Advice On Hair Loss Associated With Chemotherapy

2007-09-23 Word Count: 429 Category: Hair Loss

Facts on chemotherapy caused baldness

Hair loss during chemotherapy can be devastating to many people's view of themselves and result in loss of confidence and motivation. Considering the literal life and death aspects of chemotherapy as cancer treatment, the loss of some of your hair logically should be a minor issue. However, as humans we don't always think very logically, and the emotional impact can be immense as it brings home the battle inside to a very real outside manifestation of illness.

One of the worst and frequently reported side effects of chemotherapy is that it induces loss of hair, which is emotionally very upsetting both for men and women. However, in such cases the loss of hair and the degree of hair loss largely depends on type of medicines, quantity of dosages taken per day and period of medical treatment

Generally speaking, it occurs because of the same reason why chemotherapy works in treating cancer. Rapidly growing cells are attacked by the drugs, and both cancer cells and the cells responsible for hair growth do grow fast. The alopecia is commonly not permanent and after chemotherapy has been finished, the hair will grow once more. It will take one or two months following the completion of the course of treatment for hair growth to resume and color and texture may have changed from before.

Chemotherapy results in hair loss and a number of methods have shown promise in minimizing this problem. Minoxidil (Rogaine being the best known brand) does not stop hair loss but it does help in slowing down the loss to some extent and also enabling faster re-growth of hair. Another fundamental method that exists is to apply ice packs to the scalp. This helps in slowing down the blood flow in that area thus reducing hair loss in that area. However the negative side is the increased risk of cancer in the area where ice pack is applied because of the slowing down of blood flow. Also this technique may be uncomfortable for some people.

You can lessen the visual impact of hair loss during chemotherapy treatments on your life by thinking ahead. Before beginning treatments, you should not do anything that could cause damage to your hair, such as coloring, bleaching or any other chemical process. Try to think ahead and decide if you are going to want to wear a wig during your treatments, or if you are simply going to cut your hair short or if you want to go ahead and shave your hair prior to treatment.

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