Ashley Tisdale is getting real about her alopecia and how she manages her hair loss. The 37-year-old mother of one took to Instagram on Jan. 10 to reveal that she was diagnosed with alopecia in her early 20s and share some useful lifestyle changes she’s made that have successfully helped her prevent hair loss. “I find what has helped me is stress management. Obviously meditation [has helped me],” she began. “A lot of the time my cortisol is up because I’m putting stress on myself for no reason, so it’s really important to know what is actually a big deal versus not a big deal,” she added.
She also said she tried a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, which involves micro-needling her scalp. “It grew back super-fast and [alopecia] hasn’t ever affected that area again,” she gushed. The High School Musical alum cautioned people that it’s not a cheap fix, though.
Lastly, Ashley recommended a 30-day run with the auto-immune paleo diet. “First of all, it just makes you feel better, and it’s really healing on the gut,” she explained. The paleo diet is rich in vegetables, herbs, fruit, fermented foods, poultry, and seafood. She made sure to share that it is not a diet she follows year-round.
Ashley ended her video by explaining that she wants to be open about her struggles so she can help others suffering with alopecia. “Know that if you struggle with it you are not alone,” she concluded.
Ashley also took to her wellness website, Frenshe, to talk more about alopecia. “Alopecia and hair loss are fairly common, but a lot of people feel embarrassed to talk about these issues,” she began in her blog post. “Any type of hair loss can affect your self-esteem, especially if you feel like you’re the only one going through it. That’s why I want to talk about it openly — because it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes it’s connected to hormones, other times to heredity, and for me, it’s connected to stress overload.”
Ashley has been open about her experience with stress and depression for years, and self-care and wellness are the basis of her Frenshe brand, which launched in 2022. “I believe wellness starts with self-love; you have to love yourself to take the steps to feel better,” she told Yahoo Life in Dec. 2021. “Everyone struggles with something and to me, I’m always trying to tell people it’s good to be interested in yourself. You may find out things you may not like — but you’ll find out a lot of things you’ll love. And you’ll learn how to manage the things you don’t like!”
Ashley is not the first celebrity to be open about her alopecia diagnosis. Jada Pinkett-Smith has had the autoimmune condition for years. Her diagnosis was the hot topic following the 2022 Oscars, where her husband, Will Smith, walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about her bald head.