Let’s Talk Trichotillomania and Cold Caps

Morgan’s Hair, Beauty and Wig Specialists in Denbighshire is the place to go for all things concerning hair loss and treatment. With years of knowledge under her belt, Rebecca Morgan’s reputation for helping those in need is testament to the skill and care she brings to each client.

In this latest blog, Rebecca talks about two topics that have recently cropped up in-salon – Cold Caps and Trichotillomania…

Recently we had a consultation with a lovely lady who has had breast cancer surgery and is waiting to start treatment. Just like lots of our clients at Morgan’s who are beginning a treatment journey, this lady’s biggest fear is hair loss. Understandably, she became rather emotional when we talked about what might happen with her hair.

In our discussion with this lady, we talked about trying the cold cap. The client’s response was slightly alarming to us, as she explained that her oncologist had previously told her not to bother trying the cold cap, as it doesn’t work. This bothers me as we have seen in the salon that the cold cap really does work. Granted, it doesn’t work for everyone and not everyone can tolerate it, but we believe it should be an option for those who would like to try it. There are lots of people just like this lady who have beautiful hair and take a lot of pride in the way they look.

This client wasn’t vain in any way shape or form, but she certainly took pride in her appearance and it’s natural to feel scared at the prospect of losing your hair. What we always say to clients is that it’s not whilst you’re going through your treatment that you benefit most from the cold cap, it’s afterwards. A lot of women we have seen in our salon have kept up to 70% of their hair as a result of cold cap treatment, which is a massive amount. At Morgan’s we are honest with our clients about the fact that there may be patches without hair, but our role is to support you and work with what we have. It can take a good 18 months for your hair to grow back into some form of a style after treatment. However, it has been proven that if you persevere with the cold cap, your hair will grow back quicker.

We also had a recent client who had a different type of hair loss cause – stress! For some people, stress can manifest in a condition called Trichotillomania, where people pull their hair out – sometimes without even realising. A little while ago we met a young lady who started pulling her hair out when she began university. Big life changes like starting a new course can have a big impact on anyone. Having dealt with lots of stressful things, including losing a loved one, this client started hair pulling a few years earlier.

As this client often reverts to hair pulling in her free time, we talked through some distraction techniques which might help. One option might be that when she thinks of pulling her hair out, she will write down the reasons why it makes her so unhappy, and try to focus and work through those feelings instead. To help this lady gain more confidence and give her a new lease on feeling good, we gave her a makeover at Morgan’s, in which she said,

I’ve not had my hair cut in over five years, so this was a massive step for me. I can’t thank Rebecca and Grace enough, you’ve done more than give me a haircut; you’ve given me my confidence back. They worked their magic on my hair and I couldn’t be happier.

Another highlight for this client was that she donated an amazing seven inches to the Little Princess Trust, which means that she is able to give back and help others who are suffering with hair loss.

At Morgan’s, we understand that hair loss, chemotherapy and alopecia can be emotive and sensitive topics, so why not let our empathetic and trained team support you every step of the way? Contact us today on 01745 798747 or drop by for a consultation.

Above image: Hair Integration System available at Morgan’s