Selma Blair Just Shared A Photo Revealing Her Eyelashes Are Falling Out Due To Multiple Sclerosis
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, and insomnia issues).
But now, Selma reveals she has a new symptom: hair loss.
Selma shared the news in a lengthy Instagram post, which started out with her thanking a few of her closest friends for making her life easier lately. Selma 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
But then, Selma addressed her hair loss-specifically the loss of her eyelashes.
'My right eyelashes all fell out except 3 corner ones,' Selma 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 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?
So, kind of. 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,' though it's unclear exactly what medication Selma is on for her MS.
While it's possible to switch medications if they're causing unwanted side effects (like hair loss), Dr. Kesari says not to make 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.
Props again to Selma for being so honest about her MS symptoms-sharing her struggles is hopefully helping a lot of other people with the disease realise they're not alone.