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	<title>Blogs - All About Hairloss &amp; Buying Wigs</title>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/hair-thinning_117s55</link>
<description><![CDATA[Most of the time, STRESS is responsible and the rest of the time, it&rsquo;s genetics.

Since Covid19 began, we have seen a significant increase in presentations of unexplained hairloss.

Actually the client thinks it&rsquo;s unexplained but after we finish our enquiries and analysis, the hairloss has often either started at the time of Covid or become exacerbated by it.&nbsp; The more significant the client&rsquo;s impact from Covid is, ie. Loss of income, home schooling children, domestic partner pressures &ndash; the more severe or rapid the hairloss.&nbsp; Contracting the virus itself can cause hairloss.

There is actually a specific type of hairloss that presents as a result of severe trauma &ndash; psychological or physical trauma called Telogen Effluviam.&nbsp; Clients often experience Telogen Effluviam after the death of a loved one, family violence, eating disorders etc.&nbsp; The hairloss can often occur three to six months or so after the traumatic experience so often the client doesn&rsquo;t relate the two.&nbsp; Telogen Effluviam most often results in slight to significant amount of hairloss however sometimes, in complete hairloss.&nbsp; A relief to those with the condition, is that in most instances the hair grows back, usually within a year.

Also a relief is the fact that we have several solutions available to our clients to get them through until their hair grows back.&nbsp; The most common are our Toppers.&nbsp; Our clip in toppers cover up patches of hairloss or thinning and also create more volume if thinning is all over the head.&nbsp; Toppers come in a large variety of styles, sizes, lengths, colours and density. They are available in synthetic or human hair fibre, are light weight and very easy to put on.&nbsp; The clip in method of application means that clients can wear them when they need or want &ndash; some women wear them just to go to work and take them off when they get home and some wear them just to go out.

If the hairloss is so significant that a Topper will not be sufficient, we supply the most realistic full system wigs available.&nbsp; I wear our SmartLace Human Hair Wigs full time for full baldness and most people don&rsquo;t people it when I tell them I wear wigs &ndash; for all levels of hairloss we have solutions for you.

Tammy x
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Hair Thinning]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/hair-thinning_117s55</guid>
<pubDate>21 Sep 2020 13:37:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/what-to-expect-from-tammy-lobato-wigs_117s35</link>
<description><![CDATA[I created Tammy Lobato Wigs to provide for a gap that existed in the alternative hair market. For more than 40 years I had been searching for realistic and high quality wigs. The constant search was futile but more importantly I couldn&#39;t find anyone selling the wigs to provide me with the level of service I wanted and needed. No-one provided the compassion and care I felt I needed, having the Auto-Immune diesease, Alopecia since I was 3, resulted in me having no hair for the next 40 plus years. I really felt that I deserved better than receiving my new fake looking, shiny wig shoved in a brown paper bag by a salesperson with no experience with hairloss. I often overheard conversations between those undertaking chemo and the salespeople and felt the emptiness that resulted from the client desperate for someone to empathise with their sudden and traumatic hairloss that would now define them as a cancer patient.&nbsp;

So I created the environment and experience I always wanted.

From my lifetime without hair, I provide the experience people without hair need - as do my staff who also have hairloss experience. We provide high quality, realistic wigs and toppers while providing care and compassion in a private boutique. Then we back it up with ongoing service, advice and maintenance service.
&nbsp;

Tammy x
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[What to expect from Tammy Lobato Wigs]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/what-to-expect-from-tammy-lobato-wigs_117s35</guid>
<pubDate>26 Jun 2019 14:35:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/what-causes-alopecia-by-tammy-lobato_117s36</link>
<description><![CDATA[Ever heard Autoimmune Diseases described as the result of our immune system attacking itself? The reality is that because our immune systems are so highly clever and complex they are actively fighting to protect us. There are a few schools of thought about what causes alopecia although stress is almost always a trigger, as is a compromised immune system. There are five key contributors to the creation of autoimmune diseases and in this blog I give you a brief insight into each.

