Overview of Lace Wigs

In our earlier article on Hair Weaving Techniques, we had looked at one of the oldest methods of weaving hair, namely the cornrow technique. In this article, we take a look at one of the most sophisticated hair weaving practices. Namely Lace Wigs.

Construction of lace wigs

All hair needs a base on which to anchor to. As we saw earlier, with the cornrow technique this base is provided by natural hair which has been braided into cornrows. However, with the lace wig methodology, the base is a fine mesh of nylon.

The mesh is extremely tightly woven and hair is placed individually inside the meshes in such close proximity so as to mimic natural hair. There are many types of hair that are used for lace wigs, but naturally, the best is Remy Hair that is unprocessed.

Appearance of a Lace Wig

The color of the nylon closely matches that of human skin and when the wig is finally placed onto the head, it's practically impossible to see it. The hair that is placed into the mesh looks exactly as if it is emerging directly from the scalp.

When performed by an experienced person, it's startling to see how completely natural it looks against the forehead.

Adhesive Material

The Lace wig is held in place by a special adhesive material that ensures it stays in place. There are other techniques such as placing double sided tape and then removing it for the glue to stick onto the head, but it is cumbersome. Proper glue makes attachment easy and will last for a long time.

Care of Lace Wigs

Lace wigs are sturdy. You can perform all activities that you would normally perform. They can last for a very long time - even upto a year.

A lace wig for Chemotherapy patients

Lace wigs are ideal for Chemotherapy patients who have lost all or some of their hair. Due to the manner in which the wig is fitted, lace wigs can be used on anyone and while undergoing chemotherapy, they provide a perfect replacement for lost hair.

They are easy to remove when necessary and front lace wigs (those that have lace only in front) can even expand to accommodate growing hair. So you can keep your wig for as long as you want and you need not buy new ones.

Summary

Lace wigs are the best type of wig. Of course, they are somewhat expensive - especially the ones that have excellent hair, but it can be a worthwhile investement during a difficult period.

Overview of Hair Weaving Techniques

This article discusses what hair weaving is all about and how it is performed using various hair weaving techniques focusing on the cornrow technique.

What is Hair Weaving?

Hair weaving is the procedure used for attaching hair onto your existing hair on your scalp. Since the foreign hair mingles closely with the hair you already have, it gets the name "weaving."

Hair weaving can be performed using 100% human hair. As we saw earlier in our article on Remy Hair, human hair can be of several different types including Indian, European and Brazilian hair.

Hair weaving is very useful for those undergoing baldness due to it's natural look. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have used it with success in various situations. Of course, it can only work properly if chemotherapy does not cause total baldness since we need some of the original hair to remain.

Hair Weaving Techniques

Cornrow Weaving

This is a technique of weaving that requires the hair to be first arranged into a cornrow style. This is a style where hair is braided very close to the root in rows. Here is what it looks like:

Image Credit: HalfCrazyGirl

Once this is done, the artificial hair is then attached to the rows that hang down and look completely natural. For the purposes of hair weaving, the cornrows are woven horizontally instead of vertically so that the attached hair can be more easily sown or glued on.

The color of the thread used to sew on hair is chosen based on the color of the artificial hair so that it properly blends in.

The new hair can be a different color and of any texture. This is the oldest technique of hair weaving.

Caring for Cornrow woven hair

It's important to remember that the cornrows must never be too tightly woven as this can lead to traction alopecia which will exacerbate the hair loss already experienced by chemo patients.

Cornrow woven hair needs to be washed and cared for along with your natural hair. You must wash and shampoo as usual at least once a week. It lasts for about 2 months depending on how the artificial hair is attached. Glued hair lasts for a shorter time before it starts to come off.

Removal of artificial hair needs to be done carefully taking care to only cut the threads that bind the hair to the cornrows. For glued on hair, a remover will loosen the latex bonds causing the glue to weaken.

Summary

Hair weaving is a good options for chemotherapy patients who do not experience total balding. It can be more natural than a wig and easier to care for as well.

