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Home and Away star opens up about diagnosis: 'Not asking for sympathy'
Kyle Shilling has shared with fans he's been diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disease.
Home and Away actor Kyle Shilling has shared with fans he's been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease alopecia after viewers complained about his beard line during recent episodes.
Kyle, who plays Mali, uploaded an Instagram Story on Friday morning explaining his condition.
"For all those Home and Away fans complaining about my beard line. Not too long ago I was diagnosed with alopecia on the beard region, mainly my neck," he wrote.
"Alopecia is a hair loss disease which can be caused by stress. The makeup team at Home and Away do the best they can do to cover up this 'insecurity' I now have. It should grow back eventually, but for now it is what it is," he continued.
Kyle ended the post by saying he wasn't asking for sympathy but wanted to raise awareness about the condition.
"It could be a lot worse," he said. "I'm simply shedding light on alopecia so people have an understanding about it."
The Instagram story came after some people took to social media to say they were distracted by Mali's beard.
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"I wish Mali would shave his beard line along his jaw rather than halfway up it, it’s all I can see whenever he’s on-screen 😂 Very distracting," one person commented.
"Thanks, that's all I'm gonna see now too," another said.
Kyle stepped into the comments, explaining his condition.
What is alopecia?
Alopecia is a condition that causes your hair to fall out in patches. It is a condition that develops when your immune system attacks the hair follicle causing inflammation, and it often attacks the scalp, but can also target the face, neck, chest, back, arms, and legs.
While there's no specific known reason for alopecia, medical professionals believe it can occur from both genetic and environmental factors. Stress is often cited as a cause of the autoimmune disease.
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