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(courtesy of the NAAF website)

Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere on the body. It usually starts with one or more small, round, smooth patches on the scalp and can progress to total scalp hair loss (alopecia totalis) or complete body hair loss (alopecia universalis).

Alopecia areata affects approximately two percent of the population overall, including more than 5 million people in the United States alone. This common skin disease is highly unpredictable and cyclical. Hair can grow back in or fall out again at any time, and the disease course is different for each person.

• Alopecia areata (AA) is a condition in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Because it causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called spot baldness.

• In 1%–2% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp (Alopecia totalis) or to the entire epidermis (Alopecia universalis). Conditions resembling AA, and having a similar cause, also occur in other species.

• The condition affects 0.1%–0.2% of humans, occurring in both males and females. Alopecia areata occurs in people who are apparently healthy and have no skin disorder. Initial presentation most commonly occurs in the late teenage years, early childhood, or young adulthood, but can happen with people of all ages.

• There is no scientifically proven cause or cure for AA.

• The first symptoms are small, soft, bald patches that can take just about any shape but are most usually round. It most often affects the scalp and beard but may occur on any hair-bearing part of the body.

• There may be different skin areas with hair loss and regrowth in the same body at the same time. It may also go into remission for a time or permanently.

• The area of hair loss may tingle or be very slightly painful. The hair tends to fall out over a short period of time, with the loss commonly occurring more on one side of the scalp than the other.

• Alopecia areata is non-communicable or not contagious. It occurs more frequently in people who have affected family members, suggesting that heredity may be a factor in 5% of cases.

• In cases where there is severe hair loss, there has been limited success in treating alopecia areata with clobetasol or fluocinonide, steroid injections, or cream. Steroid injections are commonly used in sites where there are small areas of hair loss on the head or especially where eyebrow hair has been lost.

• Effects of alopecia areata are mainly psychological (loss of self-image due to hair loss). However, patients also tend to have a slightly higher incidence of [asthma], allergy, allergies, atopic dermal ailments, and even hypothyroidism.

• Alopecia can certainly be the cause of psychological stress. Because hair loss can lead to significant appearance changes, individuals may experience social phobia, anxiety, and depression.

Here are links to some of the amazing organizations that support us Alopecians:

The Children's Alopecia Project (CAP)

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF)

The Australian Alopecia Areata Foundation

Alopecia UK

If you would like to talk to a doctor, we recommend Dr. Carolyn Goh. You can connect with her here.

If you are looking for wigs we highly recommend one of the stars of the film Amy Gibson and her company: Created Hair.

We also recommend the wonderful: Pop Wigs USA.

It's easy! You can simply contact us, and we will get you all the information right away for obtaining a Public Performance License.

We need to make you aware of all of the below legal stuff and ask that you read it as well. It sounds kind of serious, but we promise it’s very straightforward.

Suppose you invite a few friends over to watch a movie or a TV show that’s no longer available on TV. You buy or rent a DVD or Blue-ray disc from the corner store or a digital video file from an online store and show the film or TV episode in your home that night. Have you violated copyright law by illegally “publicly performing” the movie or show? Of course not.

But suppose you took the same movie or TV episode and showed it to patrons at a club or bar that you happen to manage. In that case, you have infringed the copyright in the video work. Simply put, movies or TV shows obtained through a brick-and-mortar or online store are licensed for your private use; they are not licensed for exhibition to the public.

The concept of “public performance” is central to copyright. If filmmakers, authors, playwrights, musicians, and game designers do not retain ownership of their works, then there is little incentive for them to continue creating high-quality works in the future, and there is little incentive for others to finance the creation of those works.

The Federal Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U.S. Code) governs how copyrighted materials, such as movies, may be used. Neither the rental nor the purchase of a copy of a copyrighted work carries with it the right to publicly exhibit the work. No additional license is required to privately view a movie or other copyrighted work with a few friends and family or, in certain narrowly defined face-to-face teaching activities. However, bars, restaurants, private clubs, prisons, lodges, factories, summer camps, public libraries, daycare facilities, parks and recreation departments, churches, and non-classroom use at schools and universities are all examples of situations where a public performance license must be obtained. This legal requirement applies regardless of whether an admission fee is charged, whether the institution or organization is commercial or non-profit, or whether a federal or state agency is involved.

“Willful” infringement of these rules concerning public performances for commercial or financial gain is a federal crime carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in jail and/or a $250,000 fine. Even inadvertent infringement is subject to substantial civil damages.

Obtaining a public performance license is easy and usually requires no more than simply contacting us! We are more than happy to supply you with a quote for your screening, depending on the number of times you plan on showing the film, the size of your venue/group, whether or not it will be a ticketed event and if there is a fund raising component to your screening. Most licensing fees are based on a particular performance or set of performances for specified films.

Thank you so much for your support and interest, and we cannot wait to share this story with you! xox