Human Hair in Wigs

The most expensive wigs are those that are made up of human hair. Frequently, human hair is mixed with other hair in order to lower the price, particularly in hair extensions.

However, even within human hair, there are many grades. A great deal of the variation of the value in human hair is caused due to the way it is collected and arranged. Remy hair is the most expensive and valuable type of hair.

Remy Hair Characteristics

The primary characteristic of Remy hair, is the fact that it is unidirectional. A single strand of hair cannot be called Remy hair. Only a bunch of hairs can be called Remy hair. The cuticles, which are the outermost layer of hair, must be in the same direction. The cuticles not only prevent damage to the hair, they also keep it from tangling when all are in the same direction.

The opposite of Remy hair is hair that is all mixed up, for example when it is "dropped" on the ground, say by a barber. In this case, the hair will fall in many directions and it is not possible to align them individually.

The hair follicle can't be used to determine direction since human hair on the head is removed leaving the follicle in the scalp.

Single and double drawn hair

Single drawn Remy hair is when the hair is collected all at once (say by shaving) from the scalp, resulting in both long and short hairs in the bunch. Double drawn hair is where the short strands are removed and only the long ones remain in the set.

Virgin and Non virgin Remy hair

There is some confusion of terminology as to the meaning of virgin hair, with some holding that it refers to an intact cuticle, while others claim that it means that the hair has not been processed. This leads to a diversion of opinion when it comes to colored hair which can still have it's cuticle undamaged.

In a pure sense however, virgin hair will be taken to mean "unprocessed" - meaning that colored hair is no longer virgin.

Best Remy Hair

The best remy hair is Indian hair due to it's strength and thinness. European hair as well as Brazilian hair are also in demand for various reasons including their ability to be used for many different types of "looks".

Summary

For a proper understanding a wigs, an understanding of the nature of hair must be obtained first. Next week, we'll look at hair weaving and lace hair as part of this series on wigs.

Lung Cancer Stages

This article takes a look at the various lung cancer stages and the signs and symptoms of each. Depending on the stage, the treatment is determined with varying side effects including hair loss.

Lung Cancer classification

There are two types of lung cancer. Small cell lung carcinoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma. The former can be effectively treated with chemotherapy, while the latter responds  well to surgery.

Non Small Cell carcinoma staging

This is the more common form of lung cancer. There are many ways in which one can classify a cancer progression, and non small cell carcinoma is classified using a system called TNM staging. This measures three factors of the tumor to determine it's severity and the type of treatment.

"T" refers to the size of the tumor. The lowest value is TisN0M0 which is a very early form and is actually called pre-cancer. The "T" variable can hit an upper limit of 4

"N" refers to the degree of whether or not the tumor cell have affected the lymph nodes. The value ranges from 0 to 3. 3 means that the tumor has spread to the lymph nodes that are furthest away from the site of the tumor, with 0 meaning that it hasn't affected any nodes at all.

"M" quantifies whether or not the tumor has spread to organs beyond the regional lymph nodes. "0" means that it hasn't while "1" means that it has.

Small Cell Carcinoma staging

Small cell carcinoma is more prevalent among smokers and is much more likely to spread to other organs. That is, it is more metastatic. The system of classification is limited to two stages - limited and extensive, depending on whether or not the cells have spread beyond a specific stage known as the  ipsilateral hemithorax.

Lung Cancer Stages - Treatment

Though there are only three types of treatment, namely surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, there are a vast number of combinations of treatments that make it highly complex. Small cell carcinoma is treated with chemo and radiation, whereas non small cell is treated with surgery. However, depending on several other factors, there will be many options in between.

Chemotherapy and hair loss

Chemotherapy undertaken for the treatment of lung cancer frequently leads to hair loss and so the patient must be prepared for that. There are several ways to deal with this stage, and this site is dedicated to helping people do just that. Look around in our article section for helpful information and visit our store for items that suit you.

The Cancer Volunteer - Why the world needs more

There are several organizations that aim to help those with cancer in one way or another. Just about every one of them is a non profit organization. While this doesn't mean that they're unprofessional - far from it - it does mean that they rely solely on the goodwill and help that people give them, apart from whatever government grants they can garner.

