Kelley Day looks back on struggles with alopecia: 'You don't know when it's gonna stop'

Kelley Day had always been open about her bout of alopecia, a medical condition that causes hair loss.

In an episode of “Updated with Nelson Canlas,” Kelley detailed her journey of dealing with the condition, starting with the time she realized that she was starting to lose hair.

The Sparkle star recalled that in October 2018, she found a coin-size bald spot on the back of her head.

“I just felt it lang and then I felt something was very smooth in my hair. And then when I checked in the mirror and I had to take a photo from behind, I saw that there was like you know circle of hair missing. So I freak out,” she said.

Kelley called her dad to inform him of what was happening, so he told her to research alopecia.

“So when I searched it I thought okay, this is like a condition that people have, I never knew. And I guess, I was told like, you know just don't think about it, don't stress,” Kelley said, adding that she was going through emotional things at work and in her relationship at that time.

She continued, “It was just like all at once and I think that kind of triggered it, so I said okay. I'm not gonna stress about these things anymore.”

Kelley visited the doctor and was advised to get her blood tested first to see if there was an underlying cause. She admitted that she hated getting blood tests, so she delayed it.

During pageants and acting projects, Kelley covered her bald spot.

Eventually, her bald spot grew to a size almost as big as a palm.

“When I checked it again thinking that it would be like back to normal. 'Yun pala it was like almost a size of my like the palm, the front of your hand,” she said.

“It was actually naging ano siya, tatlo, but then they all grew and all became one. Para siyang ano, world map and then all the countries come together,” she added.

She eventually had her blood tested and found out that she was lacking in vitamin D.

“Kasi that's very common daw especially if you're working indoors a lot. Even if you have an office job, you're deficient in Vitamin D. Kasi that comes from the sun. And you need like a really big boost of it, so I started taking supplements. And I started my treatment which is micro-needling treatment which was very expensive,” she said.

In her introduction video for Miss World Philippines, Kelly said her advocacy is to "raise consciousness for auto-immune diseases such as psoriasis and alopecia."

She said she wants to "let people know that it's okay. I want people to know how to deal with it properly."

When she went public about it, Kelley said she received a lot of insensitive comments.

"May nagcocomment na buhok lang 'yan, OA naman siya, buhok lang naman, it will grow back," she said. "And that disheartened me for a little bit but I guess I tried to give the benefit of the doubt na parang imagine if it wasn't me that had alopecia, let's say my friend, baka I would also think you think it's just hair."

"But when it happens to you, ang scary part is, you don't know, when is it gonna stop? Like until what point is your hair gonna grow back or will it ever grow back?"

Kelley said joining a community changed things for her, and she eventually regained her confidence.

Earlier this year, the 2021 Miss Eco International 1st runner-up opened up about having difficulty being in front of the camera after developing panic disorder. —Carby Basina/JCB, GMA Integrated News