Lili Reinhart reveals alopecia diagnosis

‘Red light therapy is my new best friend,’ actress wrote in TikTok caption

Lili Reinhart has opened up about being diagnosed with alopecia.

The actress recently took to TikTok to show herself sitting underneath a red light lamp with text across the screen that read: “Was diagnosed with alopecia in the midst of a major depressive episode.”

“I’m pushed beyond limits of what a person should be pushed to endure,” she mouthed while using a popular audio sound on the platform.

“Red light therapy is my new best friend,” the Riverdale alum added in her TikTok’s caption.

Reinhart’s video went on to receive over one million views, with many people expressing their gratitude that she shared the diagnosis and for spreading awareness about alopecia in general.

“Thank you for using your platform to bring awareness to this. I have alopecia and my health and depression make it worse. Sending love,” one commenter wrote.

Another commenter agreed, writing: “Your dedication to raising awareness for mental health and physical health is truly inspiring. It’s a meaningful impact, TY for existing Lili!”

“I love you so much for speaking on these things. I’ve struggled with it for two years now and haven’t figured it out yet, and some days it’s so hard,” a third comment read.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, alopecia means “hair loss” and although it is typically in the scalp or beard area, the hair loss can occur anywhere. There are three main types of alopecia: alopecia areata, which causes one or more coin-sized, usually round or oval, patches on the scalp or other places on the body that grow hair; alopecia areata totalis, which results in hair loss across the entire scalp; and alopecia areata universalis, which results in hair loss across the entire body.

Reinhart has previously opened up about some of the hair struggles she’s gone through over the years, especially while on Riverdale ,where her character was known for wearing a slicked back ponytail in most episodes.

Speaking withAllure in 2019 she said: “This ponytail causes me stress. It takes a long time [to style], longer than you’d think, and it’s really annoying and very frustrating.”

Surprisingly, the frustrating aspects of it didn’t come from how tight the hairstyle was, but because of the heat styling that went into it, as well as the potential stray hairs that may become loose throughout the filming process.

“It’s just the fact that it’s really hard to get it perfect... That’s my biggest struggle,” she told the outlet at the time. “Being on camera, you can’t have flyaways, so I’m looking at my head probably 70 times a day to make sure that my hair is in place. I hate that it’s very high maintenance.”

Because her hair had become damaged during the show’s run from heat styling and consistent highlighting to maintain the same blonde colour, the actress started to need hair extensions added to her ponytails to put less stress on her hair.

Although Riverdale is now over, Reinhart added in the previous interview that it was unlikely she’d ever experiment with different hair colours after what happened to her hair while it was airing.

“I kind of promised myself if I were offered a role where they said I need to be a redhead [or] I need to be a brunette that I would have to wear a wig because my hair has been through so much,” the actress said.