Did Ashley Tisdale's Medical Condition Cause Her To Quit Acting? Here's What Happened To The High Sc
Highlights
- Ashley Tisdale has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
- Tisdale uses holistic methods such as yoga, meditation, and therapy to cope with stress, which can trigger alopecia flare-ups.
- Tisdale's alopecia is not the only reason for her slowed-down acting career.
Since Disney+ launched in 2019, many A-list stars have starred in movies that stream on the service. On top of that, Disney+ has continued many of the company's beloved franchises including the High School Musical franchise which was revived with a show that initially starred Olivia Rodrigo.
While High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has been very successful, for many fans it will never compete with the movies they grew up on. For many of those fans, it has been sad to see that Ashley Tisdale has seemingly walked away from her acting career. Since Tisdale later revealed that she has alopecia, those fans have been wondering if that has anything to do with her rarely acting.
What Medical Condition Does Ashley Tisdale Have?
Over the last several years, it has become increasingly common for celebrities to speak openly about medical conditions they have. A perfect example of that is after Christina Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she spoke in public about what she was going through.
These days when stars reveal their ailments to the public, they often do so for selfless reasons. After all, it can be very gratifying for fans who are going through the same thing to have a celebrity to look up to in their moment of need.
In 2023, Ashley Tisdale became another example of a celebrity who revealed that they have a medical condition to the world. Fortunately for Tisdale, she isn't going through anything life-threatening as she has been diagnosed with alopecia.
For anyone who doesn't know what alopecia is, it is a disease that causes someone to lose their hair. People who have alopecia suffer hair loss because their immune system attacks their hair follicles. In most cases, people with alopecia develop circular bald spots in their hair that are roughly the same size as a quarter.
As anyone familiar with Hollywood will already know, movie stars often are expected to look and seem perfect on the big screen. As a result, it would be understandable if an actor like Tisdale wanted to keep any medical condition they were dealing with secret.
In Tisdale's case, it did take a long time for her to reveal her medical condition as she was diagnosed with alopecia in her early 20s. In January 2023, Tisdale used an Instagram video to speak about her journey with alopecia.
When Tisdale was in her early 20s, she asked her hairdresser about her hair loss. Evidently, a well-informed person, which makes sense since they deal with hair for a living, Tisdale's hairdresser explained to the actor that patches of hair loss are caused by alopecia.
After going to a doctor to see if her hairdresser was correct, Tisdale was told she had alopecia and what would trigger it to flair up. "It’s autoimmune and a lot of it’s triggered by stress, and I was going through a really stressful time."
Alongside the video that Tisdale uploaded on Instagram, she included a very revealing caption. Based on what Tisdale wrote, she was speaking out about alopecia in an attempt to normalize it, so other people wouldn't be embarrassed.
"Alopecia and hair loss are fairly common, but a lot of people feel embarrassed to talk about these issues. Any type of hair loss can affect your self-esteem, especially if you feel like you’re the only one going through it. That’s why I want to talk about it openly—because it’s nothing to be ashamed of."
During Tisdale's Instagram video, she revealed that her hair grew back in her early 20s. More importantly, Tisdale went on to reveal how she has learned to deal with her alopecia when she has a flair-up.
Since alopecia is triggered by stress, Tisdale initially spoke about how she tries to deal with it on a more holistic level. As Tisdale explained, she employs yoga, meditation, and therapy to help her cope with stress before it gets out of control.
Of course, Tisdale is a human being like anyone else, and sometimes stress is immune to yoga, meditation, and therapy. As such, Tisdale still has to cope with alopecia flair-ups. However, as Tisdale explained in her Instagram video, she has discovered a procedure to mitigate her hair loss.
According to Tisdale, she has received a platelet-rich plasma injection in her hairline to stop the hair loss. As Johns Hopkins Medicine explains, "Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are gaining popularity for a variety of conditions, from sports injuries to hair loss. The treatment uses a patient’s own blood cells to accelerate healing in a specific area."
While Tisdale admits that PRP will be cost-prohibitive for a lot of people, she revealed it has been very helpful for her. "It grew back super fast, and it hasn’t ever affected that area again." "PRP is more of an expensive route, but I do find that it is really helpful for alopecia."
Did Ashley Tisdale Retire From Acting Because Of Alopecia?
After rising to fame as an actor, Ashley Tisdale worked consistently for many years. These days, however, it has been years since Tisdale has starred in a high-profile project which has fans wondering if she retired from acting because of her alopecia.
While it is reasonable to wonder that, the truth is that having alopecia almost certainly has nothing to do with the state of Tisdale's acting career. Since Tisdale was diagnosed with alopecia in her early 20s, it would be silly to assume it caused her to retire from acting more than a decade later.
On top of that, Tisdale hasn't retired from acting. In 2021, Tisdale spoke to Entertainment Tonight about why she believed she wouldn't portray Sharpay Evans again. During that discussion, Tisdale was asked about the future of her career. In response, Tisdale revealed that she has found new ways to express her creative side including founding her company, Frenshe.
“I definitely have always, you know, loved being creative and I think that Frenshe lets me to have that creative outlet, especially being home and working from home. And then also with interior design, that’s also something.”
Tisdale then went on to talk about acting still being her chief creative outlet. However, Tisdale also explained that since she is a mother now, she is a lot more selective about the roles she takes. Considering that Tisdale's acting career really slowed down in 2020, the same year she became pregnant, her comments make a lot of sense.
“But, I think that, I don’t know that music will have a big, you know, thing in my life but acting is always number one. I think that for me, I’m at that point where I’m like, ‘if I’m going to take time away from Jupiter, it’s gonna be because it’s like something that’s so different for me, and exciting, and inspiring.”
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