Anyone lose so much hair they needed a wig

I was at a family function this weekend and I hadnt' seem any of my family since the fall when I had 4 surgeries for complication which many of you have read about before, so I don't want to bore you with all the details again.    Well, due to the stress of all that I went through and I am sure some of the protein loss didnt' help I lost a great majority of my hair.  I now look like  a cancer patient.  Granted I have had terribly thin hair for the past 25 years (I am almost 49) but it was never this bad.  The main problem area that I had was my scalp - you could see it on the top and I could no longer wear bangs for the past 5 - 7 years, there just was no hair there anymore.  Well, since the surgeries  the top is almost non-existant and the back and sides are totally flyaway and frizzy = any about 1/4 of the amount of hair.  In April I went to a Passover Seder and there was a young girl (23) sitting opposite me and she kept offering to pour soda for me and then when it was time to go up to the buffet to get our soup and food, she kept offering to go get my food for me.  At first I couldn't figure out why she kept offering to get my food for me and then it hit me, she thought I was sick.  Besides my hair being so bad, I lost an extra 45 pounds making me 20 pounds underweight and from being in bed for so long, I am hunched over and cant stand up straight.  I have to weight until Sept until my insurance will pay for a DEXA Scan.

Sorry to get so off the point, while at this family function I had several family members ask me if I had ever thought of getting a wig.  I had vaguely thought about if but really couldn't comprehended the idea but had several others ask me about prior to that.  So, we talk a little bit about and my sister in law offered to take a day off from work to go shopping with me and even offered to buy it for me.  I went to my nieces high school graduation this past weekend and I was mortified when I saw the pictures of myself with the 2 girls.  Now in about 3 weeks, I have a cousins bar mitzvah and I am dreading it.  So, I am really thinking about it.   I looked for some local places but didn't find too many.  Lots are just names and addresses but I want a website so I can check there stuff out.  Just curious if anyone out there knows anything about it.

I had to buy my Mom a wig cause she has thyroid problems. Our local Merle Norman shop has some really natural looking wigs and then we went to a hair stylist with wig experience who trimmed and styled it on my Mom.

A woman who used to post on the DS board gave me some tips which I can't remember but if you can avoid buying online you should. It really helps to try the wig on and have it styled.

In Minnesota you cannot return a wig. My Mom's looks really natural and she loves it. Try calling some hair stylists and see if there is someone in the area, getting it trimmed and styled was key. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I wouldn't buy online since I couldn't try it on to see how it looks on.  Here in NJ - not far from where I live, they have wig shops where you can go and try them on and then they actually cut and style them while you have them on.  They actually have licensed wig stylists, they are skilled at measuring you properly and knowing what looks good based on the shaped of your face and your coloring.  They have private fitting rooms and you make appointments to be seen.  I hope it goes well. they are very expensive.

I wonder if you could go to the expensive place to try on wigs and find out your size, etc., then find a cheaper place to actually purchase?  A good wig will last you forever though. Let us know how it goes. I bet you will feel so much better with the wig

Thin hair runs in my family, watching my Mom get her wig styled seemed like a peek into the future for me

Thin hair runs in family also, my mom, aunt and grandmother all had really thin hair but not until they were probably around my current age - close to 50.  I started in my 20's.  I went to a million dermatologists, had a hair biopsy, tons of blood tests and I was told it was a combination of heriditary and hormones.  I was borderline hypothyroid from the time I was in my teens but I wasn't actually treated until I started my current Endocrinologist in 2001.  Back in my teens and 20's there was no such thing as TSH so it was harder to get diagnosed with hypothyroid.  As the years went on, my hair just kept getting thinner and thinner.  Everytime I saw a new doctor, they kept doing blood tests and they kept telling me the same things.  Thankfully when I had my gastric bypass, I was so digilant with my vitamins and getting in my protein that I didn't lose anymore hair - I thought there was nothing left to lose - I was so wrong.  But then this fall and winter when I went through 4 major surgeries due to severe complications, it was just too  much on my system and most of my hair went.  My surgeon says it may grow back in time but I dont have that much time to wait and see.

Your hair looks great - I do hope you don't get your mothers hair.

Expensive, but it will be worth the costs. You don't want to buy a wig and have someone inexperienced hacking away at it. This hair obviously doesn't grow back. So you need someone who is focused on the hair cut, not jabbering away about who got the boot on American Idol the night before.

Wigs do not have cowlicks and thinning spots like real hair does, and believe it or not these things do not always make getting a hair cut a negative experience. Cowlicks can actually give body if they are in the right place and cut to the right length. Thinning hair can be a positive if you are thinning in just the right places.

My cowlicks work for me as does my thinning hair.

who has been a cosmetologist since 1993.

I wish I had enough hair to have a cowlick.  On top, you can see right through to my scalp.  I can't go outside in the warm weather without a hat or I get a major sunburn and it hurts really bad since you can't put sunscreen on your head without it getting really gross.  Once you get a burn, it them peels which looks like big white chunks in your head, also not fun.  On the sides, there is so little hair, that it is just thin and flyaway - I can't even comb it down - it just goes in all directions.  Not pretty.  I washed it yestarday and couldn't blow dry it because by time I walked from the kitchen sink to the bathroom which is about 15 feet, it was dry and to try to curl it, forget about it.

You poor soul.  My heart goes out to you for all the health problems that you've had to endure.  As far as the hair problem is concerned,  I have a suggestion that may seem a little strange and please, please don't get upset with what I suggest.  When people undergo chemo therapy for cancer, one of the side effects is hair loss.  You might want to call the cancer support groups to find out where women with hair loss go to for their wigs and hair stylized.  Good luck.

I did.  I didn't buy expensive wigs though. 

I went to the beauty supply store and tried on a bunch of different styles until I found something I liked.  Didn't have to have it cut or altered at all. 

I stll have some of them and will wear one out occasionally when I want to have a different look.

 Thats  a good idea !    even just 4 fun  :)