Being a cancer volunteer helps not only those who directly benefit from the help, but also those who take the time out to help others. Research has conclusively shown that there are several health benefits - both physical as well as psychological - to selflessly helping others on a regular basis.

Image Credit:  bebe beaux

By volunteering to help those in need, you are contributing significantly to those who need help and will reap the benefits.

Ways and means to contribute

There are many different ways you can help cancer patients. The exact means will depend on what sort of programs the organization or society has. In an informal group, there are many different ways this can happen.

To give you an example of the innovative ways in which people help cancer patients, five prison inmates in  The Maryland Division of Correction recently sowed 400 bright pillowcases for children in the cancer divisions of hospitals.

In one of our earlier articles, we demonstrated how people can donate hair to cancer patients in order to make beautiful wigs for them. Other cancer societies have instituted programs that allow you to drive cancer patients to and fro from their homes to the hospitals for regular treatment - something that can be very difficult unaided.

Another indirect means by which you can help out, is by signing up for Cancer Prevention Studies (CPS). These involve allowing yourself to be used as a test subject to probe your habits and lifestyles in order to more accurately identify the hidden causes of cancer after gleaning data from a large number of people.

For example, the CPS program helped establish the link between cancer and smoking in the 1960s which has been responsible for a great deal of public awareness about the issue.

Organizations you can sign up with as a cancer volunteer

There are numerous organizations that help with cancer and accept volunteers. A quick search of Google will help you identify some that are in your area. Well known societies are the American Cancer Society (ACS) as well as the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Visit their websites and sign up as a member to experience the joy of giving. You won't regret it.

Hair Transplant Recovery - An overview

Hair transplantation is a surgical procedure which uses hair follicles from other parts of the body. Due to the invasive nature of this technique, proper hair transplant recovery is very important. Without proper care, the newly transplanted follicles can fall out. In this article, we look at the best ways to take care of yourself after a transplant operation.

To understand this, we need to get an overview of the procedure itself. Here it is:

Hair Transplantation

Body hair is much more resistant to balding than scalp hair. Doctors take advantage of this fact and replace hair follicles on the scalp with the ones from the rest of the body. The technique is to take the dermis, and the epidermis surrounding the hair follicle and transplant it onto the scalp.

Observations have shown that hair grows in clumps of 4 to 5 follicles. In order to mimic the natural growth of hair, a special branch of hair transplantation known as follicular unit transplantation is used to replicate as precisely as possible, this  type of pattern. The benefit is that it looks much better than a regular transplant and is completely indistinguishable from natural hair. In addition, patients recover much faster than normal due to various factors.

Hair Transplant recovery

It usually takes quite a while to actually get to the surgical room as the waiting period for hair transplantation is typically quite long. Therefore, one appreciates the importance of post operative care in this regard.

It is important to understand that it takes some time before hair starts to grow on the newly transplanted follicles. This is because due to the trauma, the hair that has just been put on the scalp will fall out and will take some time before it starts growing again. In fact, it can be a few months before this starts to happen.

In the meantime, you can wear a wig or a cap to cover up the lack of hair. It's advised that patients wait for at least 10 day so after the surgery before you wear such items.

Shampooing the hair is an important part of hair transplant recovery. This is because scabs form around the hair shafts, which can cause the new follicles to be lost. Depending on the particulars of your treatment, you may need to start shampooing as soon as the day after your surgery. Your doctor will give you exact instructions.

When you new hair starts to grow, enjoy the feeling of elation!

Vitamins for Hair loss - Nutrition Basics

Where there are many reasons for female hair loss - some of them beyond your control - there are certain basics that must be adhered to in order to allow the body to grow hair to it's maximum potential. The old adage "You are what you eat" - holds true in the case of your hair. Vitamins for hair loss are one of the ways by which you can help yourself.

Image Credit:  _boris

Hair after all, like any other part of your body needs resources to grow. These resources must be available in the body, otherwise it will not grow to it's full ability and quality. You've often heard that you need a balanced diet to help hair grow. In this article, we take a look at how exactly that comes about.

