Advice: a very unusual situation

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Trashqueen

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Hi everyone. I'm aware that this post will probably horrify a few people or have you doing this o_O. I was too. It's a bit of a read, but I want to give as much context as I can, as I want to do what I can to help this client.

On Friday I am providing a consultation to a teenage girl (16-18ish) to see if there is anything I can do for her with the state of her hair. I won't be doing anything on the day, but providing we can see a way forward, I will be performing a service for her in the coming weeks. It is worth noting that she is in social care, lives alone and has had a lot happen to her and everything needs to be treaded carefully.

She suffers with trichotillomania and in attempt to cover missing patches of hair, she has been supergluing hair wefts to what is left of her hair. Yes, superglue, as in the kind you use for household repairs. My first question is, would anyone have any idea on how to remove this without cutting? Is it possible? She currently colours her hair weekly according to her social worker and it is black. However, she has used bleach in the past so some is likely to be remaining in the hair.

As far as I am aware, her aim is to get the glue out and regrow her hair. SS believe the hair pulling is getting under control. My second question would be, if I have to resort to cutting her hair off, does anyone have any wig recommendations? I know her SW has a budget for one if she want it, but I doubt it would be too high.

Obviously, I will know more once I see her properly, but I want to go into the consultation fully equipped, so to speak and keep the client from being more upset with her situation already. Finally, if anyone has any other tips or advice, I'd love to hear it. This is my first time dealing with a client with such needs, or with superglue :\

TLDR? Client supergluing hair wefts to her hair due to trichotillomania. Need tips on removing. Failing that, wig recommendations.


Thanks guys.
 
Hi Trashqueen!

I can't advise on the glue and colour but.. There are some great synthetic half wigs out there, Hair Rehab London and Beauty Works do half wigs which depending on how much hair she has could work.. Balmain also do a piece that sits 1cm either side of your parting just under your roots if there is thinning hair in top so that could be workable as well? I am going to combine the two on my head [emoji87]!

Sleek Hair I believe do full lace wigs, lace wigs are more natural in my opinion , they do lace front & parting ones as well I think too which are a great option.

I know the NHS also have funding for some wigs too so her SW should be able to find contacts to go down that route!

Where are you based? I know if a couple of places in the Hertfordshire / Essex / London area for full wigs!

Hope this helps a little [emoji4] xxx
 
I would assume acetone might help a little?
But not masses...

I imagine a wig would be the best bet. And surely for a mental health issue like this, the NHS should supply one?
 
Can't comment on the NHS/mental health situation, I don't know enough to speculate. There are funds through social services for haircare, that's all I know so far. There are image concerns for her (more so than the average teen, so I believe) so having a good wig would be essential.

Acetone was actually my first thought, wasn't sure how it react to the bleach underneath the blonde. Although, maybe when I do the consultation, I might find the blonde is far enough down from the weft that it might not touch a bleached area.

Thanks for the wig recs Loula, I like the hair rehab half wigs, and I think if she has enough in the front, it might be a nice easy to use solution. I think at this rate, she might be better off going for a good chop and when her hair is long and strong enough, switch to hair extensions.
 
So, young girl on question didn't show last week, although her case worker did. So we had the consultation today! There was no superglue! She said she'd used a special shampoo but there was zero residue and no sign of anything strong used to lift it so I don't know if there was any superglue to begin with.

She was quite impatient (as most young girls are!) and I explained I don't do micro rings as of yet which is what she was gunning for. But it was way, way too short for micro rings. A few patches were 1-1.5 inches. Some parts were as short as a grade 4! Her neckline and top section were longer but I think her only option is a full wig.

Given her worker the contact details of the nearest micro ring hairdresser just because she is a determined kid, but I think she will be ordering a wig through me!
 

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