STRESS

95% of our clients experience some kind of heightened stressful period or a traumatic event leading up to their unexpected hairloss.&nbsp;For example one of our clients as a four year old was riding her bike down a hill when the breaks failed and she fell off.&nbsp;From her usual state of increased anxiousness, Sally thought she was going to die. She had experienced heightened adrenaline to such an extent her hair started coming out in chunks within hours of the accident. The remainder fell out over the next week and never returned after 40 years.&nbsp;

I am sure something similar happened to me at age 3 when I developed Alopecia but cannot recall the reason for the extreme stress I must have experienced for my hair to fall out over several months and never return.

Many of our clients, like myself, have ongoing heightened adrenaline that is constantly present and exacerbated when experiencing a frightening occurrence or trauma.&nbsp;This constant adrenaline causes&nbsp;stress related illnesses (including autoimmune). Most other people do not have the constant adrenaline, only experiencing it from time to time and in that state it is a healthy hormone.

We have clients who have developed Alopecia as a result of being bullied, work pressures or from the loss of loved ones.&nbsp;Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in teenage girls presenting with Alopecia due to increased life pressures, environmental factors and toxins.

Many Dermatologists reject the involvement of stress in Alopecia.

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM &amp; THE GUT

Conventional medicine classifies Alopecia as an autoimmune disease.&nbsp;Often diseases that are classified as autoimmune are those not comprehensively understood by medical practitioners.&nbsp;Conventional medicine describes Alopecia as a form of hair loss produced by the autoimmune destruction of hair follicles in localised areas of skin.

Conventional medicine then refers people with Alopecia to dermatologists who treat the condition as a skin disease by treating with chemicals that are said to promote hair growth.

Functional/Natural health practitioners believe Alopecia is caused by a weakened immune system and work on strengthening/healing the immune system.

Recent research proves a theory around &lsquo;Leaky Gut&rsquo; and it&rsquo;s trigger of autoimmune diseases. Leaky Gut occurs when the walls of your intestines become loose and allow undigested food particles, microbes, and toxins to escape your gut and enter your bloodstream.&nbsp;Leaky Gut can be caused by food sensitivities, parasites, stress etc. Once the toxins enter your bloodstream, your immune system tags them as invaders and attacks them, causing a huge rise in inflammation.&nbsp;Extreme inflammation is what triggers and worsens autoimmune symptoms.

VIRUSES/INFECTIONS

There is increasing evidence that the common viruses and/or bacteria that often live dormant in our systems &ndash; our livers, kidneys or guts may at some point be overloaded by toxins and become unable to continue fighting the viruses or bacteria; the viruses or bacteria then make themselves active creating other symptoms and potentially other autoimmune diseases. (Do you know you are three times more likely to develop more autoimmune diseases once you have one?)

Such viruses could include Epstein Barr Virus and bacteria such as Streptococcus.

DIET/TOXINS

There is overwhelming evidence that gluten contributes to Leaky Gut in certain people and that Leaky Gut causes autoimmune diseases. Medical doctor and gastroenterologist, Dr. Alessio Fasano&rsquo;s research&nbsp;recently concluded that gluten triggers the release of Zonulin. Zonulin is a chemical that signals the tight junctions of your intestinal wall to open up, creating intestinal permeability, also known as&nbsp;leaky gut.&nbsp;Gluten also causes inflammation which triggers and exacerbates autoimmune symptoms.

Changes to Gluten and how they affect us

1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gluten is in so much of today&rsquo;s diet &ndash; breads, cereals, biscuits, sauces etc.&nbsp;It has also become highly modified from the gluten of 50 years ago providing for the creation of higher yields.&nbsp;It is also found in so many more products such as medication fillers and manufactured meats.

2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The predominant chemical in the weed killer Round Up is Glyphosate &ndash; the increased use of this chemical in wheat crops (Glyphosate has been found to contribute to the development of some cancers) &ndash; is thought to also contribute to the harm being experienced from gluten.

3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This reason is highly technical and scientific - it is called Molecular Mimicry and it is scary.&nbsp;Gluten is a large protein that has a molecular structure that looks like our thyroid.&nbsp;In people with autoimmune thyroid disease, the immune system seeks to destroy the gluten but can end up attacking the thyroid by mistake.

DIET/INFLAMMATION

Diet plays such a large role in increasing or decreasing the symptoms of autoimmune disease and in the ability or not, of reversing the symptoms and the disease itself.

In sensitive systems such as ours, inflammation occurs and is worsened by what we eat - we will often react differently to that of our friends and family.

