Surgery hats are KILLING my hair!

Specialties Operating Room

Published

:bluecry1: Any ideas on how to prevent it????

:anbd:I've heard two suppositions on the subject ; " Give up fashion for straps " ( proposively a loose cap with tie straps) & " Send your glamour up river for a healthier scalp" ( again a propositioned gain of natural hair treatment by degrees compared to shampooing so often possibly even an oily hair style.) :stone ['depressing insight']

Specializes in CST in general surgery, LDRs, & podiatry.
:bluecry1: any ideas on how to prevent it????

what exactly is "killing my hair"? is it falling out? if the biggest problem is at the hairline, a lot of folks experience this with the disposable bouffant caps with the elastic around the edge. mostly just from friction. if your facility allows it, try some cloth caps with no elastic on them. there are the kind that tie in the back, and also the kind with a flat cloth band around the edge and a velcro adujstment in the back at the nape. that is my favorite. i got mine on ebay, from a vendor who custom made some for me to accomodate my big head, and bigger hair! they are very light and breathable, and don't wear down the hairline. there are some uniform/scrub shops that carry them - i think dickies is the brand i found in the one near me.

if you have to wear the bouffants, then see if they will let you wear a cloth cap under it to protect your skin.

good luck!

My hair is breaking off in the front, thats what I mean by killing it. I'll look into those different caps. I have a love/hate with hats and my hair anyway, so I'll just have to figure it out.

Thanks.:)

Specializes in midwifery, NICU.

I really am sorry for you.

I have to go to theatre to get babies from c-section, the whole resuscitation thing, I can deal with. But see the hair! OMG! For the rest of the shift I have a brilliant Shirley Temple/humidity type bad hair day! Before I go to work, I use straightening irons...have a perfect "do"......one call to theatre and I look like something the cat dragged through a hedge ten times!!!!!!!

I blame the hats....

My hair is breaking off in the front, thats what I mean by killing it. I'll look into those different caps. I have a love/hate with hats and my hair anyway, so I'll just have to figure it out.

Thanks.:)

Maybe if you wear the front edge of the hat a bit lower on your forehead there won't be so much pressure on the hair. But I'm a guy, what do I know? :D

Specializes in Informatics, Surgery.

I had a similar problem when I started in the OR (a million years back). I experimented with cloth hats, bouffant disposable hats, and every combination thereof.

I finally found that my hair did the best if I kept it relatively short and didn't put lots of product on it before going to work (like mousse, gel, etc). After I take the hat off at the end of the shift, I dunk my head under the faucet in the locker room and get it nice and wet; towel it off, fluff it a bit, and away I go. Now that is not a good option in winter, but a warm winter hat will hide your hat hair anyway.

Perhaps your hairdresser might have some good ideas?

Good luck,

Criss :nurse:

A lotof us at our hospital have gone to kimkaps.com for our cloth hats. With the band they seem to come farther down on your forehead and do not slide up like the disposable ones do.

Specializes in Operating Room.

I wear hats from SparklingEarth.com, they have a terrycloth band around the hairline and I've never had any breakage, they're comfortable too! Good luck, I hope you find a good solution.

Specializes in NICU- now learning OR!.
My hair is breaking off in the front

I use cloth hats. For now the circulators can wear them. Anyone scrubbed must wear a disposable elastic one over it.

Some sites:

http://www.greenscrubs.com

http://www.blueskyscrubs.com (pricey)

HTH

Jenny

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