8:14
- culture
- January 3, 2020
Ricki Lake opens up about 'debilitating' hair loss
Taking to Facebook Jan. 1, Lake revealed her 30-year struggle with hair loss.
8:14
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ricki-lake-gty-ml-200103_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The 51-year-old told Roberts she also blames her career as a public figure, hormones, crash dieting, weight fluctuations and genetics for the hair loss.
Lake said she tried a hair treatment and wore hair extensions as remedies.
\"I've been to many doctors, gotten steroid shots in my head, taking all the supplements and then some,\" Lake wrote on Facebook. \"My hair would recover and then shed again. It was maddening. I got used to wearing extensions, really just over the last decade. All different kinds, tried them all, the ones that are glued on, the tape-ins, the clip ins, and then into a total hair system that I hated, and finally to a unique solution that really did work pretty well for me for the last 4 or 5 years. I tried wigs on a few occasions but never could get used to them. It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ricki-lake5-abc-_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
“I feel like I can finally be truly me.” We sit down one-on-one with actress @RickiLake as she opens up about her 30 year battle with hair loss. https://t.co/OQIlP5GkoJ pic.twitter.com/12sUYNzPf3
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 3, 2020
Lake appeared on \"GMA\" wearing no wig or extentions.
\"I feel like I can finally be truly me,\" she noted. \"Actually... I don't think I look that bad!\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ricki-lake1-gty-ml-200103_hpEmbed_4x5_384.jpg\")
Lake's courage to share her struggle inspired women who also experience hair loss to share their selfies.
\"Your courage has set so many women free today, and for that I say, thank you,\" one woman wrote.
\"Thank you for being honest and showing beauty in vulnerability,\" said another.
\"I'm holding my head up high,\" Lake said on \"GMA.\" \"I've never been prouder of myself and I'm really touched by the reaction and the fact that I can help others through this process.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/200103_gma_ricki_lake_intv4_hpMain_4x3_384.jpg\")
Today, Lake is working on a new documentary about birth control and hopes to write a book about her hair journey.
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