Hair loss and food intake

It is a known fact that certain nutrients are necessary to ensure that hair stays healthy. Conversely, unless these nutrients are readily available in the body, the opposite can happen. Hair loss can occur when the body doesn't have enough of what it needs to grow hair.

As with all things, these are needed in moderation. All of the following nutrients are necessary to the body, but are poisonous in large quantities. Taking excessive vitamin supplements can severely degrade your health and caution is advised, especially with vitamins like A, D, E, and K which are fat soluble.

Minerals and Vitamins for Hair loss

Iron

Iron as a mineral is a double edged sword. Most women lose iron heavily due to their monthly cycle and are therefore at particular risk of being deficient in this important mineral which is critical for proper hair growth. However, the amount of iron necessary for the body is very low.

Since iron takes a very long time to be expelled from the body, it's particularly dangerous to take excessive quantities. But for women, eating foods rich in iron such as meat, fish and lentils can be beneficial.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron more efficiently. Once more, take this advice with extreme caution. Iron poisoning can result if too much iron is taken. But in cases where you know you are deficient in Iron, Vitamin C can increase the efficacy of your iron supplements.

Zinc

Zinc is another mineral that is vital for healthy hair. If you're suffering from thinning hair, poor quality hair, or hair loss, check for the presence of zinc in your diet. A warning here as with all else - in excess, zinc can increase hair loss due to its being conducive to the production of testosterone.

Summary

If you could learn one lesson from this article, it would be to take all things in moderation. You have seen how dangerous anything can be in excess - even if those minerals and vitamins for hair loss are vital. Make a balanced diet a priority and you will be able to give your body a healthy crop of hair!

Hats for Bald people - the pain of baldness

Losing one's hair is a terrifying experience. You always hear of it, and most people think that they will be able to deal with it. However, nothing really prepares you for the distress associated with seeing your hair fall out daily.  Hats for bald people can help to cope with the loss. The process can be slow, and take place over a period of years, or it can be sudden - like if you suffer from a disease or are going through chemotherapy.

Either way, along with hair loss, comes a loss of identity and the knowledge that you will never be the same - you suddenly realize what an important part of you has been lost.

Hats for bald and semi-bald people

Not everyone loses all their hair. Both men and women suffer from partial hair loss. There can be a variety of causes, both benign and malignant and can vary in severity. However, women feel the loss more keenly than men, and understandably so.

Semi-baldness is a condition that occurs with everyone and there is not much that can be done about it. It's a well known fact that as you age, your hair becomes increasingly sparse.

If you find your hairline receding and your hair falling out, you might want to cover up your head to minimize the exposure. Especially if the problem is severe. But hats for bald people are different from regular hats and have special features that help hide the loss of hair. Let us look at some of these features.

Features of Hats for Bald people

The most directly important consideration when selecting a hat for baldness, is whether or not it covers the entire scalp. Most hats do not. There are some however, that are built especially for this purpose.They cover the entire scalp, ensuring that baldness is hidden. There are hats that come with hair  built in as well so that there is more flexibility with the style.

However, this might not be so important if you are only partially bald. In which case the most important feature then becomes comfort.

A great deal of the comfort factor depends on whether or not the hat allows your scalp to breathe, allowing the sweat to evaporate. Otherwise, it quickly becomes too hot to wear.

Special caps meant for long term wear also have an extra layer of material underneath in order to prevent the rough cap material from being in contact with the skin. These can be worn for long periods of time without discomfort.

Alternatives to hats

You might find that hats are not your style. In which case, there are many other headgear styles you can choose from. These include wigs, scarves and turbans. All of them come in a wide variety of styles that you can choose from to suit your taste!

Wigs Information - A primer

One can wear a wig for many purposes - either to cover up partial or total hair loss, or to project a different appearance for any reason including modeling. Those who are required to wear a wig for the first time are often bewildered by the different types of wigs as well as how to choose which size fits them. This article aims to help such beginners choose their first wig confidently.

