Towanda Braxton Opens Up About Her Alopecia Diagnosis

Towanda Braxton, 50, has been diagnosed with alopecia areata. The actress plans to share her story with viewers when it airs on We TV. Before that, Braxton shared her thoughts on her journey with alopecia areata throughout the show’s premiere on the West Cultural Arts Center on Aug. 8.

“I have alopecia areata and I just wear it loud and proud. Being bald is awesome,” Braxton said.

“I was so relieved,” the singer recalled, referring to receiving her official diagnosis. She also said she had a premonition she had alopecia areata. “Because I was like, ‘Okay, I hate being right, but I was right,’ you know?”

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, about 700,000 people within the U.S. currently suffer from some type of alopecia areata. It is an autoimmune skin disease that could cause hair loss on the scalp, face, or other parts of the body.

The actress shared an important misconceptions she learned after her baldness diagnosis during an interview. One of them was that baldness isn’t hereditary, although it may well sometimes be.

“And there are so many different types of alopecia,” she added. “And it’s important to find out which type you have. So just in case you have children, they’ll know how to treat them.”

Braxton hopes that sharing her story can encourage others with alopecia areata. “For anyone going through the identical journey, [I want to tell them] that it’s okay and that your hair doesn’t define who you’re,” she explained.

“I always knew my hair was different. I always knew it was something. I had a lot of curls growing along my hairline,” she said. “My hairline looked like this… and then it grew back.” Curls occur when a piece of hair grows at a distinct angle or direction than the remaining of your hair.

Braxton is accepting this a part of her journey and hopes others are going through the identical thing.

“To me, it’s like letting everyone know that you can walk tall and strong and walk in your greatness and not have hair, and that’s OK. And if you want hair, you can buy it,” she said.