Ricki Lake Shares Transformation Photos Following Treatment for Hair Loss: 'Finally at Peace'

Ricki Lake/Instagram

Ricki Lake is showing off her hair transformation.

The actress and former television host, 53, shared a post on Instagram Wednesday of side-by-side images of her tresses from December 2019 and January 2021. In the caption, Lake praised hair care brand Harklinikken for her "dramatic" hair improvement.

"For those of you who don't know or don't remember my personal journey. These side by sides show the dramatic success I've had using @harklinikken products," she began.

Noting that she has been following the brand's "simple and easy protocol for over 2 years now," Lake then shared that she uses Harklinikken's "shampoo, condition[er] daily and their extract at night."

"I could not be happier with my results and to finally be at peace with my hair loss struggles. 🎉🎉🎉," she wrote, adding the hashtags "#Grateful," "#SelfLove" and "#SelfAcceptance."

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RELATED: Ricki Lake Opens Up About 'Scary,' 'Liberating' Choice to Come Forward with Hair Loss Battle

Lake first opened up about her hair loss with fans in January 2020 with posts on Facebook and Instagram. At the time, she said she was "finally ready to share my secret."

"It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things," she wrote, in part. "There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing."

The star also explained that she was sharing her story to help others struggling with hair loss, adding, "I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in."

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Lake said that her hair issues began shortly after her portrayal of Tracy Turnblad in the original 1988 Hairspray, explaining that the role took a toll on her "then healthy virgin hair" when she had to tease and triple-process it every two weeks while filming.

From that point on, she experienced several periods of excessive shedding (known as telogen effluvium) throughout her adult life due to a number of factors, including dramatic weight fluctuations, hormone changes and stress.

Lake also said that she tried everything to help her hair: Rogaine, prescription medications, topical treatments, Propecia, steroid injections and PRP therapy — which involves injecting your own plasma into your scalp to promote hair growth.

RELATED VIDEO: Ricki Lake Opens Up About Her 30-Year Battle with Hair Loss: 'It's Been Debilitating'

Speaking with PEOPLE a year after her Instagram post, Lake said that she "went back and forth" on whether or not to share her hair loss journey, describing it as feeling like "such a shameful thing."

"I was afraid of coming out," Lake noted of shaving her head and telling the truth about her hair. "Because no woman as far as I knew had ever gone public about female baldness."

By December 2019, Lake had finally had enough and decided to make a statement in the new year. "I'd reached a low point," she said. "I decided to take charge."

"It wasn't a calculated move," she added of choosing to post on the first day of the new year. "I just needed to be set free from this silent suffering."

Lake also said that she recognizes that her transformation was as internal as it was external.

"It's about inner beauty, self-confidence and self-love," she told PEOPLE of her journey. "I truly appreciate what I see in the mirror now."