Experts have developed a dietary approach that informs us of all of the inflammatory foods we should avoid in order to heal our leaky guts and reverse the symptoms of autoimmune diseases.


All information provided by Tammy is researched from a variety of medical experts in autoimmune disease.&nbsp;Sources of that information together with a variety of additional services and assistance to advance the knowledge and healing of her clients are available from the Alopecia Resource Centre.&nbsp;To book a consultation please go to alopeciaresourcecentre.com.au or phone 03 9796 2730
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[What Causes Alopecia? by Tammy Lobato]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/what-causes-alopecia-by-tammy-lobato_117s36</guid>
<pubDate>26 Mar 2019 14:36:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/alopecia-the-importance-of-connection_117s40</link>
<description><![CDATA[We have just finished our first Alopecia Friendship Group get together and I feel somewhat elated.

Since creating Tammy Lobato Wigs four years ago, I have heard my Alopecia clients tell me over and over how isolating having Alopecia is &ndash; that they don&rsquo;t know anyone else with Alopecia &ndash; that they are sick of being told by &nbsp;well-meaning family and friends that &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just hair&rdquo;.

To be truly understood, people with Alopecia need to engage with others with Alopecia to benefit from shared experiences and potential know how from others living with similar circumstances.

The existence of hair is pretty much like having a nose or having ears &ndash; the overwhelming majority of people are born with them.&nbsp; Our facial features along with our hair forms part of our identity.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s how we are often described by others &ndash; &lsquo;she has long black hair&rsquo;, or &lsquo;you know, that woman in the office with a blonde bob.&rsquo;

Alopecia can present itself by creating bald patches or complete baldness &ndash; rapidly or overtime.&nbsp; Either way we become consumed with paranoia about who can see what and what they think if they know about our hair loss.&nbsp; Not only are we worried about our hair loss and who is thinking what, we worry about the loss of eyelashes and eyebrows and whether we have drawn them on properly or are people looking at that as well.&nbsp; We are worried also that suddenly our femininity has been eroded through the loss of our hair.

Our friends and family try to understand our fears and concerns but only a fellow Alopecian can truly understand.&nbsp; We want the advice and guidance from others who know.

Most of my clients have never met anyone with Alopecia except for myself and most of the time they sound me out with questions about my eyebrows, eyelashes, what kind of make up I use, do I wear my wig to bed, wigs and dating! (Big question and often asked!)

Our first friendship group catch up &ndash; (next one November 17) &ndash; was fantastic &ndash; non stop conversation and actually all of us had difficulty winding up.

We started with introductions of course, that included information about our own Alopecia journey including how, when and how many treatments we had all tried.

Then we had a brainstorm session about the needs/gaps that existed for us with Alopecia.

Some identified were:


	Easily accessible funding assistance for wigs &ndash; through private &amp; public health
	Unfairness of GST on wigs
	Importance of make up
	Greater and specific knowledge of Alopecia by GPs and Psychologists
	Knowledge/information about Alopecia specific diet


In addition to meeting new friends, another highlight of the afternoon (no, it wasn&rsquo;t the homemade lemon slices made by Tammy McPhee) it was our skype session with Author Deeann Graham from the US to learn all about her journey with Alopecia and her motivation for writing Head-On - Stories of Alopecia.&nbsp; She also talked about her role now as a Life Coach for others with Alopecia - fascinating insight into how she is using her experience to help others.

Each month we&rsquo;ll focus on a particular topic &ndash; our next meeting on November 17 will focus on make up &ndash; specifically eyebrows and eyelashes &ndash; just as important as good quality realistic wigs!

In future catch ups we will hear from guest speakers about (among many other topics) the role of our gut in Alopecia and its role in our healing (maybe for that one we will substitute the lemon slice, sandwiches and dips for some fruit &amp; veg!)

Tammy x
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Alopecia &amp; The Importance Of Connection]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/alopecia-the-importance-of-connection_117s40</guid>
<pubDate>16 Oct 2018 14:43:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/hair-toppers-for-hair-thinning-life-changing_117s42</link>
<description><![CDATA[&lsquo;Karen&rsquo;, not her real name, has provided me with permission to tell her experience of hair thinning and requested anonymity.

Karen recently attended a consultation with me looking for solutions for her loss of hair.

Her decision to see me was not an easy one, contemplating the visit on and off for around six months.

