Girl with hair loss condition puts unique twist on 'Crazy Hair Day'

A 7-year-old girl who lost her hair from Alopecia celebrated "Crazy Hair Day" at school-- with bling. In January, Gianessa Wride of Salem, Utah, began to lose her long brown locks. Her mother, Danielle Wride, first noticed a bald spot on the right side of her head.

Extremely concerned, she scheduled an appointment with dermatologists. But before they could see a doctor, almost all of Gianessa's hair had fallen out. Danielle ended up cutting off the remaining bits. So when Crazy Hair Day-- now called Crazy Head Day-- came around at school, Gianessa's mom came up with a creative way to help her daughter celebrate. Gianessa doesn't wear wigs because they make her head itch. She usually rocks beanies, hats, and scarves. But for the spirit day, her mom had something better in mind.

Danielle got fancy with jewel stickers and decorated her head with pretty floral and owl designs. The bling bling was a major hit with her classmates. Danielle tells FOX 5 DC Gianessa even won the award for best look in her class-- which we think was well deserved. Gianessa suffers from an autoimmune disease called Alopecia areata. The disorder causes the immune system to attack hair follicles, which results in hair loss. Danielle told FOX 5 they stopped seeing the dermatologist, mainly because there are not many treatment options and the side effects aren’t something they want to subject their 7-year-old to. "When she gets older, she's welcome to go down that road, and we will support her just like we are now," her mom said. When Gianessa was first diagnosed, she didn't fully understand that all her hair would fall out, but her supportive parents helped her see that she is just like any other kid. "Some people have blonde hair or black hair, some have curly hair, straight hair, short hair, long hair. She just doesn't have any hair. And she is still fabulous!" her mom said.

Bald is beautiful! We admire Gianessa for rocking her confidence so beautifully. For other parents or anyone going through a situation that makes you feel like you're less of yourself, Danielle says to keep going. "You are still amazing. Whatever you want to do put all of your effort into it, have a positive attitude, and you can obtain whatever goal you wish. Don't let it hold you back. Just put your best self forward and everything else will fall into place."

Girl with hair loss condition puts unique twist on 'Crazy Hair Day'

A 7-year-old girl who lost her hair from Alopecia celebrated "Crazy Hair Day" at school-- with bling. In January, Gianessa Wride of Salem, Utah, began to lose her long brown locks. Her mother, Danielle Wride, first noticed a bald spot on the right side of her head. Extremely concerned, she scheduled an appointment with dermatologists. But before they could see a doctor, almost all of Gianessa's hair had fallen out. Danielle ended up cutting off the remaining bits.

So when Crazy Hair Day-- now called Crazy Head Day-- came around at school, Gianessa's mom came up with a creative way to help her daughter celebrate. Gianessa doesn't wear wigs because they make her head itch. She usually rocks beanies, hats, and scarves. But for the spirit day, her mom had something better in mind. Danielle got fancy with jewel stickers and decorated her head with pretty floral and owl designs.

The bling bling was a major hit with her classmates. Danielle tells FOX 5 DC Gianessa even won the award for best look in her class-- which we think was well deserved. Gianessa suffers from an autoimmune disease called Alopecia areata. The disorder causes the immune system to attack hair follicles, which results in hair loss. Danielle told FOX 5 they stopped seeing the dermatologist, mainly because there are not many treatment options and the side effects aren’t something they want to subject their 7-year-old to. "When she gets older, she's welcome to go down that road, and we will support her just like we are now," her mom said.

When Gianessa was first diagnosed, she didn't fully understand that all her hair would fall out, but her supportive parents helped her see that she is just like any other kid. "Some people have blonde hair or black hair, some have curly hair, straight hair, short hair, long hair. She just doesn't have any hair. And she is still fabulous!" her mom said. Bald is beautiful! We admire Gianessa for rocking her confidence so beautifully. For other parents or anyone going through a situation that makes you feel like you're less of yourself, Danielle says to keep going. "You are still amazing. Whatever you want to do put all of your effort into it, have a positive attitude, and you can obtain whatever goal you wish. Don't let it hold you back. Just put your best self forward and everything else will fall into place."

Mom Helps Kids Embrace Being Different With Dolls You Won't Find In A Store

Taylor Pittman

A mom in Australia is trying to help kids embrace their differences, one doll at a time.

Maria Kentley from Melbourne started Hope Toys as an "awareness mission" to help kids learn about the differences of others through dolls she creates that have various disabilities, disorders, illnesses and chronic conditions. Kentley’s two youngest sons, 3 1/2-year-old Christian and 22-month-old Ethan, were recently diagnosed with autism and have played a huge role in her project.

