Our guidance has been especially created to provide ideas and inspiration of how you might choose to manage cancer treatment related hair loss within the workplace.
Everyone’s hair style is unique to them. Equally when hair loss occurs as a side effect to cancer treatments, each individual responds differently. Some people decide to try scalp cooling (if having chemotherapy treatment) and so might retain some of their hair and not feel the need to have to explain to colleagues about hair loss. But, for many people, they will experience a transition from their everyday hair style to a new look at work.
Within the workplace, you may feel that hair loss is a clear visible sign of having cancer treatment. For some people who are content with sharing their cancer diagnosis, this may not be an issue. For many people, they feel that they want to retain their privacy but the hair loss forces them to feel obliged to reveal information about their cancer treatment. Our Workplace guide is all about presenting to you some ideas and options that may help you to feel more confident with who, when and how you choose to talk about your change in hair style, new look or hair free scalp.
We hope that this guide will support and empower you. The Cancer Hair Care team is here to provide ideas and support. A chat over the phone or an email is always available.
5 top tips for confidence within the workplace
The script – Quite often people tell us that they hadn’t thought about how they may respond to questions about their change in hair style or new choice of headwear. This then resulted in them revealing too much information. For example, in response to a colleague’s comment about a nice new short hair cut, the individual had said “It’s not a new cut, it’s a wig. I’m losing my hair and on chemo”. There is nothing wrong with sharing your circumstances if you choose to but for people who want to keep their hair loss and treatment private, here are some ideas that we, at Cancer Hair Care, call ‘The Script’.
-
The Script
Think in advance how you might respond to comments about your ‘new hair style’. For example, if you are wearing a wig that is shorter than your usual style you may choose to say something like “I fancied a change” or “it’s nice having a shorter style, less styling time in the morning”.
-
Wearing a wig
You may like to practise wearing your wig at home for an entire day before embarking on wearing your wig at work. You can then be assured that your wig is comfortable to wear all day long. You may like to consider if your workplace environment is different from home. For example, if there is air conditioning or heating and how this may affect how hot or cold you feel whilst wearing a wig. It’s also a good idea to have an alternative item of headwear in your bag in case it’s needed.
-
Uniforms and dress codes
You may have a dress code or uniform at work. It can be a good idea to see if there is any guidance about wearing headwear. For example, you may need to consider headwear that is in appropriate uniform colours. Your employer or HR department should be open to discussing, in confidence, suitable alternatives for you that are inline with your uniform or dress code and meet your wellbeing needs. If you are scalp cooling (wearing a cold cap) you might find it helpful to start wearing wide headbands or scarves partially over some of your hair. We suggest this because it can help to introduce this change in your look in advance. If and when you may need to cover up hair thinning, your colleagues will have got used to your change in look.
-
Fringe benefit
If you find a wig too uncomfortable but headwear too revealing, you may like to try a velcro or stick in fringe. This creates the illusion of your own hair being underneath your chosen headwear. Many women said this was a really good option and gave them confidence.
-
Transitioning from a wig to short hair
Many people say that they kept their cancer treatment private at work by wearing a wig or headwear and it wasn’t until they decided to wear their own short new hair growth, that colleagues started to notice and ask questions. Think about point 1 (above) where you have some ‘script’, something planned in advance to say about your new short hair. This will then give you the confidence to choose who to tell and not tell about why your hair is so short. There are lots of myths around what you can and can’t do with new short hair. Such as when to colour and cut. Take a look at our New Hair Growth section for lots of tips.
For Workplace inspiration, images and tips take a look at Christie’s bald and bold approach, Julie’s Cold Cap experience and Lucy’s fake fringe options on our dedicated section: Workplace Inspiration & Images
More helpful information:
Workplace Inspiration & Images
Content created: 27.02.24 next planned review in 2025