Selma Blair reveals multiple sclerosis is causing her eyelashes to fall out
Since revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in October, Selma Blair has been incredibly open with fans about what it’s like to live with the disease; she's been extremely candid about her vocal balance, insomnia issues and having to walk with a cane.
But now, the actress has revealed that she's experiencing a new symptom: hair loss.
Blair shared the news in a lengthy Instagram post, which started out with her thanking a few of her closest friends for helping to make her life easier. She thanked Jaime King for having fresh flowers delivered to her home each week, Busy Philipps for sending food, and her best friend Sarah Michelle Gellar orchestrating all of it.
A post shared by Selma Blair (@selmablair) on Apr 8, 2019 at 9:10pm PDT
Then, Blair also addressed her hair loss-specifically the loss of her eyelashes.
"My right eyelashes all fell out except 3 corner ones," she wrote, adding that it happened in August.
But now, she's losing the lashes on her left eye, too. "Just started falling out in left eye so there goes my profile posing," she wrote. "I guess [my] immune system figured it has a bigger kid to spank. I’m going to bed. With a lack of lashes but an abundance of love and beautiful flowers."
Is hair loss a side effect of MS?
Hair loss actually has less to do with the MS itself and more to do with treatment someone might be on, explains doctor Santosh Kesari, a neurologist and neuroscientist at Providence Saint John’s Health Centre in Santa Monica, California.
"A number of medications can help slow the progression of disease but some are quite potent," he says. "Some are even chemotherapy drugs and can cause things like hair loss." It's unclear exactly what medication Blair is on for her MS.
While it's possible to switch medications if they're causing unwanted side effects (like hair loss), Kesari suggests not making that decision too hastily. "If hair loss is related to a drug and the drug is actually helping the MS, you want to consider that," he says.
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