"To me, the meaning of 'real life' and 'normal' is everyday people," Kentley told The Huffington Post in an email. "I don't like the idea of my children growing up with the idea that they are never going to be good enough in this world because they are different."

Kentley decided to redesign a Bratz Boyz doll to look like a teenage version of her son and made a black hoodie for the doll with the message "I’m Autistic & Awesome." She said she wanted to make a doll that was just as unique and special as Christian.

"I want him and Ethan to grow up loving themselves for who they are and learn to embrace their differences, and know that they are beautifully and wonderfully created, no matter what," she told HuffPost.

Kentley has continued to buy secondhand dolls and recreate them for children who may not have a doll in stores to represent them. She has plans for the Hope Toys family to grow with dolls with alopecia, dwarfism, diabetes and other conditions, illnesses and disabilities.

She also gifts dolls to children whose diagnoses may be terminal. Kentley posts images of the dolls along with their stories and information about the children who receive them on the Hope Toys Facebook page. She includes links to any Facebook support pages and GoFundMe sites set up to provide families help with financial support. Kentley told HuffPost that meeting these families is what makes her work so rewarding.

"It may seem like an expensive and time-consuming job, but it has definitely been worth it for me," she said.

Through Hope Toys, Kentley hopes to make toy manufacturers aware of different options they could be creating for kids and wants all kids to feel included as they play. Most importantly, Kentley wants her dolls to help kids embrace their differences.

"It's OK to be different, even if society doesn't always see it that way."

https://www.facebook.com/HopeToysAustralia/timeline

Top Causes of Hair Loss

1. Heredity
2. Hormones
3. Stress
4. Poor diet/missing nutrients
5. Chemical hair styling services
6. Certain medications
7. Surgery or high temperature

If you are experiencing sudden hair loss, your first step is to visit your physician for a complete work up. Once you've identified the reason for your hair loss, you will be able to put together a plan to renew your hair either with medical treatments or alternative methods such as non surgical hair replacement. We offer free initial consultations and would love to help you develop a plan to get you looking fabulous again!

Spotlight on Trichotillomania

October 1-7 is National Trichotillomania Awareness Week

Did you know that over 100 million women worldwide feel the urge to pull their hair out?

Here is a wonderful testimonial about the work that we do for our clients who are affected by trich:

"Ricky is an absolute godsend! Words cannot express the gratitude I have for what he did for my daughter and how he has given her back her confidence to attend her high school graduation with a beautiful head of hair. Ricky Knowles Hair and Wellness has an incredible team that works miracles." - Kathy Simons

Mattel to make chemotherapy Barbie dolls for patients

(CNN) - Special chemotherapy Barbie dolls are helping to give young cancer patients an emotional lift.

One girl in California loved hers so much, her mom started a campaign to put them in the hands of other girls with cancer.

It wasn't love at first sight for Grace Bumstead, 4, and Ella, a chemotherapy Barbie who's bald and wears wigs.

"When they first met, she's like, 'OK, I get what's going on.' But it gave us the chance to say, 'Here's a beautiful, smiling doll. It doesn't have hair,'" said Melissa Bumstead, Grace's mother.

Grace has a rare form of leukemia. The rate among children is roughly 1 in a million.

She will endure high doses of chemotherapy over the next year and a half.

"She's been amazingly brave. And we're very, very proud of her. It's not where we expected to be in life right now," Melissa Bumstead said.

And one of the hardest adjustments has been losing Grace's blonde curls, but that's where Ella came in.

"We bring her along everywhere to say, this is what's happening. This is what's happened to Ella. This is what's going to happen to you. It brought it to her level," Melissa Bumstead said.

Now Ella is part of what the family calls Grace's "inner circle of Barbies," alongside Ariel and Rapunzel.

But sadly not every cancer patient is able to adopt an Ella doll.

When Children's Hospital Los Angeles told Grace's mom they only had six dolls to hand out, she created a petition to ask Mattel to make more.

In just three months, that petition had more than 100,000 supporters.

"Every 10 minutes, we got 1,000 signatures," Melissa Bumstead said.

Mattel took notice, contacting Grace's mom and agreeing to make more Ella dolls and to distribute to Children's Hospitals throughout the country.

"If the pain that we're going through right now can help someone else, it makes it feel like it's worth it," Melissa Bumstead said.

Grace's oncologist said she has a 75 percent chance of being cured.

"But the big issue is psychosocial. How will she view herself? How will she view the world when she grows up? Will she be afraid of the whole world because she thinks that leukemia will come back at any minute and end her life?" Dr. Paul Gaynon said.

Grace's family believes Ella will help remind the young girl of the struggle she overcame and hopefully will never revisit.

