecia. The 55-year-old TV presenter and former model posted a selfie with the caption: "Loss + Gain = Life."
Hair Loss and Healing Journey
Sykes revealed she has lost 'two-thirds' of her hair due to the distressing condition. In her Instagram post, she shared a message of resilience: “Life is so good, and I know it because I’m right here right now and there’s nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear.” She added, “The more I tune into faith, and believing that all is well because it is, because I’m experiencing it, so I know that it is, that it’ll only get better.”
Previously, Sykes posted selfies showing severe hair loss from both sides of her head with the hashtag '#Liberty'. In December, she said she had been “in so much pain” and is now “two-thirds bald” due to the illness, which has also caused widespread inflammation.
Openness Without Overemphasis
While Sykes is open about her diagnosis, she prefers not to make it the centre of every conversation. “It’s not like I’m hiding it, I’d just rather have conversation about something else because I’ve got that down and I’m healing myself,” she explained. She urged others to “attend to your own spiritual garden, yourself, your body, your mind, your creative spirit.”
“Don’t worry about me, I’ve got me, I’ve always got me, I’ve learned to really take care of myself in the last two years,” she added.
Health Struggles and Stress Triggers
In April last year, Sykes first opened up about her health struggles, revealing she is battling alopecia and heart problems brought on by stress. She shared an image on Instagram clearly showing a bald patch on the side of her head, blaming it on "PTSD, shock, mistreatment and malpractice."
In a separate video posted to her YouTube channel, she linked her alopecia and irregular heartbeat to stress triggered by allegations about her former colleague, Gino D'Acampo.
