Country singer Sina Theil on battling with alopecia and why she's dumping her wig

Sunday World

4 days ago

Sina Theil shares her alopecia with fans and is blown away by positive reaction
The 35-year-old entertainer, who started her music career busking on the streets of Dublin, says she has been suffering from baldness since her teenage years when she was diagnosed with alopecia areata.
Sina says she would disguise it with various hairstyles until it got so noticeable that she began covering it up with wigs and a hat.
Last week on her social media, Sina took the brave step of removing her wig and telling the fans about her hair loss.
She posted: 'The time has come to be free — life is not to be lived in fear! This is how I really look like.'
Sina Theil famously sported a hat whenever she performed in public
Now, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday World, Sina says: 'It has taken a lot of years for me to go public, but I really feel if there is something that you keep as a secret, whether it's wearing a wig or you are gay or whatever, the things you keep a secret really weigh on you even if you don't realise it. That's what I realised when I started taking the wig off.'
Sina, who grew up in Germany and moved here in 2015, recalled how the issue developed as she hit her teenage years. 'I started having it when I was 11 or 12 and into early teenage years and it always fluctuated. It never fully went away,' she tells me.
'In my teenage years if people asked me about it I would totally deny it. I would be just mortified if somebody asked me.
'I would go to a nightclub with my friends and I would be afraid that someone would tug at my hair and discover the truth. When it's a secret that you are guarding you are on guard the whole time, even though you don't realise it because you get so used to it. And that weighs on you.
'There was so much I missed out on that I told myself I couldn't do because you can't jump into the water without a wig. You can't ride a rollercoaster. You are afraid because nobody knows.'
Sina decided to share her hair loss with fans on social media
Sina says that as the years went on the loss of her hair increased and she found it more and more difficult to cover it up.
'In the last seven years they (bald patches) got bigger and united and that's when it became really noticeable,' she explains.
'Before that I could change hairstyles and cover it up so it looked more like a hairstyle. In recent years if people asked me about it privately I would tell them I had alopecia and, gradually, that made me feel better about it.
'Then recently with the help of some good friends who said, 'Come on you can do it, be brave, be yourself, there is nothing wrong with the way you look or who you are or what you are dealing with.'
Sina proudly shows off her natural look
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 19th
'That kind of gave me that extra push to say, 'OK, I'm ready.'
Sina, who has just finished an American tour supported by Culture Ireland, says that the reaction of her followers online and at her live shows has been totally positive since she went public with her condition.
'We tell ourselves we have to have this certain image, we have to look a certain way, but actually there's one thing I found out by making it public and putting it out there is that people are really wonderful.
'People, especially in Ireland, are very honest and they appreciate honesty. People will love you more if you are honest with them.
'I say now, 'If you feel in doubt about how people react look at the thousands of reactions that I got of the most beautiful, lovely kind and caring comments and messages from people just saying, 'look, we love you, just be you.'
Sina was known for her trademark hats when she performed
'I would now say to people not to be alone in your little corner dealing with your issues when you could be sharing the load with other people that are going through the same thing, that have already come out on the other side
'In my case it's alopecia but it could be any sort of condition or difference that people have. Since I went public I'm now talking about it on stage and telling how I used to hide this and now I've learned to embrace me and to learn to love myself the way that I am.
'One person came up to me at a show and said, 'I had a motorbike accident and now I wear sunglasses because I have a scar.'
'I said. 'If I can stand here with a mohawk you can take off your sunglasses. Do you think I look horrible, do you think less of me?' No, well no one is going to think less of you.
'And then to see that person in audience later with no sunglasses… that to me is mission achieved, that's part of why I'm doing it.'