Once a week or more when her self confidence reached its lowest, she searched the internet for answers. Karen found my website early on and from that discovered the concept of a topper that she then researched further.&nbsp;

Her hair had always been fairly thin but over the past year it had thinned to such an extent she had resigned from her job, no longer went out with her husband to his work events and no longer caught up with friends in public.

Karen had effectively removed herself from her life.

She so loved getting dressed up for special occasions, always having her hairdresser style her hair before an event, wearing flattering and feminine outfits. Despite her thin hair, courtesy of her mother and grandmother, she was always able to wear it well, attractively and with confidence.

Karen believes the rapid rate of hair thinning over the past year is not only due to genetics but also as a result of a new medication she had been prescribed.

Her hair had not only thinned but now doesn&rsquo;t even grow.

Her withdrawal from life as she knew it led to a lack of economic independence from ceasing to work that resulted in greater dependence on her husband &ndash; which she struggled with as she had always been independent. Karen also became socially isolated, no longer mixing with colleagues and rarely with friends which added to the depression she began experiencing.

Karen&rsquo;s husband &lsquo;Mark&rsquo; felt the &lsquo;loss&rsquo; of the Karen he had known and loved for 18 years. He missed spending fun times with her, he was missing his best friend and how they used to laugh together.&nbsp;

Mark was responsible for bringing her to see me &ndash; Karen was apprehensive, nervous, self-conscious and expected the worst from the experience of going to a &lsquo;wig shop&rsquo;.

When I positioned the first Topper onto the top of her head, covering her almost bald patches and creating additional volume over her whole head, she burst into tears, causing Mark to stand up and bend over her hugging her tight as she sat in front of the mirror. It was as if years of worry, depression and anxiety created from Karen&rsquo;s hair loss was being released at her relief that there may well be a solution for her hair loss.

Karen and Mark left my boutique that Saturday with a Topper perfectly hiding any semblance of hair loss and integrating seamlessly within Karen&rsquo;s existing hair &ndash; they also left with a weight off their shoulders and even talked about Karen&rsquo;s reintegration in all the aspects of her life she had removed herself from.

Two weeks later Karen came to see me. She had just been to a job interview! She told me that one week after starting to wear the Topper that she became determined to use her renewed self confidence to resume participating &lsquo;normally&rsquo; again. She had also been on a special night out with Mark and had enjoyed a lunch with the girls. It was however the words &ldquo;This has changed my life&rdquo; that brought me to tears and reinforced to me the importance and necessity of high quality, realistic hair loss solutions to restore self-confidence and social and economic participation.&nbsp;

Congratulations Karen! &ndash; I&rsquo;m so pleased for you, Tammy x
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Hair Toppers for hair thinning ... life changing]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/hair-toppers-for-hair-thinning-life-changing_117s42</guid>
<pubDate>04 Jun 2018 14:45:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/married-at-first-sight-australia-2018_117s43</link>
<description><![CDATA[Having Alopecia myself since age 3, I&rsquo;m going to be even more captivated watching this season of Married at First Sight which features Gabrielle who lost all her hair like me when she was 11. The preview of Gabrielle&rsquo;s story has her reflecting on the fact that she has never taken off her wig in front of any of her former partners.

Feeling unattractive is very common for many of us who lose our hair from disease, illness or treatment and not wanting to reveal the source of what we consider unattractive is very important particularly when we think it may lead to becoming less attractive in the eyes of our partners.

This common fact is often sad, embarrassing and self-deprecating in ways &ndash; even admitting it to ourselves is difficult let alone on national television &ndash; thank you Gabrielle for your bravery and for creating massive national exposure of Alopecia!&nbsp;

Read MAFS Tweet &amp; watch the video

Tammy x&nbsp;#MAFS
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Married at First Sight Australia 2018]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/married-at-first-sight-australia-2018_117s43</guid>
<pubDate>22 Jan 2018 14:46:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/loss-of-hair-neednt-result-in-a-loss-of-adventure_117s41</link>
<description><![CDATA[As a kid and as a teenager I tried not to let wearing a wig stop me from doing most that my peers did.&nbsp;In fact, I used to swim competitively which presented challenges but surprisingly I didn&rsquo;t let it worry me very much.

