Staying positive about your health and your hair
One of the hardest aspects to deal with while undergoing and recovering from Chemotherapy is the effect it has on your hair. While not all chemotherapy drugs make your hair fall out and sometimes the loss is minimal, many women will experience partial or complete hair loss during or immediately after the treatment, and this can be psychologically difficult to handle – especially at a time when you already feel worried and vulnerable.
Fortunately, permanent hair loss following chemotherapy is rare, but seeing your once-flowing locks disappear is a nasty shock and can trigger or exacerbate feelings of depression and a loss of femininity and knowing it’ll probably come back is little consolation at the time.
Why does it occur?
Chemotherapy drugs primarily attack the cancer cells in your body, but they can also affect healthy cells including those in the hair follicles. The healthy cells recover but during the treatment they can’t always function normally and with hair cells this can lead to fragile, thin or shedding hair. It may also affect other types of hair such as your eyebrows and eyelashes.
Is there any way of preventing hair from falling out
The “Cold Cap” treatment can sometimes reduce the amount of hair loss as it protects some of the follicles by preventing the drugs from getting to them by reducing the blood flow to the scalp. However not all cancer types can be treated with the cold cap in place so your Doctor or Chemotherapy nurse will let you know if it is appropriate for you.
It’s normally applied with either a gel-filled cap or a pumped coolant cap, and this has to be worn for a few hours immediately before and during the chemo treatment.
When will it start to go?
If your hair is going to fall out, it usually starts within 2-3 weeks of starting chemotherapy though it can be sooner in some cases. You’ll most likely notice any shedding when you brush or wash your hair or when you wake up in the morning.
Dealing with the impact
It’s difficult to underestimate the impact this has on your emotional well-being and sense of who you are. It can feel like a sign to you and to the rest of the world that you are ill. Hair is so bound up in what it means to be a woman that its loss takes away your sense of femininity. It can also take away your sense of being in control. And the act of worrying about it can then lead to feelings of guilt – “it’s only my hair – I should be worrying about my children or my husband or what will happen if the chemo doesn’t work”.
Everyone will react differently but one of the important keys to handling it successfully is to be prepared and decide at an early stage what you want to do and how you want to look.
Prepare in advance
Rather than letting the effects of the treatment dictate what you do and how you feel it’s often a good idea to take control and approach it on your own terms. Only you can decide the right approach for you and there is no “correct” way to deal with it but here are the three main options.
Out and battling
If you’re the type to take things head-on you may be happy to be up-front about the treatment and choose to show what’s happening to you. Some women even decide to shave off their hair as soon as it starts to fall out.
Open but disguised
If you prefer to disguise the loss in order to look more normal, but are still open about your treatment, then you may decide to wear wigs, scarves or hats. How scarves look will depend on your normal style – if you like a flowing gypsy-style it may be perfect for you – and similarly with hats of whatever style you prefer. It’s about whether you can carry it off and feel comfortable.
Fully disguised
You may however feel that you don’t want to reveal your treatment or maybe even the fact that you have cancer at all – for instance to keep the problem from children or other relatives. If that’s the case then you need a convincing cover.
You may be able to either re-style your hair in advance of chemo to match a wig of your choice – switching over once the hair loss begins so there is no discontinuity, or find a wig that matches your existing hair style. Alternatively you may prefer a more permanent solution and choose to use a hair integration system such as our Intralace System which will disguise the hair loss but also allow your own hair to grow back freely underneath. If you think this is an option you’d like to consider then naturally we’d be pleased to discuss it with you.
The Intralace won’t suit everyone but for some it does have significant advantages. I spoke to a lady recently who said she hadn’t wanted her young children to see her without hair, and she didn’t want to have to remove a scarf or wig at bed time. She told me that she found by having her hair restored through the use of the Intralace System she felt a sense of normality returning – everyone said she looked better so she felt better. She also felt that people treated her differently – they assumed all was well as she looked like her old self.
Getting back to normal afterwards
In most cases the hair fully grows back once the chemotherapy treatment is finished. but sometimes may be a different colour or texture and it can be challenge to wait for it to grow to your preferred length. One of the advantages we find with the Intralace is that your hair can successfully grow back underneath it and after a few months it will reach the stage where the system can just be removed. To help the transition appear natural you may then consider using fine, lightweight extensions until you’re happy with the length and thickness of you own natural hair.
Coping with cancer is one of the hardest things for anyone to deal with and having Chemotherapy for it brings its own challenges. Those ladies who are comfortable managing their hair loss without concealing it should certainly be admired for their bravery, but our hair is embedded in our femininity and so for many women its loss has a profound effect on their emotional health. It’s comforting to know that full regrowth is entirely possible but while you wait there are great options available to temporarily replace your crowning glory and in turn restore your confidence.
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If you’d like to read more about other women who’ve undergone chemotherapy here are some articles that have appeared in the press about clients of ours. We think they are inspiring and hope you will too.
Lynn Crisp’s story appeared in You magazine when she was a finalist in the YOU/Breast Cancer Care model competition.
Lisa Markwell told Easy Living about her journey to baldness and back.
Joanna Patrick spoke to The Observer Magazine in an article on the many forms of hair loss.