Louis Theroux has revealed that his alopecia is ‘slightly improving’ as he finally shared a snap of one of the ‘scalp lesions’ amid his ongoing battle with the hair loss condition.
The documentarian, 54, took to Instagram to reveal that after shaving off his eyebrows in March, hair on his scalp had slowly begun to grow back.
Joking that he’d ‘found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles,’ Louis showed in one snap that he was using a clothes peg to tighten his skin.
And after previously refusing to share an image of his ‘scalp lesions,’ the broadcaster revealed a glimpse of one such patch, right at the front of his head.
Sharing four snaps of his improving hairline, Louis captioned his post: ‘Not only is my Alopecia maybe slightly improving – I have also found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles. See if you can guess what it is!!!
Louis Theroux has revealed that his alopecia is ‘slightly improving’ as he finally shared a snap of one of the ‘scalp lesions’ amid his ongoing battle with the hair loss condition
The documentarian took to Instagram to reveal that after shaving off his eyebrows in March (left), hair on his scalp had slowly begun to grow back (right)
Joking that he’d ‘found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles,’ Louis showed in one snap that he was using a clothes peg to tighten his skin
‘In picture four I’ve shared a glimpse of one of my Alopecia patches – at the front of my scalp. The medical term is lesions.
‘Not gonna lie – the goth in me is slightly enjoying the sudden appearance of patches and stripes of grey and white hair in my barnet. Google ”Marie Antoinette Syndrome” for more on the lineage of this.’
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair to fall out, often in clumps the size and shape of a 50p coin.
The amount of hair loss can vary, some lose it in a small areas while others have large patches of baldness. The hair can grow back but sometimes falls out again.
In March, Louis revealed he’d had his eyebrows tattooed on after shaving them off during his battle with alopecia.
In his caption, Louis detailed his choice to undergo the treatment, writing: ‘I realise there are much bigger things to worry about in the world but… a while ago I shared that my eyebrows had basically disappeared due to alopecia…
‘I received a lot of nice messages, some suggesting I try “microblading”, a form of temporary tattoo. So that’s what I did! It took two sessions of a couple of hours…
‘I’m happy to have my old face back. The new brows are neater and more shapely than my “real” ones were. But there are a couple of wisps of my remaining hair in there which help make them look more natural.’
And after previously refusing to share an image of his ‘scalp lesions,’ the broadcaster revealed a glimpse of one such patch, right at the front of his head
In March, Louis revealed he’d had his eyebrows tattooed on after shaving them off during his battle with alopecia
He then shed light on how his scalp is transforming and confessed some of the alopecia is ‘weird and depressing’, so he is yet to share images.
Louis continued: ‘Meanwhile more gaps – or “lesions” to use the technical term – have appeared on my scalp. I have photos of those which I may share at some point or I may not – they are a bit weird and depressing to look at tbh…
‘Life goes on. I am happy and healthy in every other way and I feel very grateful.’
In December, Louis revealed he has shaved off his eyebrows.
She took to his Instagram with a slew of selfies showing off his transformation including a video depicting the moment he opted to remove the facial hair, having previously been candid about his battle with the condition.
He had previously shared with fans he was considering having his expressive eyebrows tattooed to save his career – and even debated microblading – a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing.
The acclaimed journalist took the first step as he completely shaved off his eyebrows, showing the changing look in different angles in the three selfies.
He added a caption reading: ‘Can you tell what’s different? I’ve shaved off my eyebrows! I’m also thinking about getting micro blading soon. In the meanwhile I figure no eyebrows is better than patchy eyebrows. Do you agree?’
It comes after Louis shared on social media back in August that ‘new bald patches’ were appearing, and he was still struggling to regrow his beard.
He said: ‘Alopecia update (try to remain calm!): new bald patches are appearing in my ‘top hair’ (the hair on top of my head) BUT I can now grow a weird straggly and rather sparse white beard. So that’s something.
‘And there are some tiny patches of regrowth on my eyebrow. FWIW I’ve been taking vitamin D, iron, and something called biotin. Is it helping? Who knows?’
In July he first shared that he was starting to lose his eyebrows, writing: ‘Oh jeez it looks like the alopecia has migrated up to my eyebrow.
‘I realise you aren’t all awaiting every update on its progress but I want people to acclimatise to the new partially depilated me and not freak everyone out by suddenly appearing in public like a half-plucked elephant bird with no forewarning.
‘So this is where we’re at. I’d really like to keep my eyebrows, but it’s out of my hands at this point… tho I have started taking vitamin d and something called biotin.’
In June, Louis admitted that he had given up on any hopes of being able to grow a full beard again, telling his followers that that he would rather it ‘all fall out’ instead of being left with small patches.
He then shed light on how his scalp is transforming and confessed some of the alopecia is ‘weird and depressing’, so he is yet to share images
In December, Louis revealed he has shaved off his eyebrows
It comes after Louis shared on social media back in August that ‘new bald patches’ were appearing, and he was still struggling to regrow his beard
He said: ‘Nature has played a cruel trick on me. Thanks to my alopecia barbae (‘of the beard’) I can now only grow a weird little Hitler moustache. This is what I look like after three days not shaving.
‘I have given up on my beard ever growing back to its luxuriant former glory but is too much to ask for it to ALL fall out instead of having a tiny remnant in a potentially offensive configuration?
‘And now a bald patch has appeared on the back of my head making me wonder if my proper hair-hair might be next to go. In two years or less I may be bald! [sigh].’
Louis first questioned whether he had developed alopecia after losing all of his facial hair in January.
Sharing snaps of his changing beard, he wrote: ‘So this is what my beard grows like now due to what I think is probably alopecia.’
‘Basically I get a little triangle of stubble around my mouth and some more at the sides.
‘It’s not a big deal, but I don’t want people to think I’m doing something creative with my facial hair and doing it badly, when it’s just what I look like when I don’t shave.
‘This is also why I don’t wear a beard as much anymore. Maybe it’ll grow back. Who knows?
‘It mainly happened over the course of 2022. You get a sense of how it progressed from the other two photos taken six months before and a year before.’
