Hair, hair, hair (for any quadriplegic)

Post-injury, I’ve discovered really love getting my hair done. Talk about pleasure city central. Whether it’s getting it shampooed or I’m having a full-blown scalp massage…oh oh oh. Gotta love those nerves firing.

But my hair drives me crazy too, when it comes taking care of it as a C6 quadriplegic that is. Trying to do anything hair-related with paralyzed fingers, even if they‘re partially paralyzed, is never easy. However, if you can find inner-patience and tune into smarty-pants mode, there’s a lot you can still figure out. You just have to be in a wheelchair for awhile. Nothing comes overnight.

Meg Johnson, from “Meg’s Movies” (she shows how to do things around the house in a chair), is a C7 quadriplegic from Utah who we’ve profiled before, and she‘s been injured since 2004. In her latest video, Meg shows how she blow dries and styles her hair (using hair wax, and a comb cleverly bungeed to her right hand using a stretchy headband). Meg can dry, style and backcomb her hair (big hair is big in Utah, second only to Texas) in 10 minutes flat. She is so cute! Watch the video

And another crafty female C7 quadriplegic, SPINALpedia elizabethk, has figured out how to put up her hair in ponytail (using minimal triceps and barely there finger movement). Am I jealous? Mildly  Check it out

Greg Businelle meanwhile is a C4-5 quadriplegic from Houston, Texas and he’s been injured since 2000. Being several years post-injury, Greg has come up one of the best head-in-sink hair washing methods I’ve ever seen. The first thing he does: He installed a kitchen faucet with a retractable head, in his bathroom sink. Smart! It’s a large faucet with a wide spraying area, and it’s tall enough to put his head under.

Greg also bought an automatic hand soap dispenser and puts shampoo in it instead (so he didn’t have to fuss with shampoo caps). Brilliant, again. By having the great faucet, a big open counter and strategically-placed towels so he doesn’t get soaked, Greg is able to wash his hair 100% independently. Watch the video

Our last crafty quad is Garrett Greer, a C6 quadriplegic from Trabuco Canyon, CA. He was injured only 2 years ago, but dang if I ever – he’s already creating how-to videos! In his how-to shaving video, Garrett shows how (in less than 2 minutes) he can shave off his all of his facial hair, the hair on his head, even his sideburns, using an electric shaver. Plus, Garrett is pretty easy on the eyes. Must watch

I love these hair videos! They prove that with time (oh you pesky rascal you) you can figure out how a lot of seemingly impossible things post-injury. And you‘ll have an amazing hair day to boot. Can’t go wrong with that.

What tool is indispensable to your hair routine? Any quadriplegic hair tricks?

Watch the videos!

– Meg’s Movie Minute – Episode 17: Styling Hair

– Quadriplegic washing hair

– C6 quadriplegic shaves off beard and head hair