I would wear my wig into the change room, take my towel and my cap into the toilet putting on my cap while wrapping the towel around my wig and then placing it in my bag.&nbsp;Some of my swimming mates often remarked on how well I tucked all of my hair so neatly into my cap.&nbsp;When others were more curious I would reveal that I had no hair and when it got around that I had no hair, many presumed I had cancer.&nbsp;I was pleased that the challenge of wearing a swimming cap with no hair didn&rsquo;t prevent me from swimming.&nbsp;I did however stop diving in races at some point after an unfortunate incident when my cap fell off after a dive ended badly.&nbsp;It took a long time to restore my confidence in diving and many exemptions were given to me for my special circumstances from my club and competition venues.&nbsp;When my confidence resumed, I wore two caps!

I played netball and basketball often with trepidation as to the potential result of rough play but what I always really wanted to do was gymnastics.&nbsp;I watched all the other kids go on the parallel bars, do somersaults and hang upside down on the monkey bars and so badly wanted to join them.

Wearing a wig also made me very wary of being too adventurous at carnivals and shows, always weighing up the level of risk of my wig falling off or working out how to mitigate that risk if I dared to go on a ride.&nbsp;

When I travelled to Thailand a few years ago my family and I went out in a boat to explore the islands.&nbsp;Wearing unsecure wigs as I did then, I was too nervous to sit on the outside of the boat of course, but the worst thing was that I was not going to snorkel with the rest of the family.&nbsp;There was no way my wig would stay on and there was also no way I was going to wear a cap and stick out like a sore thumb while everyone else swam without one.&nbsp;I missed out on a beautiful experience while telling my family I just didn&rsquo;t feel like it.

I am pleased to say however that recently my husband and I holidayed in far north Queensland.&nbsp;I made the decision in advance that nothing was going to stop me snorkelling this time, I was not going to miss out on experiencing the Great Barrier Reef up close.&nbsp;I could have worn an old secure wig but I didn&rsquo;t want to have to worry about putting diving goggles on over the wig or what would happen when taking them off &ndash; I also didn&rsquo;t want hair over my face and in general didn&rsquo;t want to have to think about my wig while being overwhelmed by the reality of one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

After I finished sunning myself at the front of the boat, at the back, wherever I wanted &ndash; because of my secure wig, just as I did 30 years ago, I went to the toilet on the boat and wrapped my wig in a towel as I put my new swimming cap on.&nbsp;It helped that everyone was wearing lycra suits with hoods to protect them from stingers however I had already created a mindset of not giving a shit what I looked like and what others would think.&nbsp;Because of that pre-planned mindset, I experienced an incredible sense of freedom as I floated in the wondrous waters observing many of the most awesome attributes of our significant natural environment.&nbsp;It was an experience unlike any other in my life.

Perhaps the success of this little adventure will lead to much less focus on not having hair, my wig and what I look like and much more focus on an adventurous future!!??&nbsp;

I hope so.

Tammy x
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Loss of hair needn&#39;t result in a loss of adventure]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/loss-of-hair-neednt-result-in-a-loss-of-adventure_117s41</guid>
<pubDate>18 Jan 2018 14:44:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/buying-a-wig-what-you-need-to-know_117s39</link>
<description><![CDATA[On Christmas eve I was contacted by a woman who had lost her hair as a result of chemotherapy and was desperate for a wig. It wasn&rsquo;t because she had left it too late or that her hair had fallen out too rapidly or unexpectedly. It was because she had been fooled by online wig stores and had been sent what she described as &lsquo;clown wigs&rsquo;.

Unfortunately, this is a familiar story to me, with my experience of this scenario, one of the reasons I established Tammy Lobato Wigs.

It was after I had a couple of bad experiences with wig stores and thought I would try an online purchase. The wig I chose was synthetic, past the shoulders, chocolate brown and wavy on a model who was just gorgeous. It was $250. When it arrived, I was immediately apprehensive when I saw the colour was a dark orange kind of colour, an 80s kind of perm with synthetic material that felt like elasticised string. I never took it out of the box. I had seen all I needed to see to know that I had been sucked in.

When I look online I see advertisements for human hair wigs that cost less than my mistake did. How is that possible? Well I&rsquo;ll tell you how - because I have seen these wigs with my own eyes and had the unpleasant experience of touching them to try and work out how they can sell human hair wigs for less than a couple of hundred dollars when mine start at $1800.