Wigs - Information on size

The first step to choosing your wig is to get your size. Since each wig will come in many different colors and types that is best left for later evaluation. The size of your head is measured in a horizontal manner - meaning that you need to measure your head as if you were wearing a tiara or a crown.

The tape should start in the middle of the forehead and proceed behind the ears all the way to the front again. Due to the special nature in which circumferences work, the entire range of wigs usually comes within 20 to 25 inches at the most, with wigs meant for children hovering around the 20s range.

Once you find the size of your ideal wig, it's time to try and find out what style you want.

Wig Styles

Styles can be classified in many ways - based on the cut, or the type of hair. We look at the classification based on the type of hair.

Real hair

The most expensive type of wigs, these are made out of genuine human hair. It's easy to see why they are expensive, as the hair has been donated by real people who have sold it either for charity or for money.

There are people who donate hair to cancer patients and the hair usually goes to children suffering from this disease.

Synthetic hair

Synthetic hair comes in two types - regular and mono filament. In regular synthetic hair, the synthetic hair strands are arranged in rows. Though this looks quite real, the distribution is unlike that of real hair and therefore doesn't give the look and feel of true hair, though it comes very close.

Monofilament wigs

Monofilament wigs are special in that the hair distribution closely mimics that of real hair, making them almost indistinguishable from the real thing. Understandably, they are more expensive. But most people who wear them feel that they're well worth it.

Choosing a Color

It's important to ensure that a wig color is chosen by not looking at it on a computer monitor as the color schemes of different screens cannot guarantee an accurate representation. If you're ordering your wig online, it's a good idea to mail them a small sample of your hair so that they can perform an accurate color match.

Caring for your wig

Wig caring is a very broad subject and will be covered in subsequent articles. They will include washing, cutting and styling as well as possible recoloring. We hope you enjoyed this article on wigs information. Stay tuned for future info on wig caring and styling!

Need for thinning hair treatment

Hair loss and associated problems are a significant problem facing people in the United States. Statistics suggest that as many as 60 million men and women are plagued by it causing much emotional distress.  There are several causes for hair loss and not all of them can be treated effectively. Genetic problems in particular are difficult to obviate.

However, certain thinning hair treatments can have a beneficial effect on hair loss and provide sufferers some relief. In this article, we take a look at the various options available to people and provide an overview of alternative solutions as well.

Treatments for hair loss and thinning

A Diagnosis

An accurate diagnosis is the very first step necessary for a proper treatment of thinning hair. It is possible that hair loss is only one aspect of an overall bodily problem, such as a vitamin deficiency. Doctors advise such people to improve the quality of their food intake and might put them on supplements.

Other problems can include the side effects of drugs or other treatment. If you are undergoing a radiology treatment like chemotherapy, hair loss is to be expected. Other problems can come to light as well such as extreme stress on the hair as well as harsh shampoos and other chemicals.

Thinning hair treatment medication

The Food and Drug administration has approved several drugs that aid in the recovery of hair. These drugs were mostly used for other treatments initially and have now been approved for this purpose as well. Chemicals include dutsteride, minoxidil (2%) as well as finasteride.

Herbal and alternative treatments

Those who are wary of the effects of chemicals on their body will be happy to know that several people have reported increased hair growth when undergoing treatments like acupuncture and aromatherapy. However, none of these have been clinically tested. It is possible however, that the accompanying comfort and general improvement in the overall quality of life leads to the regeneration of hair.

Surgical alternatives

Hair transplantation which consists of moving hair follicle groups from other parts of the body and grafting them onto the scalp are quite effective in reversing the appearance of hair loss. Even techniques like scalp reduction (removing part of the scalp and stretching the existing skin) have proved an effective surgical means to restore thinning hair.

All the above options are viable options for thinning hair treatment.

Alternatives to treatment

In case you wish to avoid treatment, or even wait while a thinning hair treatment is taking effect, there are several ways by which you can conceal thinning hair such as wigs, scarves, turbans and caps. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit the taste of each an every person. Explore our store to choose one that suits you.