EXCLUSIVE: Shaun Romy diagnosed with alopecia: I didn’t want to pretend like this hadn’t happened to me | – Times of India

On March 17, 2024, as she was celebrating her birthday, model-actor Shaun Romy broke the news of her journey after being diagnosed with alopecia areata. This autoimmune condition causes hair to fall out in clumps. “Beyond grateful for my healing. It’s been 11 months of alopecia areata, and finally, my hair is growing back! So happy! And it’s my birthday,” she wrote on Instagram and posted a video in which she proudly embraced her growing hair.
In show business, especially for women, there is always the burden of adhering to certain conventional beauty standards, and that’s where Shaun Romy’s revelation stands out.
Shaun Romy, best known for her roles in ‘Kammatti Paadam’ and ‘Lucifer’, is a sought-after model primarily. Her line of work primarily revolves around these beauty standards. The shame associated with the condition is already in the public eye. Case in point: the infamous Chris Rock-Will Smith slapping incident during the 94th Academy Awards for the ‘joke’ the former made about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaven head.
In an exclusive conversation with ETimes, Shaun Romy talks about being diagnosed with alopecia areata and her journey of healing, self-love, and acceptance.
“It started in April last year (2023). Initially, I didn’t pay much heed to it. At that time, I was in Sri Lanka and frequently wore a helmet. So I thought it would be a rash that had led to the hair falling. Later on, when I traveled to Goa, I began to observe significant hair loss in patches, particularly along the frontal hairline. With each hair wash, the situation worsened. I panicked,” Shaun Romy recounts.

Shaun Romy tells us that the initial phase of recognizing the condition, getting diagnosed, and finding the right cure was quite challenging. “I didn’t know what to do about it! The doctors told me it was an auto-immune disorder and prescribed me some topical medication. I consulted doctors in Goa, Kochi, and Bangalore. I talked to a lot of people and came to know that the hair starts to regrow within four weeks of application. But nothing happened in my case, even after 4 weeks. A huge patch of my hair along the frontal hairline was gone, and it started expanding.”
After visiting multiple doctors and even trying his hand at homeopathy, Shaun Romy learned about steroid injections through a mutual friend and decided to fly to London for the treatment. “This was October 2023, and my condition was at its worst. I gave the treatment a try, and it worked for me,” she adds.
Shaun Romy asserts that the efforts to stay positive were as crucial as finding the right treatment during this testing time. “I had to stay positive. Since childhood, my hair has been my greatest source of confidence. Coming to terms with losing was a different ball game altogether. For a while, I wore wigs, but then I didn’t feel like it.”

She had her learning curve in terms of regaining her confidence, and that’s when self-love dropped by. “At a certain point, I was scared to show up for shoots. I was working on a music video and a couple of other projects around the globe, but I felt underconfident. Even though I had the wig on, I didn’t feel like myself.”
But like they say, it’s always the darkest before dawn. Shaun Romy confesses that she has been wanting to post about her condition since last year, when she started to see the light; however, many discouraged her from doing so. “I was told that people would make fun of it and say a zillion things. But going through all this, I realized a lot of things. You cultivate a lot of self-love and acceptance once you go through these situations. But I felt reluctant to dismiss or downplay this experience that I went through. I didn’t want to pretend like this hadn’t happened to me. I wanted to say that this happened to help people not be ashamed. It’s fine to show up. It is fine to show up as a work in progress, in the state of healing as well. It’s okay to acknowledge, ‘This is where I am at,’ and feel completely at peace with it. And also find a way to feel beautiful, regardless of wherever you are.”

So what kept her going throughout the journey? “I listen to Dr. Gabor Maté, which gave me spiritual reasoning. That kind of helped me a lot. The doctors I consulted in London reassured me by affirming that healing is indeed possible. During the initial five months, I was uncertain about the treatment. The initial information I received was intimidating. Talking to people who told me, ‘Your hair would come back’ is what helped me. Those who said it’s possible to heal, that there is nothing to be ashamed of, and that it’s okay even if it’s happening, saved me. ‘You are not any less, and you are going to come out of it. You will heal’. That’s the message. I don’t think you want to hear someone say, ‘Okay, so what? You can have a hair transplant?’ during that time. Self-love and healing are the road forward. That’s what keeps me going.”
On the work front, Shaun Romy will be next seen in ‘Oru Jaathi Oru Jaathakam’.