A visit to the salon confirmed my worst fear: my hair loss wasn’t normal. Now I’m bald in my 20s – and doctors say they have no idea what caused it
Tears rolling down her face, Wayde Cadogan watched in the mirror as the remaining parts of her patchy blonde hair were shaved off by her boyfriend.
Ten minutes later, a completely different person was looking back at her.
Her boyfriend reassured her how beautiful she was and clicked on the shaver, ready to give himself a matching buzzcut in solidarity. Wayde grabbed his wrist.
‘We both don’t need to be bald,’ she told him.
The young healthcare worker, 25, from Brisbane, wept in the foetal position in bed afterwards, grieving the loss of the woman she used to be.
‘I didn’t recognise myself when I looked in the mirror and I still don’t. I haven’t developed the confidence to leave the house without wearing a wig,’ she tells me.
Wayde’s nightmare began in July 2023 when she started to wake up to strands of hair on her pillow. She would also notice them on her shower floor.
But it wasn’t until August the following year that it started falling out rapidly.
Wayde Cadogan was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition which causes hair loss, at age 24. The diagnosis came out of the blue and the cause remains unknown
She was so self-conscious of the patches that began appearing on her hairline that she avoided brushing her hair completely out of fear she would accelerate the loss.
Over time, those strands on her pillow became full clumps of hair. Even gently running her fingers through her hair was enough to pull several strands out.
While it’s normal for women to lose between 50 and 100 strands of hair daily, Wayde estimates she lost triple that amount every day.
Losing your hair is every young woman’s fear, but it was a particular shock for Wayde, who had always had thick, luscious hair throughout her 20s and loved curling it on weekends.
It would take a warning from her hairdresser, two visits to her GP and a consultation with a specialist before she received a proper diagnosis.
She had alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that results in hair loss. The cause of the condition remains unknown.
Before her alopecia diagnosis, blood tests signalled Wayde had a thyroid issue that may have been causing hair loss.
She was prescribed medication, which temporarily reduced the number of hair strands falling out and promoted some hair growth.
Wayde’s nightmare began in July 2023 when she started to wake up to strands of hair on her pillow. But it wasn’t until August the following year that it started falling out rapidly
The hair loss was initially concentrated around her hairline; however, her hairdresser soon discovered other bald patches that Wayde had failed to notice
However, she decided to return to her GP after her hairdresser raised the alarm.
‘I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for years and I told her about how much hair I was losing. It didn’t take long for her to find other huge patches hidden underneath my hair that I didn’t even know about,’ Wayde explains.
‘She didn’t want to scare me but encouraged me to go back to the doctor.’
After another round of blood tests, her doctor said her thyroid wasn’t the issue, and referred her to a dermatologist and a endocrinologist for a second opinion.
The dermatologist diagnosed her with alopecia areata on the spot.
‘I didn’t expect it at all. Even working in healthcare and having a general understanding of most health conditions, I was still shocked,’ Wayde says.
She had gone to the appointment alone, not expecting such shattering news. She walked out of the clinic feeling numb. When she got back to her car, she called her mother.
While it’s normal for women to lose between 50-100 strands of hair daily, Wayde estimates she lost triple that amount every day
In December 2024, she watched in the mirror as the remaining parts of her blonde patchy hair were shaved off by her boyfriend
Somehow she didn’t cry, but inside she quietly despaired over what the diagnosis meant for her future. Would she continue to lose her hair, strand by strand, clump by clump, until there was nothing left?
When she returned home she started researching the condition and searched TikTok for stories of women her age who had experienced the same thing.
While alopecia isn’t life-threatening, the hair often doesn’t grow back and, in some cases, can cause other hair follicles in your body to fall out, such as your eyebrows and eyelashes.
For many women who take pride in their long hair, it’s a living nightmare.
‘I wanted to feel less alone and find out what was to come so I could prepare myself, so I did my research,’ she says.
From there, she tried ‘every’ treatment possible to try to reverse the damage or slow down the progression, starting with six weeks of steroid injections into her scalp.
‘I held onto hope that it could get better.’
But unfortunately nothing worked and, to make matters worse, the steroid injections left temporary ‘dents’ in her head.
‘I’ve stopped doing hot yoga and Pilates because it’s not ideal wearing a wig while exercising. And I’m not at a stage where I’m confident enough to leave the house without it,’ she says
It got to a point where she gradually chose to style her hair in sleek buns rather than ponytails, and also started wearing caps when leaving the house.
Two months later, on October 14, she bought her first hair topper, a small hairpiece that is attached to the scalp to add volume or cover thinning hair.
This boosted her confidence because it helped to hide her secret from others.
By December, most of her hair had fallen out so she decided to shave the rest off.
‘It was the toughest decision. I still hadn’t fully accepted what was going on. Even after shaving it off, it felt so surreal looking at myself in the mirror for the first time. It felt like I wasn’t looking at me,’ Wayde tells me.
Her self-esteem plummeted and she accepted the fact she had to buy a wig, which was an ‘overwhelming journey’ in itself.
Walking into a wig store for the first time with her mum by her side, she was shocked by a comment the shop assistant made.
‘I was looking at the different types of wigs when the worker said to me, “Would you like a privacy screen?”‘ Wayde explains.
‘I later said to my mum, “How sad is it that even in a place where we’re all struggling with hair loss, we want to hide ourselves away from each other and hide this insecurity?” We feel so ashamed and embarrassed by hair loss that we hide it from other people, even if they’re going through the same thing.
‘While looking for my first wig, I was unsure if I was “supposed” to be looking for something that looked like my old hair or try something new. At the time, only people in my closest circles knew I was completely bald.’
In the end, Wayde chose a wig that looked like her natural hair: long and blonde.
‘Alopecia effects you physically, mentally, spiritually and financially too because treatments and wigs are expensive,’ she says.
‘I’ve stopped doing hot yoga and going to Pilates because it’s not ideal wearing a wig while exercising. And I’m not at a stage where I’m confident enough to leave the house without it.
Wayde wanted to share her story of hair loss to help other women living with alopecia
‘I’m normally a social butterfly but I don’t go out as much anymore and have become a homebody.
‘Instead I’ve started swimming and running since I can wear a cap to hide the truth.’
Wayde wanted to share her story of traumatic hair loss to help other women living with alopecia, so started posting on TikTok and soon went viral.
In one video that’s been viewed almost 13 million times, Wayde filmed herself gently brushing her fingers through her hair, which was enough to pull out a small clump.
‘So I think I’m actually gonna be bald soon,’ she says in the clip, recorded before she shaved her head completely. The video then jumps to Wayde without her hair.
As her family, friends and the alopecia community around the world rally behind her, Wayde no longer feels as lonely and ashamed as she did in the wig shop.
One particularly poignant message from a follower read: ‘You are brave, darling. You’re allowed to grieve, you’re allowed time to adjust to what you’ve had to do.’
