Your healthcare team can tell you whether your chemotherapy treatment is likely to cause hair loss. This allows you to plan for head coverings or treatments to reduce hair loss. You might not think about how important your hair is until you face losing it. If you have cancer and are about to start chemotherapy, the chance of hair loss is very real. People with cancer report hair loss as one of the side effects they fear most as they face cancer treatment.
Talk to your cancer care team about any fears or concerns you have about losing your hair. Ask about how you can prepare. Planning for hair loss may help you cope with this difficult side effect of treatment. Chemotherapy uses powerful medicines that attack fast-growing cancer cells. The medicines also hurt other fast-growing cells in your body. These include cells in your hair roots. Chemotherapy may cause hair loss all over your body, not just on your scalp.
Sometimes your eyelash, eyebrow, armpit, pubic and other body hair also falls out. Some chemotherapy medicines are more likely than others to cause hair loss. Different doses also can cause anything from a slight thinning to complete hair loss.
It could fall out very quickly in clumps or gradually. You'll likely notice hair on your pillow, in your hairbrush or comb, or in your sink or shower drain. Your scalp may feel tender. Hair loss typically continues throughout treatment and up to a few weeks afterward. Whether your hair thins or you become completely bald will depend on your treatment. Talk to your healthcare team about the chemotherapy medicines you'll receive.
They can tell you what to expect. It may take several weeks after treatment for your hair to recover and begin growing again. You can expect to regrow your hair 3 to 6 months after your treatment ends. When your hair starts to grow back, it will probably be slightly different from the hair you lost. But the difference is usually temporary. Your new hair might have a different texture or color.