I have had several clients bring in wigs they purchased online before coming to me. They thought they were human hair until they styled them using a blow dryer or hair straightener, which of course is possible with a true human hair wig. The fibre, which is actually synthetic with a little human hair thrown in for credibility, instantly becomes a tangled mess to the point it is impossible to comb.

This kind of deceptive conduct is not just wasteful, it is demoralising for the purchaser who is often emotionally vulnerable and experiencing significant low self-esteem.

The same deception occurs in the advertisements for synthetic wigs - $28.70? really? If you are needing it for a dress up party maybe, but definitely not if you are experiencing hair loss and want realistic hair replacements.

Also regrettably, I have had many clients who have been sold human hair wigs specifically made for Jewish women who cover their natural hair with wigs, requiring them to have a large comb inserted into the cap of the wig for it to remain in place on top of the natural hair. These wigs are not appropriate for people without hair as there is virtually no elasticity in the cap to have it fit securely and the comb literally digs into the scalp. Several clients have come to me after spending many thousands of dollars on a wig that is impossible to be worn by people without hair &ndash; go figure!

So, my number one recommendation is to never, ever buy a wig online!! How would you know if it really does look as attractive as it is portrayed? The comfort factor and the security of the wig is another important consideration which you can only ensure by trying them on. What about the type of cap? For me, having no hair I prefer a full cap rather than an open one making sure that when my hair moves, it doesn&rsquo;t reveal gaping holes &ndash; which has happened before!

Overall the best advice I can give you is make sure you do your research! Knowledge of wigs is something most people don&rsquo;t have until they need to buy one. You need to buy from a reputable business with specialists who spend the time you need to thoroughly understand your new hair and to make sure that the wig you choose complements you and makes you feel great again &ndash; do not buy from a salesperson who is pushing you to buy &ndash; I can assure you, that wig will never be the right one for you.

Wishing you all the best

Tammy x

Contact me today to organise an appointment
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Buying a wig? What you need to know]]></title>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/buying-a-wig-what-you-need-to-know_117s39</guid>
<pubDate>08 Jan 2018 14:40:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.tammylobatowigs.com.au/blog/the-loss-of-ones-hair-sharing-the-lived-experience-of-alopecia_117s38</link>
<description><![CDATA[I am inspired by a book created by Deeann Callis Graham that researches the world of Alopecia through the experiences of women, men and children with Alopecia who bare their souls and reveal their fears, sadness, encounters of bullying and torment and eventually, their reluctant but necessary acceptance of the disease that took away their hair.

Alopecia is an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks hair follicles as if they were the viruses and bacteria they are meant to destroy in order to protect the body.&nbsp; The immune system becomes somewhat confused about its function which leads to hair loss in varying degrees from small patches, to the entire head and or body.&nbsp; Many theories are presented as to why this occurs with so many varying factors and triggers and no conclusive determination except that &lsquo;stress&rsquo; is always a part of the diagnosis.

The brave authors within&nbsp;Head On &ndash; Stories of Alopecia, have exposed their most emotional vulnerabilities for the purpose of benefiting others with Alopecia.&nbsp; The majority of clients I see with Alopecia have never met another person with the disease, even more so in the case of my children clients.&nbsp; I now ensure that I give a copy of this book to all children I fit for a wig, so in addition to them meeting me, they get to read the accounts of many others.&nbsp; I hope that their exposure to me and this book reduces the isolation that people with Alopecia feel, typically going through life without sharing commonality of something so significant with others.

I admire the writers for their courage for what I would have once described for myself as revealing my weakness, my difference, my problem.&nbsp; I never wanted to expose my Alopecia and did everything I could to hide it as a child, as a teenager and an adult.

As a child my &lsquo;problem&rsquo; was revealed often in the school yard, as a five year old, my wig was torn from me by the big school bully and the back of my head was often a temptation by those curious and cruel.

Once one person knew, everyone else knew and that was who I became, &ndash; &lsquo;Kojak&rsquo; is one of the ways in which they described me, others always wanted to feel, pull, prod, know more.&nbsp; As a competitive swimmer, the questions were always about was I dying? Did I have cancer?&nbsp; Because of course, one minute I would have a big pile of hair on my head, the next, my swimming cap hugged tightly my bald head.