"We really believe that God is going to use this to do good things in her life and to make her the kind of person that she's going to fight for good things all of her life," Melissa Bumstead said.

Mattel told the Bumstead family that they plan to distribute the Ella dolls in August.

Their goal is to make new ones every year.

KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

Ricky Knowles Hair Loss Specialist

Our very own Ricky Knowles is in Dubai, showcasing his talents at the Beautyworld Middle East Trade Fair, The Largest International trade fair for hair and beauty products in the Middle East. He was selected to attend the trade fair in Dubai on behalf of New Image University/New Image Labs Corp., the world's hair replacement products leader. Ricky is demonstrating his amazing hair duplication techniques as well as exhibiting new products that he has helped develop with New Image for hair care and hair loss. We're so proud of him!

How to Get the 7 Essential Anti-Balding Vitamins and Nutrients

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The foods to eat: Flaxseeds, walnuts, salmon, tuna, kale, Brussels sprouts, rapeseed oil.

Zinc
The foods to eat: Chickpeas, wheat germ, oysters, beef, veal liver, roast beef.

Protein
The foods to eat: Greek yogurt, eggs yolks, kale, peanuts, beans, peas, lentils, tofu, chicken, turkey.

Iron
The foods to eat: Dark leafy greens, whole grains, beans, red meat, turkey, egg yolks, clams, mussels, oysters.

Vitamins A and C
The foods to eat: Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pumpkin.

Magnesium
The foods to eat: Almonds, spinach, cashews, lentils, brown rice, halibut.

Selenium
The foods to eat: Brazil nuts, tuna, halibut, shrimp sardines, ham.

Are you ready to explore your options to combat hair loss?  Call our world-renowned hair duplication specialist Ricky Knowles at 713-623-4247 to schedule a free hair loss consultation!

New Hair And Wellness Website!

We just launched out new website today! We're so proud of how it turned out and hope that you will find it full of good information about post-mastectomy products and services, hair loss and lymphedema solutions. The photos are of our real clients! We're so blessed that they agreed to pose as our models!
www.hairandwellness.com

Steps to Prevent Stress-Related Hair Loss

The holiday season is known to put extra stress on both men and women.  Worrying about trying to stretch your monthly budget to pay for extra presents for the kids and family, trying to put together a holiday feast like a professional chef and even working your way through that string of lights to figure out which one is broken, are all events that we've experienced.

We've put together a few easy tips to help you avoid hair loss during the hectic holiday season:

1.  Consult your doctor to find the cause of your hair loss.  There are many medical conditions that can contribute to your hair loss including: Iron or zinc deficiency, an excess of vitamin A, a thyroid imbalance and even prescription medications.

2.  Reduce stress in your mind.  Get a massage, start an exercise routine, or even avoid stressful situations are all good ways to reduce your stress load.

3.  Find "me" time.  Set aside 30 minutes a day to write in a journal, listen to your favorite music, or drink a cup of hot tea.  All of these things will help you relax and even increase endorphins.

If you are experiencing stress-related hair loss and need help with hair replacement techniques, please call our Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness team at 713-623-4247 and set up a free consultation appointment.  We specialize in the hair duplication business and provide our clients with a supportive and discreet environment.

I have Alopecia and am constantly running from place to place with my busy schedule. Do you have an hair loss solution for me?

Alopecia Areata (AA) is a condition affecting humans, in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body, usually from the scalp. Because it causes bald spots on the scalp, especially in the first stages, it is sometimes called "spot baldness." In 1%–5% of cases, the condition can spread to the entire scalp (Alopecia Totalis) or to the entire body (Alopecia Universalis). The different types of Alopecia do not discriminate and affect men, women, and children all over the world.

Unfortunately there is no cure for Alopecia but there are treatments that work on a temporary basis. The most popular treatment method requires painful injections into the bald areas. Although this may help the injected area, hair loss may occur in other untreated areas. For many suffering with Alopecia treatments like injections can become too painful and expensive to continue treatment.

Ricky Knowles Hair and Wellness offers several cover up options including wigs, hair pieces and other products. There is no need to worry about damaging the hair or slowing the re-growth by using our products.

We use specially designed hair replacements proven to cover or camouflage the bald areas without causing excess damage or future problems for your scalp. Our staff has years of experience working with women, men, and children that have been diagnosed with Alopecia. We have taken that experience and combined it with the most advanced technology in hair replacement. This means we can offer the most comfortable and realistic hair loss solutions available.

Watch our client Judy talk about the hair loss solution that our RNHW team customized for her busy schedule.

Contact us at 713-623-4247 to see what our skilled and compassionate staff can do to help restore hair and your confidence.

