‘Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard’ star Jordan Emanuel documents her alopecia healing journey
Bravo star Jordan Emanuel is opening up about her alopecia treatment process.
After opening up about living with alopecia during the second season of Bravo’s “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard,” Jordan Emanuel is embarking on an alopecia healing journey. And she’s taking her fans along for the ride.
The Bravo star announced the journey through an Instagram video that features her doctor, New York-based dermatologist Paul Jarrod Frank, walking her through a complex treatment process.
“In the past, I’ve tried what seems like everything. Injections, topical medication, oral medication, prayer, meditation,” Emanuel explains in the video. “Today, we’re going to try VSEL hair restoration.”
Emanuel adds that VSEL stem cell hair restoration involves drawing blood from the patient, spinning it to separate platelets and other components from the blood, and then injecting those stem cells into the scalp.
Frank adds that in addition to a handful of oral medications, including Nutrafol, receiving this treatment monthly over the next three months may be the best course of action for Emanuel’s condition.
“With hair loss in general, combination is always the best,” he explains.
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The dermatologist also notes that alopecia areata is a highly common autoimmune disorder that can result in difficult-to-treat hair loss. Not only is the condition common, but it also impacts Black women at disproportionate rates. According to Johns Hopkins Hospital, roughly half of Black women will experience hair loss to some extent. Many who do may never seek medical help and thus go undiagnosed.
While speaking to Refinery 29 in 2020, Emanuel said her journey with alopecia began in 2018. Since then, she has progressively opened up about the experience.
When her journey was revealed during “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard,” somewhat out of her control by another castmate, Emanuel was upset, but she pushed through the moment with the group.
Speaking to theGrio about that moment, she said, “I didn’t go into last summer with any intention of, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to talk about this.’ I think it just naturally came up in a conversation that you’ll see, between Summer, myself and Preston, and then it becomes a different conversation amongst the entire group, which, wasn’t necessarily my choice, but I’m an honest straight shooter, so it came up.”
She added, “I think it just was a natural part of what I was going through. And of course, I’m going to share what I’m going through with my friends.”
