Not just wigs: Onco Hair arrives, the “hair prosthesis” for women undergoing chemotherapy

Much more than a traditional wig. A sophisticated device that constitutes, in fact, a highly personalized hair prosthesis. Fundamental for many women affected by breast cancer and subjected to chemotherapy. Is called Onco Hair and it is a unique project in the world which also reserves space for social purposes: the Cnc trichological prostheses (acronym for natural hair in contact) are made «totally within the Crlab laboratories of Zola Predosa, in Bologna” and from here exported all over the globe, he explains Angelo D’Andrea, CEO of Crlab. «It is created using untreated human hair, inserted one at a time into a thin biocompatible polymer membrane covered by patent. The production process, completely handmade, includes 39 phases and is entirely certified according to the ISO 9001:2008 standard”.

This prosthesis determines a very concrete benefit on patients: a pilot study carried out by Women’s Health Onlus and conducted at the National Cancer Institute in Milan, it measured the improvement in ten points on the Bis scale (body image scale, which goes from 0 to 30).positive impact for patients with breast cancer recurrence e recurrent alopecia who use this device instead of the usual wig, with all the problems and limitations that entails. There chemotherapy-induced baldness it is in fact perhaps the most recognizable social stigma of cancer: it is considered by 47% of women to be the most traumatic aspect of the entire treatment process, so much so that 8% of them would like to refuse it precisely to avoid this loss. The CNC prosthesis allows the wearer an absolutely obstacle-free life from that point of view, it becomes an integral part of the body, does not have to be removed at night and allows you to swim, tie your hair and even have it pulled.

A phase of measurements for the CNC prosthesis

To raise awareness on the topic, in October fifty women who have to undergo chemotherapy to defeat breast cancer will be given the same number of CNC trichological prostheses. After the first edition at the Milan Polyclinic, the initiative is repeated in Brescia. In this case the project was born for support patients with greater economic fragility in the battle against breast cancer. According to cancer numbers in Italy, last year there were 55,700 new cancer diagnoses in women, with an increase of 0.5% compared to 2020, and breast cancer is the most diagnosed neoplasm, approximately one in three.

Thanks therefore to the support of the Bresciana Community Foundation and Crlab, Komen Italy will donate the Onco Hair device to 50 women selected by a team of oncologists and psychologists from the Poliaccademia Brescia Foundation, Brescia Civil Hospitals and Asst del Garda. «We decided to promote this project to also support those with less economic strength in an important battle such as the one against cancer – he explains Mario Mistretta, president of the Bresciana Community Foundation – as the women who joined the first edition of the project testified, the Cnc medical unit has an important impact on the psychological well-being of those who are fighting cancer. Scientific evidence shows that the state of mind is fundamental to face this war for life and for many women hair loss represents a very deep psychological vulnerability. We are happy to be able to help those who are facing such a delicate phase in life.”

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Also Alessandra Huscher, president of the Lombardy Committee of Komen Italia and Head of the Breast Unit – Fondazione Poliavventura Brescia, underlines the usefulness of the new generation prosthesis for patients: «We are very happy – he underlines – to be able to offer, thanks to the generosity of many, important help and concrete to our patients in the complex path of the disease. For all of us operators it is very important to have the possibility of evaluating the benefits within a scientific study that guarantees the working method and the quality of the results.”

The 50 women, who will be selected over the next three months, will receive their custom-made prosthesis within 40 days of the first skull survey. «I was in the midst of my battle, I tripped on the street, and my wig also fell off. The compassionate look of that kind boy who helped me up destroyed me. The fact of knowing that with the CNC system this can no longer happen is extremely comforting to me” explained a patient who wears or has worn Onco Hair prostheses during the therapy. “Trying not to see yourself as sick when you look in the mirror is of the utmost importance because it helps you react,” added another. «Thanks to this device I was able to take back control of my life, feeling, among others, not different but the same, the same as always. I went cycling, I took a shower, I enjoyed my holidays at the seaside and at the spa without being afraid of taking a dip in the pool under the gaze of the people around me. I was able to live in contact with my colleagues and acquaintances without arousing in them a morbid interest in my state of health, I felt normal and not transformed by my condition as a patient” we read in the testimonies of recent months.

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Source: Vanity Fair

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