Wigs / natural hair growth

[Raven1981]

Hello All:

 

So I am just curious is too much wearing a wig will prevent your natural hair from growing?  I was reading that I guess your hair needs to breath and so when wearing a wig and due to the tightness it prevents the hair from growing or really slows it down and it damages the hair.  Then I read that when wearing a wig you want to use a net cap and also make sure the wig has a net at least so it can breath.  Saw that when taking off the wig, it was saying you should massage your scalp to get the blood flowing back to your head for growth.

 

Just wondering if any of this is actually true?  I have noticed that when I do take off my wig that my natural hair is all matted down and does not look right and looks like it got damaged.

 

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed that as well

 

Lots of Love

 

Amy

[Charlize]

I still have to shave my head even though i wear a wig through the waking hours.  It certainly doesn't affect growth on a low level(unfortunately doesn't fix big bald spots either).   I could see how it might cause damage to longer hair and hopefully someone who experiences that will touch base.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Kirsten]

When I went to see the hair doctor, hair guru Doc Leonard told me that anything you do to your hair from wearing anything tight to blow drying, straightening, coloring, to having it in a pony tail has a negative effect on growth. He told me to do no more than wearing a loose fitting cap when necessary. But I am not a good listener. Lol. I keep my hair in a ponytail now every day. And prior to that it was an elastic hair band. But I can say that the hair towards the back of my head that hasn’t been matted down or pulled on seems much thicker. So I am sure they know what they’re talking about. Just have to walk that line between fashion and dysphoria I guess. 

[VickySGV]

When I had my hair color appointment last Thursday, my colorist / stylist (who has an AMAB Transgender sister as well) and I were talking about wearing wigs and hair pieces with my hair.  Since I have been on E,  my hair shaft thickness did decrease and it is now very fine and regrettably, it is straight, no matter what we do.  Sandy agrees with my earlier days (pre-E) wig experts that as long as I take care of both the wigs and my own hair, which does become dry without some care (which gets done every 5 weeks for me) that wearing wigs will not really affect my hair otherwise.  Get a hair stylist to advise you on what to do for your specific hair.  One who is trained by a particular hair care line helps greatly on that.  Paul Mitchell and Redken are the best brands for me to use it seems.

 

The wigs, especially their wefting netting do pick up excess oil from our hair which traps in dirt that can affect the wig's elastic and the wefting.  The cure is to wash the wigs in a general purpose shampoo as regularly as you wash your own hair based on the hours you wear it.  Remembering that you wear your own hair 24/7 and the wig maybe 6 hours in a week.  The purpose of a wig cap in this is that it is a barrier to your hair oils and keeps the wig cleaner longer.  The wig cap will do nothing for either your hair or wig in a dust storm though.  If the cap is too tight, don't wear it longer than absolutely necessary which I found out was almost never unless the wig was too different a color than my own hair.   

 

When you get ready to put the wig on, gently pile your own hair on the TOP of your head and using bobby pins or even little spring clips make a loose curl around the top of your head.  If you feel any pulling on small hairs, loosen the area until you feel no pulling.  At that point, put on a wig cap if you are going to.  Pulling it from back to front to center your hair on your head, if it is too tight get it off.  You can put a few hair pins through the cap to secure it in your hair.  (Note- in my own wigs I do not wear a cap in hot weather at all).  Put the wig on from back to front, with its sizing tabs ONLY tight enough to sit smoothly on your skin without creasing it.  If it is pushing into your skin and causing a dent, take it off and loosen it. Then put in hair pins into your own hair through the wefting at about 6 to 8 points  

When you take the wig off, take the pins out completely before taking it off your head.  That should not have to be said, but this is a public forum.  Unpin your own hair, and If you have been sweating under the wig,  take a shower and rinse your hair with a little bit of conditioner, or rinse it and put in a leave in conditioner which works best for me.  If the wefting of the wig is wet, hang the wig on a plastic coat hanger pushed through wefting to let it dry on your shower curtain rod. 

The "Breathing" thing is a story that goes around, and is correct to a very small degree, but hey, life itself is hand on the whole body!!