New Life Hair – Spring ’07 E-Newsletter

A warm welcome to the Freedom Wigs Dealers’ E-Newsletter!
As in the past, we hope to share our collective insights into living with alopecia areata and in particular, getting the most out of our vacuum wigs made by Freedom Wigs. We look forward to getting your feedback including areas of interest for future newsletters.

From Karen Peterik, owner of New Life Hair (www.newlifehair.com)

Are you anything like some of my clients: wondering how you would look in hair with a different curl pattern? I think it is only natural to let our creative “hair juices” flow from time to time and imagine ourselves in a new hairstyle. You may not want to change your color or even your length, but a curl pattern change is at the same time, not too obvious, yet different enough to give us a completely “new” feel. This is an easy way to add spring to your spring or even fall to your fall for that matter!

On my recent trip to visit the Freedom Hair facility in Dunedin, New Zealand, I spent a lot of time with the women who specialize in sorting and blending the virgin human hair that arrives in boxes of pony-tailed bundles. This hair coming from many different donors and will eventually have a “rebirth”, so to speak, in those of us with alopecia who are lucky enough to become the recipients of a custom-made vacuum wig. Since the hair arrives in many different lengths, colors, textures and curl patterns, it must be carefully sorted into various categories for pending orders. (See Rose Kozar’s contribution to this newsletter.) As I was observing this tedious process, I noticed a wonderful chart on the wall that offered a side-by-side comparison of the 5 different curl patterns available. I asked if I could have a similar one to help my clients understand the differences. This is just one more tool to assist clients in achieving their “dream hair”. But we must note that Freedom Wigs’ curl patterns are relative to and limited by the availability of the hair and the ease of implantation. An example of this is that very curly hair is impossible to implant into our caps.

Below, you will see a photograph of the curl pattern chart I received from Freedom Wigs. The sample hair shows the range from the straightest to the curliest hair. Keep in mind that not all of the colors are available in all of the curl patterns at a given length. It is almost impossible to find very long, blonde, curly hair, for example. You’ll have to ask your dealer to have Freedom Wigs check their stock in your desired combination and keep your fingers crossed!

This may also be a good time to mention hair texture. You must know of a friend who is always complaining about her curly hair being “uncontrollable” or always needing to “have it thinned out”. This is a natural quality of curly hair – a lot of volume will come with the curls, so just be aware of what you are asking for. Conversely, straight, fine hair will lie relatively flat for a simple classic style.

Freedom Wigs takes special care in matching the age of the donor hair to the age of its recipient. Children under the age of 10 will be given very young hair which tends to be quite fine, light and somewhat fly-away. This hair has the smallest shaft diameter. The rest of us will be wearing hair from an adult donor up to the age of 30. This hair will typically be heavier with a thicker shaft diameter. Another variable is hair color which will also affect the texture. I suppose the only way to know exactly what you will be getting is to have a hair sample sent of your desired choice and then make the best determination that you can. Unfortunately, this is not an exact science, but the end result will be beautiful nonetheless!

From Debbi Fuller of Fuller Hair (www.fuller-hair.com)

My topic has to do with premature hair breakage due to stress put on the hair. Following my article is a letter that the manufacturer will be enclosing with each repair that was determined to be caused by client mishandling.

Brushing Your Hair the “Right” Way

When your brush your hair (using your vent brush only), please be careful not to brush against the direction of hair implantation. The factory has noticed that in some cases, the hair loss that some people experience is not actually hair coming out of the cap, but hair breaking off at the “scalp”. This can be caused by many other things as well, for example, sleeping in your hairpiece. The repeated turning of your head back and forth on the pillow will cause the hair to break off at the “root”. If you must occasionally sleep in your prosthesis, use a satin pillow case. Also, the backrest of your favorite chair or your car can be the culprit. Brushing in the wrong direction in the hope that you can “train” your hair to go in a different direction than the one in which it was implanted will not work, and in the worst case scenario, the repeated forcing of the strand will cause it to break off. If you have noticed hair loss starting to increase after a few months, that is what you are seeing. It is almost like “metal fatigue:. The hair shaft has “fatigue” from being brushed the wrong way and it finally breaks. To alleviate or minimize this problem, try to use a product that will help your hair stay where you want it without the stress of repeated brushings.

Manufacturer’s Letter

“Dear Customer,

When examining your prosthesis before repair, we noticed the premature hair loss appears to be what we call 'mechanical breakage', consistent with frequent and repeated quick or heavy brushing or combing, rubbing against a seat headrest or a pillow, or perhaps even just running fingers through the hair repeatedly through the day. It wasn't the type of hair loss that results from adhesive breakdown, which would allow hairs to slip out.

Experience has shown that that handling the hair may be an unconscious habitual action, but the effect, like too much brushing, can be compared to bending a wire backwards and forwards, and like a piece of wire, hairs will in time break off from the cap. The hairs are not being continually renewed as growing hair would be, so excessive flexing at the point it emerges from the 'scalp' will cause breakage.

We've repaired this under warranty as a goodwill gesture, but please be aware that hair breakage is not a product defect and should similar hair loss occur in the same areas, this must be paid for by the customer. Please think about how you could be causing this to happen.
For some people it's becoming aware of a habit; for others it's the need to comb or brush less frequently or more gently.

Best regards,
Freedom Wigs Ltd”

Debbi and Don Fuller near Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire.