TAMPA, Fla — A now-infamous moment from this year's Oscars is having a ripple effect here in the bay area.
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"I actually had a client cry about it," said Johanna Amarante, the owner of Fabulously Made Salon and Hair Loss Solutions.
Amarante is a licensed Trichologist who works to treat hair loss.
"Trichology is basically when cosmetology meets dermatology. So it's the gap between the two," she said.
And she tells ABC Action News that the conversation about Jada Pinkett-Smith's hair and battle with alopecia highlighted an often private and deeply personal battle for many, especially women.
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"I have clients that, even with the hair replacement, that their husbands don't even know because they're scared if their husbands find out that they'll be left alone," she said.
According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, the disease impacts more than 6 million people in the U.S. alone, but Amarante says there are treatment options available.
She starts by working with clients to determine the underlying cause of their alopecia and then treating that if possible.
Then, if your scalp can grow hair she'll work on a treatment plan to stimulate growth and the results speak for themselves.
If you can't grow hair, she says she can work with you to create a medical wig or hairpiece.
In the end, she adds that the goal in each case is to restore confidence and a sense of normalcy.
"It's actually really amazing, they get up, give me a big hug and they just feel [like] themselves again," she said.
