Some cancer treatment can make your hair fall out: how do you deal with this?
Have you been treated differently because of how your hair has changed after cancer treatment? Perhaps you can offer advice to anyone looking for the perfect wig? You may not mind your bald head, but if you do want to cover up there are many types of wigs, hats, turbans or scarves that you can use. We have detailed information about hair loss on our website and have also just announced a training programme for some hair salons to offer specialist hair care advice to those affected by cancer. Find out more about it here:
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Livingwithandaftercancer/Symptomssideeffects/Hairloss/Hairloss.aspx
Our cancer support specialists can also offer advice over the phone, free:
0808 808 00 00
All my hair fell out when I had chemo for Ewing’s Sarcoma and there was nothing I could do about it (although for some people cold caps can be used to reduce hair loss)
I wore nothing at home, to be comfortable and either nothing or a headscarf in hospital. but i was a 16 year old girl with no hair and terribly ill so i worked very hard to look as normal as possible when i was feeling well enough to go out.
I origionally found a wig with a weaved parting. this was cheaper but looked terrible on at the top so i always had to wear a hat over it. after a long time suffering with horrible wigs i managed to find a lovely one with a fringe on it (so you could not tell it was a wig) and ended up buying 4 in my time of being hair-less. so i recommend if you find a wig you like, buy a few. the acrylic ones don’t last forever and it’s so hard finding suitable wigs.
once my treatment ended and my hair started to grow back wigs became too hot and itchy over my short hair, but i had no confidence to go out with my very thin, very short new hair. so i did a lot of research and ended up getting a hair solution from
http://www.hair-solved.com/
which i would recommend to anyone who will want a hair solution much more comfortable than a wig for 6 months or longer. it’s a bit like extensions but you don’t need any hair to use it. i can’t explain deeply so go on the website if you’re interested but i had it and although it’s a big thing, it’s great not having the problem of a wig falling off. i got to swim and everything in it!
but, 3 years after finishing treatment my hair is now a few inches past shoulder length and is still thickening up.
so if you’re currently losing your hair or have lost your hair due to chemotherapy – REMEMBER … its not permanent! concentrate on getting better and know your hair will come back eventually.
I don’t have cancer but if I ever did, and I knew that my hair was going to fall out then I would shave it all off in order to regain some control. I would find it very difficult to deal with as I know that I don’t suit anything below shoulder length hair and I would feel ugly.
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Hello,
Hair loss can be a traumatic experience, and having a plan in place is critical in dealing with this issue of cancer treatment because of chemotherapy.
We knew we would be getting a wig, and I took it upon myself to find a wig seller that specialized in helping cancer patients in our area. I made an appointment and my wife and I sat down and we learned a lot about wigs.
After they helped us decide on the type of wig we then tried on several that fitted my wife well. They had one like the display model and we decided that we wanted that one. Before we went into his shop I had called our insurance company to make sure it would be an expense they covered. It was with the prescription from my wife’s oncologist.
They shaved my wife’s head and fitted her with the wig. It looked very nice and that was it. They gave us instructions for caring for the wig.
Overall we were very satisfied with the experience.
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My daugter wears a hat always, she is made fun of when she went to school.
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shes an 11 leukemia fighter
I’m sorry. Was this a valid question or merely an advertisement.
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I refused to cut or shave my hair. Nurses recommend it but I don’t think they have any business saying that when they haven’t been faced with it themselves. I knew to expect it would fall out, and it did, and I just dealt with it a little at a time, and did great that way.
I got a wig just a couple days into it starting to fall out. I left it in my car for quite a while, and just got it out once I knew it was time.
My new hair is now grown back several inches and is curly! Ah! But everyone tells me it’s very cute. Chemo does have a stigma associated with it like it’s going to be awful and you will feel so bad and vomit all the time, and that was not the case at all for me. Losing your hair may very well be the worst part of it all, but I just didn’t look at it hardly ever and was fine. It was nice to get a break from having to shave my legs for a while, lol!
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Diagnosed 7/08
If you are using this forum to sell your products, shame on you. I sincerely hope every hair on your body falls out and never grows back. If you are offering free, compassionate help to cancer patients, I apologize for what I just said.
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from personal experience, women have greater anxiety over losing the hair on their head than men do, as it is often seen as visible sign of femininity to have a nice hair style. men have greater (although often secret) anxieties about losing the hair on their bodies, as they often feel it removes one of the most physical sign of being a man, it is seen as a sign of virility and strength and is often the epitome of the masculine body. for women, they can have some wonderful hair pieces made, but for men, the hair pieces are never as good, so they tend to forget them and can let on that they have shaved their head.
i think that if men who are receiving the type of chemo that makes them lose their hair, a wee bit of education goes a million miles. educating people, and telling them exactly what to expect through their treatment journey can often make said journey that little bit easier, and remove many anxieties over different hurdles that they may have. to inform a man that his treatment is going to make him loose his hair and not just the hair on his head, but it will grow back, will help to dispel any fears or worries that the man may have
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RN, PG dip Onc
If Palmyrafan and Lollipop took a little time to check the facts before ranting, that would be good.
Macmillan is a world-famous charity, which deserves all our support for the unbelievably demanding work they do in supporting ordinary people through the most difficult time of their lives.
If I should ever win the Lottery, I will be giving them a well-deserved capital sum. That is a firm promise.
