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Will chemotherapy make me lose my hair?

Community member asks: Will chemotherapy make me lose my hair?

  1. Your doctor will tell you whether your particular chemotherapy treatment is likely to cause hair loss. Chemotherapy drugs are powerful and attack rapidly growing cancer cells. Unfortunately, hair root cells are also affected causing hair loss. Hair loss is a genuine fear of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
    Talking with your physician is most important so that you can prepare for the possibility of hair loss. Fortunately, most of the time hair loss from chemotherapy is temporary. You can expect regrowth within 3 to 6 months after the chemotherapy is completed. Cancer support groups and organizations are available to guide and help you with advice, wigs and strategies to help you deal this this issue

    1. Some cancer therapies will cause you to lose your hair while others may not. It is best to ask your doctor or oncology nurse this question and to read the possible side effects listed when you sign the consent for chemotherapy form. You can also research side effects of medications on the web site of the maker of therapy you are using.

      1. While all of our bodies react differently to chemotherapy it is most likely that you will lose your hair. Some people lose all of the hair on their body, eyebrows, leg hair, armpit hair, arm hair, and some people like me just lose the hair on their head. My suggestion is for those with long hair is to start cutting your hair shorter before you go for chemotherapy. I had long hair to almost my belly button and cut it shoulder length, then chin length and then finally I got a pixie cut. This helped me adjust to having no hair when that time came.

        1. There is a cold towel you can get it is suppose to help with not loosing your hair during chemo. I think even bed and bath shop had them.I did not loose my hair. When I asked my dr about hair loss she said my type of chemo would not make my hair go

          1. Thanks for the response ! I'll keep my eye out for those towels!

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