Louis Theroux has revealed that his alopecia is ‘slightly improving’, finally sharing a photo of one of the ‘scalp lesions’ as he continues to battle hair loss.
The 54-year-old documentary filmmaker shared on Instagram that after shaving his eyebrows in March, the hair on his scalp slowly started to grow back.
Joking that he had “found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles,” Louis showed in one shot that he was using a clothespin to tighten his skin.
And after previously refusing to share a photo of his “scalp lesions,” the presenter has now shared a glimpse of one such spot, right at the front of his head.
Sharing four snaps of his improving hairline, Louis captioned his post: ‘Not only has my alopecia possibly improved slightly – I’ve also found a solution to my neck wrinkle problem. Try to guess what it is!!!
Louis Theroux has revealed his alopecia is ‘slightly improving’ as he finally shared a photo of one of the ‘scalp lesions’ amid his ongoing battle with the hair loss condition
The documentary filmmaker revealed on Instagram that after shaving his eyebrows in March (left), the hair on his scalp slowly started growing back (right)
Joking that he had “found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles,” Louis showed in one shot that he was using a clothespin to tighten his skin
‘In photo four I shared a glimpse of one of my Alopecia spots – on the front of my scalp. The medical term is lesions.
‘I won’t lie – the goth in me is enjoying the sudden appearance of gray and white hair patches in my beard a little. Google ”Marie Antoinette Syndrome” for more information on the origins of this.’
Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, often in clumps the size and shape of a 50p coin.
The amount of hair loss can vary, some lose it in small areas while others have large bald patches. The hair can grow back but sometimes it falls out again.
In March, Louis revealed that he had gotten his eyebrows tattooed after shaving them off due to his battle with alopecia.
In his caption, Louis described his decision to undergo the treatment: ‘I realize there are much bigger things to worry about in the world, but… a while ago I shared that my eyebrows were almost gone due to alopecia…
‘I got a lot of nice messages, some suggested to try ‘microblading’, a form of temporary tattooing. So I did! It took two sessions of a few hours…
‘I’m glad I have my old face back. The new eyebrows are neater and more beautifully shaped than my “real” eyebrows. But there are still a few strands of hair in them, which makes them look more natural.’
And after previously refusing to share an image of his ‘scalp lesions’, the presenter gave a glimpse of one such spot, right on the front of his head
In March, Louis revealed that he had gotten his eyebrows tattooed after shaving them off during his battle with alopecia.
He then went on to describe how his scalp is transforming, confessing that he finds the alopecia in some areas “strange and depressing,” which is why he hasn’t shared any photos yet.
Louis continued: ‘In the meantime, more holes – or “lesions” to use the technical term – have appeared on my scalp. I have pictures of those holes which I may or may not share at some point – they are a bit weird and depressing to look at, to be honest…
“Life goes on. I am happy and healthy in all other areas and I feel very grateful.”
In December, Louis revealed that he had shaved off his eyebrows.
She posted a bunch of selfies on his Instagram showing his transformation, and a video of him deciding to remove his facial hair after previously speaking candidly about his battle with the condition.
He had previously told his fans that he was considering getting his expressive eyebrows tattooed to save his career, as well as microblading, a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing.
The acclaimed journalist took the first step by shaving off his eyebrows completely. Three selfies show the changing look from different angles.
He added a caption that read, “Can you tell what’s different? I shaved my eyebrows off! I’m also thinking about getting microblading soon. In the meantime, I think no eyebrows are better than patchy eyebrows. Do you agree?”
This came after Louis shared on social media in August that he was developing “new bald spots” and was still struggling to grow his beard.
He said: ‘Alopecia update (trying to stay calm!): new bald spots are appearing in my ‘top hair’ (the hair on top of my head) BUT I can now grow a weird messy and quite thin white beard. So that’s a thing.
“And there are some small patches of regrowth on my eyebrow. For the record: I’ve been taking vitamin D, iron and something called biotin. Does that help? Who knows?”
In July, he first revealed that he was losing his eyebrows, writing: ‘Oh my gosh, it’s like the alopecia has moved to my eyebrow.
‘I realize that not all of you are looking forward to every update on the progress, but I want people to get used to the new, partially depilated version of me and not scare everyone by suddenly appearing in public looking like a half-plucked elephant bird without any warning.
“So this is where we are now. I would like to keep my eyebrows, but that’s out of my hands at this point… although I have started taking vitamin D and something called biotin.”
In June, Louis admitted he had given up hope of ever growing a full beard again, telling his followers he would rather his beard “fall out completely” than be left with little patches.
He then showed off how his scalp is transforming and confessed that some of the alopecia is “weird and depressing,” so he hasn’t shared any images yet
In December, Louis revealed he had shaved off his eyebrows
This comes after Louis shared on social media in August that he had ‘new bald spots’ appearing, and that he was still struggling to grow his beard
He said: ‘Nature has played a cruel joke on me. Thanks to my alopecia barbae (‘of the beard’) I can now only grow a strange Hitler moustache. This is what I look like after not shaving for three days.
‘I’ve given up hope that my beard will ever grow as lush as it used to, but is it too much to ask if it all falls out instead of a small, potentially offensive remnant?
‘And now a bald spot has appeared on the back of my head, making me wonder if my real hair-hair is next to go. In two years or less I could be bald! [sigh].
Louis first wondered if he had developed alopecia after losing all his facial hair in January.
Sharing snaps of his changing beard, he wrote: ‘So this is how my beard grows now, probably due to alopecia.’
‘Basically I get a little triangle of stubble around my mouth and a little more on the sides.
“It’s not a big deal, but I don’t want people to think I’m being creative with my facial hair and doing it wrong. Because it’s just how I look when I don’t shave.”
‘That’s why I don’t wear a beard that often anymore. Maybe it’ll grow back. Who knows?
“It happened mostly over the course of 2022. You get an idea of how it went from the other two photos that were taken six months and a year earlier.”