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http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Home.aspx
Scalp cooling during chemotherapy may reduce hair loss. Preventing as much of the chemotherapy drug getting to your scalp as possible can do this. This is done using a cold cap that acts to cool the scalp and therefore restrict blood circulating in that area and reaching the follicles. The availability and types of cold cap used varies from hospital to hospital. The cap put on fifteen minutes before chemotherapy to start restricting blood flow, and kept on during and up to 1-2 hours after your chemotherapy.
Minoxidil (Rogaine). Applying minoxidil — a drug approved for pattern hair loss in men and women — to your scalp before and during chemotherapy isn’t likely to prevent your hair loss, although some research shows it may speed up your hair regrowth.
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http://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&source=hp&q=prevention+of+hair+loss+during+chemotherapy&meta=&aq=3&oq=Prevention+of+hair+loss+&fp=354b95d125c714da
I shave my head anyway so it wouldn’t matter to me.
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As you are a specialist maybe you would recommend they take some Anti-Radiation pills immediately after being zapped if the cancer has been fried by then they anyway, they may need some Iodine tablets to counteract the after-waves. And lots of Reishi tea to strengthen their internal organs and fight allergies.
They can wear a nice hat if its cold there’s nothing uncool about baldness I guess life is more important to them.
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A wig won’t give people strength to fight off illness will it?
i have caner which means i have no hair im,14 a teenager the point in life where hair is so important to a teenage girls life.think of it this way..you have chemo which makes your hair fall out..solution stop havin the chemo= death
sadly a harsh reality but true
if you have cancer but want to keep your hair dont have the chemo and die.
sorry to put it that way but in the end thats the final question
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Its a very personal matter, some may embrace, some may not, it might be that someone just needs a change of attitude, I mean the question still remains, "No hair or no life?". My best friend is struggling with cancer and she feels much better with a wig on. Especially one that looked like her old hair. I think you should give a free wig token to your clients since they are pretty expensive and thats one less worry they have. Though, I have never had cancer so I personally don’t know how I would feel.
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My friend embroiders awesome scarfs and wears them as bandannas – she covers them in sequins and beads and patterns, and lets the tails run right down her back and swing in the wind. They’re so awesome, they make people happy to see.
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when i lost mine during my treatment i wasn’t to bothered about my hair maybe it was because i’m bloke in my mid 20’s. i understand how it’s more of an issue for women and children i met some women during my treatment who had wigs and some who had bandannas and others who didn’t want to wear anything because they felt like they shouldn’t hide it i think it’s a personal thing what ever you need to do you should do .
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Shave the heads of friends and family whilst they sleep.
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I have recently recovered from my 4th cancer, with many radiotherapy treatments, bouts of hospital admissions and surgeries, as yet my hair has remained in-tacked, although as my daughter says with the amount of radiation I have received, I should be ‘hired out’ for a ‘mosquito light at barbeque’s and Christmas outside decoration, to give a ‘glow-in-the-dark’ appearance.
I’ve tried wigs, my hair became very thin and lifeless, and constantly when brushed came out in hand fulls, the shower plug was always full of ‘hair-balls’ disgusting. Hair salons for me was a no go, I not only was too tired to sit for hours, I felt embarrassed to see my loose hair twirl itself around their brushes/combs. I ordered real hair pieces/wigs available on the Internet and although people said they looked good, it was how I felt, and it just didn’t do it for me.
I decided I would select a hairdresser (recommended) to come to my home and give my hair a good cut, definitely no chemicals ie perms/colourants.
As for scarfs/head coverings etc, there are some nice ones out there and the hospital usually can help (many cancer hospitals have their own salons and expert advisers).
My advise would be, hair, with or without, does not change the person, and beauty is in the ‘eye of the beholder’, and to be and stay ‘positive’ is the best medicine and ultimate cure.
Caramac xx
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I shaved my hair off which surprised my family because I had just turned 16 at the time and I’m almost 18 now and I no longer have my brain tumour. I shaved my head the week after I was scheduled for my operation, I had a mixture of chemo and surgery. I wore a hat and a beret in colder months and a scarf in the summer. I stopped treatment three months ago because it’s all gone now.
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All my hair fell out when I had chemo for Ewing’s Sarcoma and there was nothing I could do about it (although for some people cold caps can be used to reduce hair loss)
I wore nothing at home, to be comfortable and either nothing or a headscarf in hospital. but i was a 16 year old girl with no hair and terribly ill so i worked very hard to look as normal as possible when i was feeling well enough to go out.
I origionally found a wig with a weaved parting. this was cheaper but looked terrible on at the top so i always had to wear a hat over it. after a long time suffering with horrible wigs i managed to find a lovely one with a fringe on it (so you could not tell it was a wig) and ended up buying 4 in my time of being hair-less. so i recommend if you find a wig you like, buy a few. the acrylic ones don’t last forever and it’s so hard finding suitable wigs.
once my treatment ended and my hair started to grow back wigs became too hot and itchy over my short hair, but i had no confidence to go out with my very thin, very short new hair. so i did a lot of research and ended up getting a hair solution from
http://www.hair-solved.com/
which i would recommend to anyone who will want a hair solution much more comfortable than a wig for 6 months or longer. it’s a bit like extensions but you don’t need any hair to use it. i can’t explain deeply so go on the website if you’re interested but i had it and although it’s a big thing, it’s great not having the problem of a wig falling off. i got to swim and everything in it!
but, 3 years after finishing treatment my hair is now a few inches past shoulder length and is still thickening up.
so if you’re currently losing your hair or have lost your hair due to chemotherapy – REMEMBER … its not permanent! concentrate on getting better and know your hair will come back eventually.
References :