Ladies, I'm after your advice. I'm due to start chemo next week so am in the process of getting everything organised for this bloody hair loss! I've done lots of research on web sites in relation to scarves and wigs - but there are just so many choose from! Firstly with scarves, what sort of fabric is best (thinking we're coming into summer so cooler will be better), what sort of style, what size, plain colours or prints - there are so many options! Will I need a 'sleep' cap or something similar? In regards to wigs, I was thinking of getting two - a synthetic one to wear to work (that I can just pop on of a morning!) and a human hair one that I can style for special occassions. I was just wondering what others had done and how they had found it? Any advise would be most appreciated. :)

Hi Annie13 - I started chemo in February 2012, believe it or not but I was more stressed about losing my hair than I was about losing my breasts! - further down the track I now realise that your hair is the most manageable part of chemo! If youre in Melbourne there is a terrific place called Head Compliments in Ringwood, I went to see them a couple of weeks before chemo was to begin - my original plan was to just buy a wig online - I'm glad I didn't because what I had in mind and seen on the internet looked like a wig - I ended up with a short one as they tended to look less "fake". It was synthetic but cost $400, I decided that this was OK as I would save that with colour and cuts for the next 12 months! Head Compliements would not sell me the wig until my hair had gone as it's hard to get a great fit with too much hair - on the way back from my first treatment I got my head shaved to no. 4 (less itch) then picked up the wig - a pretty traumatic day all round. I also picked up a sleep cap for $6 which was a really good investment as my head got really cold at night - I also picked up a couple of scarves and bandanas... I didn't bother with the scarves but got a lot of use out of these fantastic bandanas that had elastic at the back. 2 weeks after the first treatment I could pull out small clumps of my no. 4 spikes then on the morning of the second treamtnet 3 weeks later the lot came out in the shower - awful when it happened but glad it was no. 4 spikes and not the long blonde locks I previously had. I've found its a lot easier with just having to pop a wig or bandana on and save a lot of time in the morning ! - Now 4 months after my last treatment I have hair again! Very short but I'm hoping that by Christmas I had get something styled and lose the head gear completely. Hope this helps - All the best with your treatment. sandra xx

I'm with Sandra,I found it harder to lose my hair than my breast. I got my hair cut short before chemo so as not to be so traumatic when it fell out. I bought alot of my head gear from a USA site called - www.headcovers.org they were cheap and good and delivered to your door. I got fitted for a wig rather than buying over the net.It was a human hair one and cost about $450.Now herein lies the problem - you have to wash it and restyle it unlike synthetic ones.I felt fake in it and imagined people thought that too.Also it was so darn hot and itchy that I could only wear it for a few hours before I wanted to rip it off. I rarely wore it apart from special occasions- I couldn't wear it for 8hrs at work. I mostly wore soft cotton bandanas,caps/hats,and cotton beanies(from Myers)which I wrapped scarves around in interesting ways(this was too hot for summer though).Your best bet is cotton cos anything else tends to make your scalp sweat and itch.I developed a terrible scalp rash at first -took awhile to go too. When my hair grew to buzz cut stage(3mths post chemo) I folded my bandanas into headbands,tied at the back and much cooler for summer.I had LOTS of head stuff cos you need to dress from the head down,so easy to end up looking like a gypsy or a pirate! My favourite was my black cap from headcovers- didn't feel like a cancer patient in that. If you can sew then you can make alot of cotton bandanas/scarves which is what I did as well. Some women embrace the bald look but I hated it and felt I'd lost my identity at one stage so you are not alone if you are worried about it. Hope this has helped and good luck with the preparations. Tonya xx

