How do I approach clients with hair loss?

Ask the Experts: How to Approach Clients With Hair Loss?
Jeffrey Paul says dealing with hair loss calls for new skills.

Jeffrey Paul, co-owner with his wife Zina of Jeffrey Paul Restoring Beautiful Hair Center in Rocky River, Ohio, founder of Wigs for Kids and author of The Solutions to Women's Hair Thinning and Loss, says, "The key to serving a woman with hair loss is to offer solutions that allow her to look like herself and live her life."

Paul says stylists need to be trained and certified in offering a menu of solutions specifically tailored to the needs of women. The good news is, you can truly help this client.

"The first step is to evaluate the woman's scalp to determine the rate of thinning and the miniaturization (density reduction) she's experiencing," he explains. "Examine the nape, which is the last area to be impacted by hair loss. Compare the hair's density in that region with the front hairline and determine the pattern of the loss."

If minimal thinning has taken place, Paul recommends combining styling products with cutting, coloring and styling techniques specifically for maximizing thinning hair. Coloring with the right products will also help the hair look fuller, he notes.

"For moderate thinning, hair integration will drive your solution," he says. "Integration involves building a hairpiece with hair attached that allows you to integrate the woman's own hair into the style."

Hair extensions offer another solution to moderate loss, he says. "However, you need to choose extensions that are designed to work with thinning hair and do not cause additional hair loss, which many fashion extensions can do."

For women experiencing complete hair loss from chemotherapy or alopecia, full cranial hairpieces are the best solutions, Paul says. "They allow them to look like themselves and live their lives until their own hair returns."

Paul believes there's a place for nutritional supplements. "Two I recommend to all of my clients are Phytologie Phytophanere for hair and nails and Hair Support by International Hairgoods.

"New on the scene is laser light therapy that has been FDA-approved. These have been used in Europe for years, not only for treating hair loss but for maximizing the hair's condition and color
as well."

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