I am writing this today,  as recently, a number of customers have come to buy wigs or even to see if they want to buy a wig, having received a diagnosis of cancer, but not yet having started the treatment.  I think this is a very good idea.  It allows them to loose the fear of hair-loss.  They know that it is likely that they will lose their hair, but they have already chosen how to deal with it when it occurs.  One lady said, ” my fear was waking up in the morning and finding my hair on my pillow and then needing to urgently find a wig to suit me.  By sorting that out before my hair did fall out, the shock of it was lessened and I didn’t panic at all, I just put on my wig!”  She went on to tell me that it was coping with the little everyday things that you wouldn’t normally think about – like answering the door when you are not expecting anyone and because you have a wig there ready, you can just pop it on and nobody needs to know!

That is so true.  It is about keeping stress at bay in every way you can.  Being ill is bad enough, you don’t want to be feeling anxious about being seen with no hair other than at the hospital, where the other patients are in the same boat and there, it is the least of your worries.

It often helps too to buy something that looks quite different from your own, recent hairstyle and colour.  It gives you a boost like a new dress and helps you to see the light at the end of the tunnel, feeling in some little way, a new you!

Pippa wig, blended and streaked!

Get a better head of hair now! www.wearmyhair.com

Megan wig colour ref: Fr144

girls wig style 3

However, there are those children, particularly, and not surprisingly, usually girls, who will be very upset even at the thought of loosing their hair.  For them then, the most helpful thing is to provide them with as many options as possible and let them choose.  There may or may not be financial or other pressures which may make a real hair wig too costly.  If there are other children in the family, there is pressure not to make the other children feel left out.  I know that sounds strange, but children are children and they should not be expected to necessarily understand things even when siblings are sick.

Discuss with the child what she or he would prefer within the necessary budget and then search the local and internet sources.  The hospital may well have suggestions too, but they might not be suitable so search for  suitable local webshops and places where a free consultation is offered and children’s wigs are held as stock.

Girls short wig

Wigs can be made with especially light-weight and soft construction to minimize any discomfort, and it is especially important that the fit should be good to avoid slipping or rubbing.  Wherever possible, a really good match to the patient’s own hair will avoid the need to hide every strand of hair and therefore assist ease of putting on and wearing a wig.

Lily wig colour ref: HK26

childs - boy wig. colour FR25

It is a very sad fact of life that young people and children get cancer too.  While cancer is still predominantly a disease for which the likelihood increases with age, children and young adults also fall victim.  The good news is that there is now much greater awareness of this fact, and of their particular needs beyond their clinical treatment plans.

All of us are totally absorbed with how we look.  At each level of attractiveness or otherwise, each of us knows ourselves as we are and as we look.  We therefore all have a great affinity with that and to think that only the young and beautiful looks matter is as disengenuous as to think that cancer only happens to older people and therefore young victims are, as the exception to the rule, not worth devoting many resources to, outside what is medically and clinically essential.
Everybody, but everybody, no matter what age, stage of illness, prognosis or any other criteria, deserves the very best of treatment in every single discipline.  Not just medical or surgical, but cosmetic, social and aesthetic.  We all need to like the way we look.

www.wearmyhair.com for gorgeous wigs at sensible prices for women, men and children.

Gemma wig colour blend FR130/118/2 a lovely auburn

I guess most people will try both.  Maybe they go naked at home, only donning wig or scarf when they go out, but it is a good idea to have something cool for your head just in case we do have a proper Summer this year.  Who knows, we might just get lucky!

Annette wig. Colour ref: FR18T

I have only been back from holiday for less than a week, but already we have seen another flurry of sales of wigs for cancer and alopecia sufferers.  I think, in fact I know, from our sales at least, that this group is prefering now to buy a wig rather than a scarf to cover hair-loss.  This could be due to the cold Winter weather of course, but I do think that Summer or Winter, wigs are far less hot than scarves or turbans as they are mesh, not solid.

Another factor I think, is that scarves and turbans have become something of a statement along the lines, ” I have got cancer, or I have got hair-loss “, and so those who prefer to keep that as their secret, are more likely now to go for a wig rather than some other head wear.

These styles have been particularly popular amongst older customers not wanting to go back decades, but rather to stay themselves now, only hide the current, temporary condition.

Maddy wig. Colour ref: FR18T

Here’s the thing,  some people want a wig to look as much like their own hair as possible, whereas others want the complete opposite.  Almost an act of supreme defiance in the face of such horrible adversity, some want to go totally “off the wall” with both colours and style.  That doesn’t mean to say that they want a party wig – they almost certainly do not.  They do not want to look like they are wearing it for a bet!  But rather than have substitute hair that might make them feel doubly aware of their illness, they choose something that is the total antithesis of their previous selves – they are visiting a new place.  For my money, that is a fabulous attitude and allows for a little adventure in the midst of this undoubted trauma; a stoic determination to throw back the sh.. as hard and as fast as it comes.

Here are some of the choices from www.wearmyhair.com

Jodie wig in a blend of pink and black #FR2Jasmine wig #FR2 with streaks of FR118F

Megan wig # FR144/613 with streaks of FR350

And why not.  Since time began people have made attempts, serious or otherwise, to change their visual identity.  Hair colour and style actually fixes in the memory with remarkable speed and accuracy, so it is not surprising that it is key when trying not to be recognised.  This, apparently, is even more dramatic in those we see frequently, and this maybe due to the fact that we will not be anticipating change, whereas in those we see infrequently, we may well be expecting, all be it, subconsciously, some degree of change.

So you see, it’s not just bank robbers and spies who use wigs to alter their appearance!

Guess who ? wearing Jessica wig!