At just five years old, Lyla Bridge is already a master of facial expressions on the dance floor and, beneath the bows and glitter, few would guess she’s losing patches of hair.
The Wakefield youngster has a rainbow of colours in her hair because her parents gave in to her request to dye her hair when they realised she may not always have hair to dye due to alopecia, which is hair loss.
With alopecia, hair loss, and in some cases nail changes, can be temporary or permanent. The condition can be caused by genetics, hormonal changes, medical conditions or stress.
It was the bald spots developing on her scalp at four years old that prompted her mother Nicole Bridge to make headpieces for dancing. Others began asking for them and it grew into a fundraiser to help cover Lyla’s dance costs.
Now, Lyla’s Glitter and Bows has headpieces, bows and gift boxes at markets as well as on Facebook, with Nicole busy creating them while she passes the time at Lyla’s dance lessons in Richmond.
“She had a bad patch in her hair at the centre and (the headpiece) was a good way to cover it. Then it became her thing,” Nicole says.
Lyla has been dancing since she was six months old in front of the TV and now does jazz, hip hop, tap and musical theatre. She is now training with older students at Legacy Dance and will begin troupe performances at the end of the year.
“She has just thrived on it. She really came into her own this year and developed her facials (expression) so we’re getting all that sass now.”
Beneath that sass is the alopecia which first became noticeable when she was four.
“She started complaining about her hair being brushed and I picked up a couple of bald spots.”
Blood tests followed and eventually came the alopecia diagnosis. While Nicole says it is a reasonably common condition among adults, they worry how other children might react if her hair loss becomes more visible.
“I’ve been looking for picture books about alopecia for the school, because if you educate kids, they understand it.”
At this stage, Lyla is not worried about losing hair and is having way too much fun on the dance floor.
