A woman’s hair is an incredible form of self-expression, so hair loss can strike an especially crippling blow to those fighting cancer. A recent study revealed that nearly 60 percent of women consider hair loss the most dreaded side effect they face when undergoing chemotherapy.

Real-hair wigs can cost thousands of dollars and are often only partially covered by health insurance, but there are ways to get wigs for FREE:

• American Cancer Society: To support cancer patients undergoing chemo, the American Cancer Society offers brand new FREE wigs at wig banks and cancer centers around the country. Click Here and go to the “About Us” tab for resources in your area. Or call 800-227-2345.
• Cuts Against Cancer: This nonprofit organization and foundation is dedicated to creating and donating free Medical Wigs for women and children who cannot afford to purchase a Real Human Hair Medical Prosthesis. For a FREE wig for anybody facing hair loss from any type of cancer living anywhere in the world, Click Here.
• Friends are by Your Side: Celebrity hairstylist Martino Cartier founded this charity to help cancer patients get FREE wigs through a network of hundreds of salons across the US, Canada, Mexico, England and Australia. Click Here to see whether there is a salon in your area.
• Lolly’s Locks works with wig providers across the country to connect cancer patients in need with high-quality wigs. Created in honor of Lolly Toll, who lost her life to cancer in 2012. Lolly understood the relationship between looking good and feeling good, and it was her wish to help those who could not otherwise afford a stylized wig. Click Here
• EBeauty Community Inc.: Provides FREE wigs for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments. They also have a national wig exchange program through which you can donate wigs you no longer need to others who do. To request a wig or donate one, Click Here
• HairToStay: This nonprofit offers need-based grants to offset the expense of scalp cooling systems for breast cancer patients in the US to minimize hair loss during chemotherapy. To learn more, Click Here

Good to Know

• It takes at least six ponytails to make one wig. If your friends and family have hair to spare and want to help the cause, tell them about the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign that collects healthy hair to make FREE wigs available to cancer patients at the American Cancer Society’s wig banks. Donated hair must be a minimum of 8 inches long (measured from just above the elastic band of a ponytail to the ends). Click Here, or call 800-945-7768, for more details and where to donate.