Some practical information
We are not doctors.
The information we provide here is of a general nature, and is only intended to provide the best type of wig for your personal needs. For more precise and detailed medical information, please contact your attending physician, specialist, or the facility that is treating you.
Our professional training also consists of attending meetings or conferences at which oncologists, psychologists, or psycho-oncologists present their experiences. We have thus learnt that the first question asked by a woman who has just received a cancer diagnosis is often the following: will I lose my hair? How? And when?
The problem is very much felt, because it is connected to one's own femininity, and even more so to one's own essence, to the image that others have of us - and that we ourselves have of ourselves.
Chemotherapy consists of the therapeutic use of particular very aggressive drugs -supplied to the patient according to customised cycles, times and dosages-, capable of destroying cancer cells. Unfortunately, these drugs are not yet perfectly selective, so their aggressiveness extends not only to tumour cells, but also to normal cells and tissues of the body, such as the hair bulbs, which are responsible for hair growth and strength. This is the cause of hair loss often combined with a course of chemotherapy, and this hair loss may be more or less intense depending on the drugs used, their dosage, and the natural reaction capacity of the patient's organism. But beware: this fall is not definitive. At the end of the treatment, the healthy cells of the organism are able to reform rather quickly: the hair bulbs are reactivated, and the hair starts to grow again. Initially they will not be as thick and strong as before, they will be thinner, weaker, perhaps of a different colour. This situation may last for a few weeks or a few months, during which the patient can find great psychological help by using a good wig: in our catalogues she can find excellent products at affordable prices, completely indistinguishable from her own normal hair, capable of getting every woman through this delicate phase of the healing process without trauma.
Approximately three to six months after the end of the chemotherapy cycle, the hair will then tend to regain its original characteristics, although initially it will not be as long and thick as before. Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is almost always temporary, and as such easily resolved. And during the necessary period, which usually lasts a few months, the use of a good, high-quality wig is a very important, easy-to-use, and decisive aid.
Unlike chemotherapy, radiotherapy involves the use of very powerful and precisely localised radiation to destroy cancer cells. Hair will only fall out if the radiation affects the head, and when it starts to grow back (usually six to twelve months after the treatment has ended) it will be less thick, less strong, and less evenly distributed. Sometimes regrowth may only be partial, and in such cases using a wig may have to become a normal, automatic activity shared with thousands of women.
What measures can be taken immediately before, during and immediately after cancer treatment to limit negative stress on the hair as much as possible?
- Cutting hair short before the start of treatment has many positive effects. For instance:
-
It saves the weakened hair bulb the effort of supporting too long and heavy hair, and thus delays total or partial hair loss
-
A less weakened hair bulb will resume its growth action sooner when the treatment is over, thus speeding up regrowth time
-
From a psychological point of view, it is much less traumatic to lose hair that is already short
-
If a wig with short or medium-short hair is used during the treatment, one's own hair will first resume its normal look in the last few weeks; there will then be plenty of time for it to grow back to the desired length
- Use cleaning products for your hair that are as gentle as possible. You can find them HERE.
- Avoid colouring, bleaching, perms, for at least six months after finishing treatment. Hair is very weak at this stage, even if it is starting to grow back, and you must not go about generating unnecessary stress. Rather, prolong the use of the wig for a few weeks
- Comb and brush your hair very gently, using brushes with the softest bristles possible. You can find them HERE.
- Avoid using a hair dryer, hair dryer, straighteners or curling irons
- Do not tie your hair in braids or tails, unless they are as soft as possible, and use clips and tongs that are as soft as possible. You can find the most suitable ones HERE.
- Limit the use of curlers as much as possible, favouring the softest ones on the market
In the case of hypersensitisation of the skin - something that can occur during chemotherapy - you can use an under-wig curler to limit irritation as much as possible. The softest, coolest and lightest ones are woven from bamboo fibre, and cost only a few euros: CALOTTINA.
It is also possible to use wigs made entirely by hand and intended for sensitive scalps, which we discuss in another section of the site.
To limit the skin stress possibly linked to the intensive use of a wig, it may be useful to alternate it with the use of a cap or bandana, for both home and social use. CAPS AND BANDANAS
The awareness of losing one's hair for a longer or shorter period can provoke strong feelings, emotions, and situations of stress, anger, depression in every woman. Your inner strength, as well as the solidarity of your family environment, colleagues, friends, can be crucial to regain your serenity as soon as possible.
Which wigs should be chosen to best cope with the chemotherapy period?
The best chemotherapy wigs: it is clear that the higher the quality of construction (on our site exemplified by the use of stars, from one to six), the better the end result will be. But beware: it is not true that only models of the finest construction are suitable for women undergoing chemotherapy. Even models with a rather simple construction, those with one, two or three stars on our website, can be perfectly fine: we send tens of thousands of them a year to chemotherapy women all over Europe, with excellent results.
What really counts is that the model used has the CE mark, which identifies it as a Medical Device. That is, it has passed a series of stringent tests that have 'passed' it and deemed it suitable to be worn by a patient undergoing treatment.
All the models in our collections (except for the Economy models, which are purely for aesthetic purposes) bear the CE mark. They are therefore sanitary safe and can be safely worn by a cancer patient. The rest is simply a matter of taste.