Doctor Doctor! When It’s Time to refer Your Client onto A Medical Professional By Kristie Kesic

As hairdressers, we are trained in hair and scalp. We have studied the science of colour and hair products. But we aren’t doctors. It’s important to recognise that there will be times during your career that it’s in your client’s best interest to refer them onto a doctor.

Furthermore, as colourists there are some circumstances that if there is an underlying issue present, applying a chemical to the hair or scalp can be doing more harm than good.

Below are so examples of situations and scenarios that I have encountered over my 16 years.

PREGNANCY.

I have put this topic at the top of my list as it is the most common one, I encounter. Clients asking is it safe to colour their hair when pregnant. As a mother of 2, I can honestly say, that the thought of hair colour being dangerous to my unborn baby when I was pregnant never once crossed my mind. My OB never said anything bad about colouring hair when pregnant and she knew I was a hairdresser. I think you can guess where I stand on the topic. BUT……if your client asks you, they have enough of a concern about it to raise the question and trust me in pregnancy everyone has a different concern or opinion so it’s a topic you need to treat delicately, and not just force your opinion on.

My response whenever someone has asked me this is, if you have a concern about it, always ask YOUR OB. Don’t just go by your hairdressers’ word or your friends OB. For YOUR piece of mind ask YOUR OB. No matter how much I know it’s safe, I refer the question back onto the medical profession. Because at the end of the day, I don’t know their pregnancy history, nor do I know what their OB will say for them.

Some of my clients after asking me and I’ve responded with that, continue straight away with colouring, others have called their OB while in my chair. I’ve had clients that prefer to wait until after the first trimester to put colour on their scalp, I’ve had clients that will have foils but then won’t allow me to put the toner on because it touches their scalp. All is totally fine and as a colourist I’ve found other ways, like just foils or foils and pigmented conditioners instead of toners to keep their colour looking good whilst pregnant, all whilst easing their fears of chemical on their scalp.

A tip to remember when colouring a pregnant woman’s hair. Her body is literally an incubator at that moment filled with heightened hormones. Bleach might take less time to lighten, colours may develop slightly different. Make your client aware of these before you start colouring and inform them why you’re doing certain things or why results may vary slightly from the time before. Trust me you don’t want them thinking anything unexpectedly has happened, and they will appreciate you’ve expressed your knowledge to them.

MOLES AND FRECKLES ON SCALP.

As a colourist, even more so than a stylist, we are literally going through the client’s hair each appointment with a fine-tooth comb. Who else looks at your clients’ scalp as much as we do? A client may never know they have a freckle on their scalp. Therefore, its important if you notice a mole or freckle that is, dark, flaky

unusual, over time has gotten darker or has a red ring around it, you bring it to your client’s attention. It’s as simple as you work it into the conversation discreetly when you notice it. This is so important as hairdressers, as there has been numerous times I know of hairdressers mentioning it to clients and they’ve gone and got it checked and it’s been a melanoma. There’s never any harm in bringing something to your client’s attention when you are looking out for their health.

DRY SCALP.

There is a big difference between minor scalp problems we can treat with product as hairdressers and cases where it’s necessary to refer your client onto a dermatologist. Even our specialist trichologist still has limitations compared to doctors and dermatologists. Conditions such as slight dry scalp, dandruff, psoriasis yes, we can recommend product for but when the problem is severe you need to refer your client onto a dermatologist or doctor. Healthy hair needs a good foundation to grow out of. A hostile scalp environment can limit hair health and grow.

A lot of scalp problems arise from having underlying internal health issues and unless your client can get their inner health under control no product we prescribe will help. Some scalp conditions also need medicated products to really help the condition improve. I had one client that I referred on and got told if she had left it any longer to get onto an aggressive prescriptive plan, she would have had an extreme risk of going bald.

HAIR FALLING OUT.

Another big one. There are so many factors that can contribute to hair loss. When I talk about hair loss, I mean hair falling out from the follicle. Hair shedding is normal. Your hair goes through a natural growth cycle (3 phases) in which it grows to its full length, detaches from your scalp, and eventually sheds. As a result of this hair cycle, it’s normal to shed between 50 and 100 hairs per day. When your client is noticing an excessive amount of hair loss, specifically hair strands that still have the white keratin bulb at the end of the strand it could be a sign of something more serious. Hormones, stress, diet, medication, significate weight loss, and now long covid are all problems that could contribute to excessive hair loss and are normally all temporary but still are all problems that need a medical professions advice. Yes, we have products that can help on the outside and help anchor down the hair etc, but unless the internal problem is sorted the client is just wasting their money on external products. The biggest thing is to be honest with them. If they ask you have you noticed and you have, tell them. Open the conversation and without straight up asking them if they are unwell, you can suggest that hair loss can be a result of health, stress, medication and 9/10 they will go, well yes, I have been stressed or I have changed medication etc etc. Then you can tell them to talk more to their doctor and at the least you

HAIR BREAKAGE

Now I’m not talking hair breaking off through chemical damage from colour or bleach, or overuse of the hair straightener. I’m talking about previously perfectly healthy hair with unexplained hair breakage. If this is the case, normally they are lacking in some type of vitamin and a referral to the doctor is a must. It’s also important to recognise that the hair is obviously brittle enough to break off so applying colour to the hair is not the greatest idea. In fact, just don’t, until the underlying issue is resolved.

BALD PATCHES

To me any kind of bald patch is referred straight onto a dermatologist. I want my clients to have the best chance of reviving the hair in those patches and I believe a dermatologist is the best person to help with that.

CANCER – AFTER TREATMENT HAS FINISHED

The subject I treat with the most sensitivity. To be completely honest I don’t even have an opinion on it, as my only concern Is making my client feel the best about themselves once their hair starts growing back. If it’s colouring their hair great, if it’s just a haircut that’s also perfect. Hair is our security blanket and for some losing that security blanket during treatment is extremely daunting and brings with it a lot of insecurity. Now before even coming back to your salon I can pretty much guarantee your client has already asked their oncologist during treatment about colouring their hair once treatment has finished. I have clients that after treatment will never colour their hair again and on the other side, I have clients that use the stages in which their hair is growing back and is super short to do a colour they would never normally do. It seems to be a personal choice and as a colourist I’m only interested in making my client feel good about themselves again. One thing I will say though is after chemo, hair will grow back curly. Which is another thing your clients will be getting used to if they didn’t have curly hair before treatment, so just go back to curly hair theory and knowing curly hair has more protein in its makeup which as we know is more de moisturised. Also keep in mind whatever you do to the hair, your client’s goal is probably to grow it back to what it was before their treatment, so priority needs to be condition of the hair for the client to reach their end game colour.

Our job as hairdressers is to make our clients feel the most beautiful version of themselves. We build relationships and trust, and they value our expertise, that is why they are coming to your salon after all. They will respect you even more by knowing you have their health at heart, and you do that by knowing when to refer them on.

By Kristie Kesic, Cobelle Creative