If only I had the guts or know how to want to inform my peers publicly like one of my brave clients. Ashley had been cleverly covering her bald patches with caps and scarves for a while until she needed a wig for her school formal.&nbsp; At this time she decided she would announce her Alopecia to her school and broader community to inform them about Alopecia so that they would better understand those with the disease.&nbsp; In conjunction with her education campaign, Ashley also initiated a fundraiser for the Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation by receiving sponsorship for her to shave her remaining hair.&nbsp; These initiatives were strongly supported by her school, local community and media.&nbsp; Mature beyond her 15 years, wiser and more courageous than I could have ever dreamed of being &ndash; for her benefit and the benefit of all others with Alopecia.&nbsp; She too had never met anyone with Alopecia and I hoped that by meeting me when buying her first wig, that I would assist in reducing any alienation or isolation that Ashley may have felt, particularly living in a regional town, and to know that others like her existed and coped well.&nbsp; I gave her a copy of&nbsp;Head On&nbsp;in the hope that she would receive comfort from the stories told by many just like her and I.

&ldquo;&hellip;&hellip;Many years later I found out she was bald too and the hair she wore was &nbsp; not her own.&nbsp; Looking back, the bond we had that moment in the salon was &nbsp; &nbsp; unbreakable&hellip;..I am crying, knowing what a world of difference it would have made to know that someone else looked like me and truly understood. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Strange as it sounds, it would be almost thirty more years before I would finally meet someone else who had alopecia.&rdquo;&nbsp; Deeann Callis Graham&nbsp;Head On &ndash; Stories of Alopecia.

When sharing my experience with Ashley and other children with Alopecia, I focus on the positives &ndash; the gains obtained through the experience.&nbsp; For me they developed from having to overcome many obstacles, face many challenging situations, learn to deal with and from people in the way they treated me.

It made me a stronger adult, more compassionate and empathetic, driven by a desire to create change and right wrongs.&nbsp; I tell the children they will learn skills that will enable them to be effective leaders in the future.

I have for 40 years experienced frustrating, sad and humiliating times in various wig shops with rude, and impatient sales staff, being sold inappropriate, unflattering wigs shoved in brown paper bags; made with an appalling lack of quality and sold by people taught to sell, not to care.

Spending most of my life denying my Alopecia, there became a time for me where I had to step up, and use my skills to provide a better option for those with Alopecia.&nbsp; Regretfully I wasted an opportunity to become a public advocate for those with Alopecia when I was a Member of Parliament due to my reluctance to publicly disclose that I had the auto immune disease.&nbsp; While advocating for just about every other cause or injustice over an eight year period, I denied myself and all others the perfect podium to educate and raise consciousness of a disease that affects 2.1% of the world&rsquo;s population.

After a period of buying one wig after the other and even resorting to an online purchase of a wig that looked incredible and yet upon arriving on my front door step, miraculously became something very different, I took matters into my own hands &ndash; at the instigation of my husband who suggested&nbsp;that I could be the difference that I was seeking in the retail wig industry.&nbsp; Well, that made sense &ndash; how else does one truly empathise with others without the lived experience?

We decided to right the wrongs that I had encountered for so long to provide true service &ndash; we created&nbsp;Tammy&nbsp;Lobato Wigs &ndash; specialising in the delivery of high quality empathetic service and the best, most realistic wigs available.&nbsp; Clients appreciate the opportunity to discuss their Alopecia with their wig retailer who is perhaps the only other person they have met with Alopecia.&nbsp; Others having Chemotherapy treatment or with hair thinning know that the person assisting them with their choice in wigs does it because she knows and cares.

By creating this service, I have finally publicly acknowledged my Alopecia to benefit others and begun to be an advocate in a small way that I hope will lead to healing some of the emotional turmoil experienced by people with hair loss.
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<title><![CDATA[The loss of one&#39;s hair &#150; sharing the lived experience of alopecia]]></title>
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<pubDate>14 Dec 2017 14:39:00 +1000</pubDate>
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<description><![CDATA[There are so many considerations for women diagnosed with Cancer or for those with Alopecia, an Auto-Immune Disease &ndash; scans, biopsies, appointments with the GP, Dermatologists, Oncologists, the significant emotional turmoil being experienced by the now patient and their family.

Instantly, instead of the usual daily grind of morning preparation for work and getting kids off to school, spending the day in the place of employment and ending the day over dinner with the family, the daily routine has radically altered.

