Source: Skylandish / skylandishSky Anessa a.k.a Skylandish was routinely conditioning her hair and combing through her curls when she noticed a chunk of her hair caught in the shafts. She gasped but stayed calm and decided to wait until she was out of the shower to run her fingers through her scalp and access the damage. She discovered a large patch of missing hair.
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“I immediately sent a picture to my mother, my dermatologist and like three of my friends,” the Strip N’ Fitness creator, who had a short stint on Love & Hip Hop alongside her boyfriend DJ Drewski, revealed in a candid exchange. Sky was in San Francisco at the time, preparing for a photo shoot the next day. The show had to go on. “I was praying It was a dream, but it wasn’t.”
Upon returning to New York, Sky immediately visited her dermatologist Dr. Michelle Henry, who “wanted to do a pathology [test] to make sure it wasn’t something called Discoid Lupus, which is an autoimmune disease that affects the skin.” Dr. Henry had helped Sky treat a “stress bald spot” two years prior. Results showed Sky didn’t have Discoid Lupus, instead she was diagnosed with Trichotillomania also known as the “hair-pulling disorder” — a mental disorder classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.
“I do not pull my hair, so we came to the conclusion that it was a blend of an extremely tight pony tail I got done and possibly getting my blonde color redone before the area was completely rehabbed from the pulling.”
Desperate to stimulate hair growth in that area, Dr. Henry treated Sky with two steroid shots. Combined with her natural regrowth methods, her hair began to grow.
“I have been using 100% cold pressed Jamaican castor oil and also a product like called Organigrowhairco which is a vegan and organic hair care line. All of it combined has definitely helped,” she explained.
Sky uses her platform to share her personal story in hopes it helps another woman who might by suffering with similar issues.
“I knew from the moment this happened that I wanted to share it because I try to show other women that we all experience similar things and should feel ashamed about going through it. I aim to inspire through my real, personal stories and Knew if I was experiencing this, there were so many other people who do. I didn’t feel shame about my hair as much as I realized it made me feel self-conscious. I kept on touching the area over and over again as if it can be seen once my hair is dry.”
Sky recently shared a three month update on her social media account showing the progress she’s made in her hair regrowth journey.
Sky doesn’t only keep her fans updated with her hair care routine, she shares her skin care regimens and openly shared her weight loss journey. Sky went from a size 14 to a size four by adapting a vegan lifestyle.
“My natural lifestyle was like an awakening for me,” Sky said. “I decided to do one to two things that made me feel more comfortable with everything God gave me naturally and work hard towards presenting the best version of it. I also wanted to practice self-sufficiency. So, when I started Working on losing my first 15 pounds (at 215 pounds), I also gave up relaxing my hair. I realized being healthy, being natural and self-love all go hand in hand. I wanted to really love my entire, whole self naturally and I wanted to be so good at it that I made other women feel like they could do the same, I will continuously sacrifice social norms of beauty while trying to be their “Natural Friend” the best way I can. I want them to know I have grown to love myself naturally – No filters, botox, surgeries, nails, or hair can change how beautiful you are in your most natural form.”
You can keep up with Sky on her Youtube channel and social media, here.
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How Skylandish Regrew Her Bald Spot was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