Hi Annie, I'm in your boat at the same time, I start my 6 cycle chemo on monday 19th september and I've had my hair cut short, previously long and very thick! Just terrified about losing my hair, I'm a hairdresser! not cool!!!! Anyway I started looking into wings and scarfs, I'm not feeling keen on a wig at the moment althought that might change once the hair is all gone. Theres so much to learn, I didnt know about the sleeping thing but did find out about a sort of head sock that you can wear under your scarf to stop it from slipping off. Alot of the scarfs on the internet seem very large that the model showing them has lots of materia gathered around her shoulders, this seems too much for me, especially going into summer. I was keen to hear about bandanas with an elastic back, that might be good? I'm booked in for the Look Good Feel Better workshop in October but by the sounds of it I wont have any hair by then so will have to sort something out before then I just have no idea what I'm gonna look like with no hair, I was even born with a full head of black hair haha! so this'll be a first for me...... Keep me posted :-)

Scarves & wigs??? | BCNA Online Network

14 Replies

SandraS
Member
13 years ago
Hi Annie13 - I started chemo in February 2012, believe it or not but I was more stressed about losing my hair than I was about losing my breasts! - further down the track I now realise that your hair is the most manageable part of chemo!

If youre in Melbourne there is a terrific place called Head Compliments in Ringwood, I went to see them a couple of weeks before chemo was to begin - my original plan was to just buy a wig online - I'm glad I didn't because what I had in mind and seen on the internet looked like a wig - I ended up with a short one as they tended to look less "fake". It was synthetic but cost $400, I decided that this was OK as I would save that with colour and cuts for the next 12 months!

Head Compliements would not sell me the wig until my hair had gone as it's hard to get a great fit with too much hair - on the way back from my first treatment I got my head shaved to no. 4 (less itch) then picked up the wig - a pretty traumatic day all round. I also picked up a sleep cap for $6 which was a really good investment as my head got really cold at night - I also picked up a couple of scarves and bandanas... I didn't bother with the scarves but got a lot of use out of these fantastic bandanas that had elastic at the back.

2 weeks after the first treatment I could pull out small clumps of my no. 4 spikes then on the morning of the second treamtnet 3 weeks later the lot came out in the shower - awful when it happened but glad it was no. 4 spikes and not the long blonde locks I previously had.

I've found its a lot easier with just having to pop a wig or bandana on and save a lot of time in the morning ! - Now 4 months after my last treatment I have hair again! Very short but I'm hoping that by Christmas I had get something styled and lose the head gear completely.

Hope this helps - All the best with your treatment. sandra xx
SandraS
Member
13 years ago
Hi Annie13 - I started chemo in February 2012, believe it or not but I was more stressed about losing my hair than I was about losing my breasts! - further down the track I now realise that your hair is the most manageable part of chemo!

If youre in Melbourne there is a terrific place called Head Compliments in Ringwood, I went to see them a couple of weeks before chemo was to begin - my original plan was to just buy a wig online - I'm glad I didn't because what I had in mind and seen on the internet looked like a wig - I ended up with a short one as they tended to look less "fake". It was synthetic but cost $400, I decided that this was OK as I would save that with colour and cuts for the next 12 months!

Head Compliements would not sell me the wig until my hair had gone as it's hard to get a great fit with too much hair - on the way back from my first treatment I got my head shaved to no. 4 (less itch) then picked up the wig - a pretty traumatic day all round. I also picked up a sleep cap for $6 which was a really good investment as my head got really cold at night - I also picked up a couple of scarves and bandanas... I didn't bother with the scarves but got a lot of use out of these fantastic bandanas that had elastic at the back.

2 weeks after the first treatment I could pull out small clumps of my no. 4 spikes then on the morning of the second treamtnet 3 weeks later the lot came out in the shower - awful when it happened but glad it was no. 4 spikes and not the long blonde locks I previously had.

I've found its a lot easier with just having to pop a wig or bandana on and save a lot of time in the morning ! - Now 4 months after my last treatment I have hair again! Very short but I'm hoping that by Christmas I had get something styled and lose the head gear completely.

Hope this helps - All the best with your treatment. sandra xx

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