Two items that hit the tabs yesterday got us thinking about the scrutiny that celebs are willing to take and the damage they’re willing to do to themselves to become celebrities and maintain their images.

First up, Lady Gaga. The Sun reported that Lady Gaga is using Rogaine to fight hair loss due to years of follicular assault (which is very timely and ironic due to the popularity of her song, “Hair” and having just performed it recently while wearing a bald wig.) Then there’s Kim Kardashian, who was diagnosed with psoriasis–and shared the experience on her reality show this week. Both of these are potentially embarrassing problems from an aesthetic standpoint. And God knows, both of these ladies are very, very worried about aesthetics.

Lady Gaga’s alleged hair loss issue is probably not due to the fact that she’s bleached and dyed the crap out of it. Chris Lospalluto, my go-to hair guy and a stylist at the Sally Hershberger Salon, said it would be pretty rare that bleaching and dying would kill hair permanently. As a doctor told Lauren last year in her article about women’s hair loss, things like low iron, hormones, genetics, stress, nutrition, and medical issues like thyroid deficiencies are the usual culprits. However, wearing tight braids, cornrows, and other “violent” hairstyles can definitely cause hair loss. Regardless of the source of the problem, whether it’s genetics or some other reason, it could be a huge source of stress to someone whose image is 80% of her appeal.

Kim Kardashian was diagnosed with psoriasis, which is a skin disorder that causes you to break out into ugly, scaly, pink patches. This is also genetic–mom Kris suffers, too–and stress is a huge trigger for flares. ABC News interviewed someone from the National Psoriasis Foundation who said, “The population can often be very cruel because they think the disease is contagious or has to do with being dirty. Celebrities with psoriasis are under intense pressure, and stress is a trigger for psoriasis.” Kim had a photo shoot in which she had to bare her rash-riddled torso, but some cover-up makeup did the trick. But she’s worried about how the disease will affect her image and her work.

So it’s sort of a never-ending cycle. Hair loss and psoriasis can both be made worse by stress. Yet losing your hair and having a skin rash can make you even more stressed out. Where does it end?

Do you feel empathy for them? We detected a certain amount of glee in some of the reporting yesterday, which strikes us as unnecessarily cruel. If a celeb has a rash or some weird hair problem, it makes me feel a bit better about some of my own shortcomings. Stars are just like us, after all.