Breast Cancer Survivor Provides Textured Wig Options to Women of Color 

In the midst of a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation for ​​breast cancer, Dianne Austin thought finding a wig to cover her balding head would be easy. She quickly learned otherwise. 

As a Black woman, Austin desired a wig that resembled her tightly coiled, kinky and curly hair. This was 2015, and although several hospitals near her Boston-area home offered wigs for those dealing with medical-related hair loss, none came close to her natural style. She was left to search the aisles at beauty supply stores, an experience that left a painful mark.  

“I knew they didn’t have private rooms, and when I asked if there was a space I could try on wigs, away from other customers, most said no,” recalls Austin. “Some said I could use their supply room, and one place offered up their bathroom.” 

Austin remembers feeling angry, and upset. She also learned, upon further research, that she was not alone. Women of color and other people from different cultural backgrounds were encountering the same problem when faced with hair loss from cancer, lupus, and other medical conditions.  

“This was a systemic issue across the country,” says Austin. “None of the major hospitals had culturally sensitive wigs. Getting a wig should be the least of your problems when dealing with cancer or anything else. I really wanted to disrupt that disparity, and make a difference in that space.” 

Creating the ‘right’ wigs 

So she did. Austin and her sister, Pamela Shaddock, started Coils to Locs, which since 2019 has offered high-quality synthetic wigs to women experiencing the loss of their textured hair due to medical treatment. It is a situation both sisters know first-hand, with Shaddock experiencing hair loss due to a condition common in Black women known as traction alopecia.  

Because the sisters think it important to focus on what they know best, the majority of Coils to Locs wigs are designed for Black and Brown women. Customers can buy wigs directly from the company’s online store, or find them at 26 cancer hospitals and medical hair loss boutiques nationwide. At Dana-Farber, they are available at Friends’ Place, just off the lobby of the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. 

Deborah Flynn, retail manager at Friends’ Place, says adding more diverse wig options for patients was one of her long-time goals. She’s excited that Coils to Locs and other wig companies she works with are fulfilling this need for Black, Brown, Asian, and other patient populations. 

“The wig-fitting process is often very emotional, and usually happens when someone has just started treatment and is starting to lose their hair,” says Flynn. “We are always trying to find the right wig for the right person, and Coils to Locs is helping us do that.” 

And at Dana-Farber, Austin knows, finding the right wig is a polar-opposite experience from what she went through at beauty supply shops.  

Patients make appointments with wig-fitter Nia Cardwell, who has a private room in Friends’ Place. Once they find a favorite style and color of wig, they fill out an order sheet and then return for a final fitting about two weeks later. Cardwell also bills their insurance carrier, as in many cases some or all of the wig’s cost is covered through patients’ insurance (it’s always best to check). Although Austin had such coverage in 2015, she did not qualify for  reimbursement because her wig was not purchased at a cancer center.  

“A lot of women are very excited to see all these different kinky and curly styles,” Cardwell says of the culturally sensitive wigs from Coils to Locs and other companies at Friends’ Place. “If we don’t have the style they prefer on hand, we can always order it.” 

Thanks in large part to additional culturally diverse options, the anger and frustration Austin once felt has now been replaced by different emotions. 

“When patients are with Nia, I can hear them laughing in there,” says Flynn. “They’re having a good time.” 

Another way of helping 

Austin says she often gets letters and emails from women expressing appreciation for being able to have wig options that match their natural hair. To help them get the most out of their wigs, the Coils to Locs website has videos featuring wig-care tutorials and tips for buying wigs online. 

And while her breast cancer has long been in remission, the niche Austin and her sister helped create has taken on added significance in recent years. In 2022, Austin learned about the PROMISE study, a screening study at Dana-Farber for multiple myeloma open to Black people with a family history of blood cancer. Joining the study, she learned she has smoldering myeloma, a precursor condition to multiple myeloma. Austin is now being monitored by Irene Ghobrial, MD, director of the Center for Early Detection and Interception of Blood Cancers at Dana-Farber. 

“Dianne continues to be under close observation, and if her numbers start progressing, then we will consider options of clinical trials to intercept multiple myeloma before it happens,” says Ghobrial, also director of the Clinical Investigator Research Program at Dana-Farber. “She exemplifies the importance of early detection to find cancer early, especially if you are at high risk, and to take action by doing the research and seeing a specialist in the field to understand your options better and to take an active role in preventing progression and intercepting cancer. Hopefully, many more people do the same thing and some day we will never diagnose multiple myeloma. It will be a preventable disease that we can identify early and cure early before it even presents with symptoms.” 

For Austin, taking part in the PROMISE study, and possibly a future clinical trial, has an additional benefit.  

“I feel it’s so important for people to participate in studies, especially people from marginalized communities,” says Austin. “This is a perfect example of why it’s important. Not only finding out about your own diagnosis, but knowing that you can contribute to the future of medicine.”  

Just as she has with Coils to Locs, Austin is thankful she can use her experience to help others.