What is Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia or FFA hairline recession?

Frontal fibrosis is a form of scarring hair loss (cicatricial alopecia) that causes a symmetrical, progressive recession of the hairline along the front and sides of the scalp. It leaves behind a smooth, pale, or shiny band of skin where hair follicles are permanently destroyed.

This blog post will not offer medical advice about the condition itself but it will suggest practical hair accessories to help manage the condition day to day. We’ve been working with women for 17+ years designing headwear solutions for hair loss. All of the hair accessories below, followed on from discussions with women trying to cope with the everyday practicalities of hair loss.

If you are in the early stages of hair loss and looking for medical advice and help beyond your GP, a good source of information is the British Association of Dermatologists. One thing that is widely recognised, if you think your hair loss falls into this condition act quickly, early intervention can be crucial in preserving the hair you have.

Eyebrow thinning or complete loss is a recognised symptom of FFA for many women — we discuss options including semi-permanent makeup in a separate post. – Semi permanent eyebrow makeup after chemo – would you consider it?

How to cover frontal fibrosing alopecia

So let’s look at some headwear accessories – depending on how far reaching you hair loss is there are wig topper solutions. This client had a beautifully made and coloured wig topper made by Vicki-Jane based near Eastleigh, Hampshire. (Vicki-Jane offers free consultations.) It matched her own hair colour beautifully and had plenty of texture and realistic colour definition from the roots throughout.

We both agreed this was the ultimate realistic ‘dressy’ option for everyday, but there are also those everyday situations when you want ease and coolness.

There was also the slight concern that the topper, being held in place with clips and tape, caught strands of hair each time it was worn i.e causing minimal shedding each time. However this is clearly a very wearable and stylish solution and worth investigating. Another salon we’ve seen the work of is Julia Lampard hair salon in Guildford, Surrey. A wig specialist with years of knowledge and experience to advise. (There is a UK wide directory of wig suppliers that can be found here on the Alopecia UK website.)

Our model is seen here using our real hair fringe wig (see below left) – a single weft of real hair on a narrow soft elastic headband. It’s a very simple item which can be cut and shaped to your face shape, leaving longer sections at the side to tuck behind the ears, or leave down. (No tape, no clips to hold in place.) It comes in a variety of shades and can be washed and styled with products you would normally use.

More information about the real hair fringe wig available in our dedicated blog post here.

You do need to wear it under something to conceal the elastic effectively – with a headband, headband scarf, or any form of hat. It is made to your head measurement, so it is comfortable enough that you can forget you’re wearing it. It can also be secured into headwear using a popper – one half of the popper sewn on the fringe wig and the other half to the headband or headwear item. It takes a little working out where you prefer to wear each item but once measured and attached, it works every time.

Headband for frontal fibrosing alopecia

Shown below (right) is our Mimi wide headband, it has a fixed width of approx. 11 cms in depth from forehead across the top of the head, disappearing to approx. 5 cms at the nape of the neck and comes in a wide variety of colours. Once again it is made to your head fitting to hug gently around the head, no need to tie or open out for placement.

It’s always a good idea to think about the colours in your wardrobe i.e what colours you wear regularly and then purchase headwear items in those colours. It makes for easy everyday co-ordinating wear.

Headscarf for receding hairlines

Another useful item is a headband scarf – this 90 cms square scarf goes round the head, crosses over at the back and then can be tied neatly off to one side with minimal ends ‘left over’. See below for our silk headband version – silk always achieves such beautiful depth of colour – real jewel like colouring. The fabric also has a slight sheen so it looks dressy and ‘grown up’ without trying too hard!

Another alternative headband format could be our Infinity headband loop. Again cut to your head fitting in soft ringspun jersey (similiar to t-shirt weight jersey) which loops around the head twice. You don’t need to turban twist it at the front, if you need the depth of coverage in this area. You would simply cross over at the front.

The band is approx. 23 cms wide, so crossing it over you get a combined width of just under 50 cms to wrinkle and place accordingly. See below for the width you can achieve – here our model is trying to secure 360 placement round the head. Hair can be worn up to cover thinning areas and held in place with lightweight clip. The infinity headband loop covers frontal hair loss areas.

Some careful layering of the band in front of a mirror is needed to avoid it separating and scalp showing through. You may find it easier to loop over your hands first like ‘cats-craddle’, then open hands out and place over head, to ensure the band is doubled up all the way round. There is plenty of width so no shortage of fabric. It is available in several colours too.

I hope you’ll find the ideas offered here give you some options to ring the changes, particularly on super hot summer days. (As I write this we’re in the middle of a heat wave topping out at 38 C – life is warm.) Over the years, 17+ of talking to women about hair loss, many have spoken how over time, they have come to terms with their hair loss and found a level of acceptance.

Each has found their personal approach to it, often tailored to their lifestyle and doing what they enjoy the most. Practical solutions that help manage the day-to-day, so that they don’t become isolated, or overwhelmed by the feeling they can’t fully participate in doing life, because of their hair loss. There are many solutions out there from non-slip gym hats to easy to put on swim caps that don’t pull the hair, or that glide over bald patches.

If you have particular concerns that you’re looking to solve please get in touch via our website contacts. We are always happy to help or direct your search to suppliers we know and have worked with over the years.