Help and Advice
Wigs are as much about comfort and confidence as anything else.
It is important to get a wig that fits properly and is right for your needs.
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Wig Types
Ready-made acrylic wigs
The technical quality of modern acrylics offers an excellent choice of styles and colours, which ensures a lifelike appearance. Even so, there are many that are very competitively priced.
Today's acrylics are very easy to wash and look after.
Ready-made human hair wigs
There is a reassuring quality about natural hair wigs for looks and manageability and they can be washed and styled. Hairdryers and tongs may be used on low heat settings. There are two types of foundation to choose from, wefted and hand-tied.
The best appearance requires attention to washing and conditioning. On average the cost will be more than acrylic wigs, but good care will ensure a very long-lasting, good looking appearance.
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Custom Made human hair wigs
This is an ideal option and investment for the longer term, with wig colour, style and fit tailor-made exactly to the individual. There is a choice of foundations and instances of minor damages or wear can be mended. It will take a little time, on average 12 - 16 weeks, for the wig to be made.
Ready-made / Bespoke acrylic and human hair pieces
This is an ever-popular option for ladies with thinning hair that require some extra help with their existing style. Please note: The life of any wig or hairpiece is dependent on how well it is looked after in accordance to manufacturers' recommendations.
Choosing and wearing a wig
Choosing a wig
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Take a relative or friend with you for support and to help you with your choice of wig
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Remember that the wig can be cut and styled to make it feel natural
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The wig should be a comfortable fit and can be easily adjusted
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Synthetic wigs are light and easy to care for. They are often pre-styled so can be washed and left to drip dry. They are also more cost effective than real hair wigs
Wearing a wig
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If you have a ready made wig and wear it every day it will last about three to six months
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Wig caps can be worn to create a comfortable fit over hair
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Avoid excessive heat, steam and naked flames
Wig foundations
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Monofilament: These wigs use a very very fine, almost transparent material into which strands of hair are individually hand knotted. This material is much more comfortable to the touch and less itchy than other materials, it is cooler to wear and because it is semi-transparent has the added benefit of taking on the colour of your own scalp. Finally, monofilament wigs look more natural and are more versatile for styling.
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Wefted: Machine-made lengths of fibre, cut and formed into a head shaped foundation and held in place with elasticised strips.
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Mesh: Soft foundation made of hand applied acrylic fibre. It can be much cooler to wear.
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Wigmakers foundation (custom-made): Usually fine synthetic netting to which the hair is knotted in by hand. Either single or double knotting may be used. More hair may be added if thinning occurs over the wig's lifetime.
Alopecia
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Alopecia is the word used to describe any type of baldness/hair loss on the scalp, or of other hairy regions of the body and may be coupled with another word to give a specific meaning. For instance: ‘alopecia areata’ meaning ‘hair loss in areas’.
Most hair loss is not a disease but a perfectly normal process of ageing and/or hormone change and put aside by many general practitioners because it is ‘not life threatening’, although it most certainly can be ‘life devastating’.
However, the fine line between normal and excessive loss of hair causes great concern to many, therefore correct diagnosis and care can alleviate worries during phases of patchy hair loss and diffuse shedding and thinning/balding. The psychological effects are far reaching.
It is normal for people to lose up to around 100 to 150 hairs a day. However, when hair begins to come out in a noticeable quantity there might be a reason that may require medical advice and relevant treatment.
Cancer treatment related hair loss
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A number of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, whilst battling cancer, can result in hair loss. Often this is referred to as Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy induced Alopecia.
Chemotherapy
Some chemotherapy drugs do not make hair fall out or the amount of hair lost is so slight it is hardly noticeable. Some chemotherapy can damage the hair and make it brittle. If this happens, the hair may break off near the scalp a week or two after the chemotherapy has started. Some chemotherapy drugs can make all hair fall out and this can be very upsetting.
The amount of hair that falls out, if any, depends on the type of drug or combination of drugs used, the dose given and how the drug affects the individual. If the hair falls out, it usually starts within a few weeks of beginning treatment, although very occasionally it can start within a few days. Underarm, body and pubic hair may be lost as well. Some drugs also make the eyelashes and eyebrows fall out. If hair does fall out due to the chemotherapy, it usually will grow back over a few months once treatment has finished. It is also not uncommon for hair to sometimes begin to regrow in-between treatments and fall out again when the next treatment session takes place.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy directed to the head will always cause some hair loss. If treatment is directed to a particular part of your head or neck, the hair will only fall out in that area. There may also be some hair loss on the opposite side of the head or neck - where the radiotherapy beams pass through. This is called the 'exit site'. When treatment has finished, the hair will usually grow back. It may not be quite as thick as before and in some people, it can be patchy.
The more radiotherapy treatments received, the longer the hair will take to grow back. More often than not, hair will begin to re-grow soon after treatment has finished.
