Barber helps cancer patients keep dignity intact

On a recent rainy afternoon in downtown Shanghai, a 50-something female customer entered a hair salon, removed and handed her wig to the shop owner, Qin Kang, 35, and began to chat with him like an old friend.

After Qin cleaned the client's wig and put it back on her head, she examined it carefully to make sure it fully covered her baldness and resembled her natural hair.

The salon, Pinqin Wig, which is across from Fudan University's Shanghai Cancer Center, mainly caters to patients from the hospital. As hair loss is almost inevitable after 15 days of chemotherapy and for some receiving radiation treatment, many patients choose to have their head shaved and wear a wig before their cancer therapy gets underway.

The salon not only sells wigs, but also offers shaving services for those who opt to go bald before their cancer treatment, while also providing aftersales services such as wig cleaning, styling and trimming. It also provides luggage deposit options, hospital examination report pickups and refrigerated medicine storage for customers.

"Compared with healthy customers who just want to stay stylish, these cancer patients need more care," Qin said.

Qin was a regular hair stylist until 2014, when he decided to open a wig salon for cancer patients, and thus chose to locate near the hospital.

"Most of the patients are desperate when they first come here," Qin said. "I can only try my best to make them feel satisfied and calm when they leave."