Cooling Cap Shows Promise to Prevent Hair Loss During Chemo

- as published in The National Hair & Skin Journal

A new scalp-cooling system called DigniCap has just been FDA cleared for final clinical trials and may soon become available in the U.S. to help prevent Chemo related hair loss.

Clinical trials done in Europe and Asia show that eight out of ten women who used the DigniCap System during chemotherapy retained their hair. Cooling the scalp during chemo sessions can narrow blood vessels around hair follicles and slow the uptake of the poison in the area.

With DigniCap, patients wear a special cap that fits snuggly on the head and contains sensors and channels through which a cooling fluid is pumped. The system continuously keeps a check on the temperature to ensure consistent application of the cooling treatment. DigniCap is made by Swedish company Dignitana.

A recent story about DigniCap was published by the Associated Press in the United States about the product and its results. You can read the story here.

Although DigniCap is not currently available for U.S. cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment, our team here at Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness will assist you or a loved one during chemotherapy hair loss and create a personalized hair loss solution to help you feel confident during your treatment. For more information about how we can help, call us at 713-623-4247.

I suffer from Trichotillomania, or Trich. My hair pulling has caused bald patches on my head. Is there some sort of hair loss solution that you can recommend for my condition?

Trichotillomania is a disorder where there is an irresistible desire to pull out one’s hair. At Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness, we get calls every week from a person who has trich. 

Our team has created a safe and private environment for our clients.  We strive to be a part of your recovery, working in tandem with you to boost your confidence and help you reach your goal to stop hair pulling.

As problem-solvers, we use a specialized medical adhesive to bond hair to the head to cover bald spots.  By using this unique bond, the new hair stays on for a full month, ensuring that you can return to a normal lifestyle and enjoy various activities such as swimming without the worry of the new hair detaching.  

Clients can wash their new hair, blow it dry, and even use a curling or flat iron.  By covering the “hot spots” with hair that looks and feels natural, it helps our clients feel as if the new hair is a part of them, and gives them time to gain the confidence and strength to face their triggers.

Our trich hair replacement process allows our clients to take the steps necessary to return to a normal life.  We are so proud of our Trich clients.  They are smart, successful, beautiful and strong! 

Contact us at 713-623-4247 to find out how we can help you or a loved one find a solution to stop hair pulling.

Summer Wig and Hairpiece Tips - Look Haute, Stay Cool!

Whether you’ve lost your hair from chemotherapy treatment or from a medical condition, at Ricky Knowles Hair & Wellness, located in Houston, Texas, we know the importance of protecting the skin on your head while keeping you comfortable during the summer.

Stay Hydrated
The most important thing to remember is to keep hydrated. Wigs and hair pieces are not air conditioned so the long hot summer days can make even the most comfortable wigs and pieces miserable and hot.

With that in mind, you will definitely sweat more as the mercury rises, so drinking plenty of water will keep you from dehydrating.

Protect Your Wig/Hairpiece

With the sun hot and bright, it is essential to keep your hair hydrated.  By using moisturizing shampoos and conditioners to clean and condition your hair you will protect it from the sun and prevent the fibers from drying out.

I recommend Biomega Moisture Shampoo, Moisture Conditioner and Moisture Mist Leave-in Conditioner.  The Biomega hair care line is the first system designed to replenish and replicate hair’s natural oils with lightweight Omega-rich oils and nourishing plant extracts, delivering the perfect protection for your hair and scalp.

When at the pool or beach this summer there are 2 must haves in your beach bag:  1) a leave-in spray conditioner and 2) a brush.  Using a leave-in conditioner spray will help condition the scalp and hair, while preventing tangling.

The best thing you can do for your hair after swimming in salt or chlorinated water is to rinse well with fresh water, then saturate your hair with a leave in conditioner.

Don’t Forget Your Scalp!
If you are undergoing chemotherapy and have lost your hair, it is a must to use sunblock on any skin exposed to the sun. It is not recommended to go outdoors without covering your head. Sun exposure and certain drugs used during chemotherapy can cause hyper pigmentation, so be sure when you are not wearing your wig, to protect your scalp with a large brimmed hat, or a scarf.

Accessorize
If you're in a wig that is removable make sure to keep a light weight head covering with you in your purse or in your car.  Scarves, turbans and hats provide nice protection from the sun and can be a trendy alternative to wearing your wig outdoors or even as an accessory to your wig.  If you have a long-haired wig, remember to pull it into a pony tail or braid so that your neck can catch a cool breeze!

For more tips, or to get more information on our line of wig care products and accessories, contact our world-renowned wig specialist Ricky Knowles, at ricky@hairandwellness.com