Daily life now revolves around the disease, the treatment of the disease and the new journey unchosen. For those having received a diagnosis of Cancer, most of the time, oncology consultations not only cover information about the type of treatment recommended but all unpleasant side effects, the most obvious of which is hair loss. Not every chemotherapy treatment results in hair loss but the majority do.

For those in client-facing occupations or in large workplaces with many other colleagues, the prospect of losing hair often means your treatment or your Alopecia will become public. For most people, their experience with Cancer and Alopecia is one that they wish to keep between themselves, their friends and family. Working with a large amount of people who become aware of the circumstance because of obvious hair loss means that, for one thing, you can never escape that reality, so not only do you need to discuss the cancer or Alopecia with health professionals, your family and friends, you then discuss it with your work colleagues as they provide their support.

In addition, for those with cancer, you risk being defined by the disease &ndash; your productivity and performance within the work environment open to much broader scrutiny and judgement when the side effects of the treatment are obvious. For those who work directly with clients, when the disease reveals itself in the form of hair loss, the worker often feels that their credibility has been diminished, that the client may feel that they are less competent because of the disease and the subsequent treatment and side effects.

Sometimes the hair loss is so rapid it could occur the night before an important meeting or event planned for the next day. It is generally advised that hair loss may begin between two to four weeks after the first chemotherapy treatment, however that depends on the strength and type of treatment. Similarly, with people experiencing Alopecia, hair loss can present with a very rapid onset and given the unpredictability of the disease, no one can predict the extent of the loss &ndash; it could be one patch or the whole head and can be lost within days or weeks.

My clients undergoing treatment and those with Alopecia work in all occupations, teachers, trainers, farmers, lawyers, actors, priests, train station attendants, nurses, police officers, accountants, retail assistants, bus drivers &ndash; even an archaeologist! All of their roles involve working with people.

Some clients who decide to disclose their cancer to others may feel ok about wearing head scarves or caps. After a time many become frustrated and depressed by the innocent and caring stares they receive as they walk through shopping centres or go out for a meal. The unconscious stares of others lead to constant reminders of the illness &ndash; no escape even in anonymous environments.

These unintended consequences of the brave act of &lsquo;owning&rsquo; the cancer and its treatment can often lead to isolation with people becoming consumed by everyone else&rsquo;s regular acknowledgement of their cancer, that they end up withdrawing from participating fully in the world as they knew it only months ago. I receive phone calls regularly from friends, family and workmates of those undergoing chemotherapy making enquiries about wigs for women on their behalf as they have retreated from their usual activities, not because of their health, but because of their hair loss. Several clients have resigned from their workplaces because they don&rsquo;t want others to know about their disease or treatment and some because they are sick of people looking at the patches forming throughout their head from Alopecia. Many of my female clients tell me that they are more concerned about the hair loss than they are about the cancer or its treatment because the loss of hair is akin to a loss of femininity given its status as a symbol of female beauty.

At first this kind of sentiment shocked me but as someone who has worn wigs for women all my life, I realise the importance of the wig for me is equal to that of natural hair to them. I wear my wig all day every day and I don&rsquo;t even like my husband to see me without my hair, as just like my clients, I feel more attractive, more comfortable in myself, with hair &ndash; even though the hair I wear is not my own. When people wear scarves or caps, observers feel the need to express their messages of strength, hope and positivity to complete strangers, to touch them and tell them they will be ok. When asked by my clients about the pros and cons of scarves versus wigs, I ask them, &ldquo;Are you wanting to participate &lsquo;normally&rsquo; as you have done in the past? Do you want to look well? Do you want to feel well?&rdquo; Because hair is a natural part of the body&rsquo;s makeup, &ndash; that the overwhelming majority of people are born with hair, people without it will look different and will be reminded of their change in circumstance when people naturally look and when they see their reflection in windows or mirrors.

To those who choose that path, they are to be admired for their strength and for others, realistic wigs for women help to remove the curiosity factor from the workplace and everyday life while improving confidence, self-esteem and ensuring women feel good because they look good.
]]></description>
<title><![CDATA[Wigs for Women &#150; Increasing participation, productivity and confidence in the workplace and everyday life]]></title>
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<pubDate>14 Dec 2017 14:38:00 +1000</pubDate>
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