Nerdy Science Blog

Hair loss due to chemotherapy can be one, if not the most distressing side effects of the treatment. Studies do show that both man and woman rank hair loss as the most feared side effects after being diagnosed by their doctors for having cancer.

What actually causes hair loss?

Cells around the hair follicles multiply rapidly. Chemotherapy drugs, which specifically target rapidly multiplying cancer cells, could also attack the rapidly growing cells around the hair follicles. Chemotherapy could cause hair loss not just on you scalp, but also eyelash, eyebrow, armpits, pubic and other body hair. The severity of hair loss is determined by the drugs and the different doses that the patient consumed. Majority of the chemotherapy drugs could cause hair lose while newer, more targeted drugs, do not affect the hair.

Usually, hair loss begins 2 or 3 weeks after the patient’s first chemotherapy treatment.

Various methods had been discussed to on how to cope with hair loss. Some of them are:

1. Try to treat your hair gently. Use soft brushes. Try to limit hair wash, only wash when necessary. Gentle shampoos are recommended. Stay away from shampoos that could dry the scalp. Avoid accessories or ponytails that could pull on your hair. The use of hair dryers should be limited.
2. Shaving your head. This could reduce the irritation and embarrassment of shedding. It looks better than the patchy hair loss as well. Plus, a shaved head is easier for securing wigs.
3. Protect the scalp. Cover your head with wigs, scarves or other head coverings. You need to protect you scalp from the sun. Use sunscreen on your scalp when necessary. Newly exposed scalp can be very sensitive to the UV rays.

Doctors generally would recommend cancer patients to cut their hair before receiving treatments. Even thou cancer patient’s hair would grow back slowly, but there are chances that they might not have the same texture anymore. When the hair grows back, it doesn’t mean that the chemotherapy is not working. This is just a part of the natural process.

To prevent unwarranted hair loss, patients should consult their oncologists to find out more about the side effects of the chemotherapeutic drugs that they are going to consume.

Another way to prevent hair loss effectively would be to choose from the available hair shampoo and hair treatment solutions which are specially designed for cancer patients. Study shows that by shampooing cancer patient’s hair with a calf’s thymus extract before chemotherapy and massaging the scalp with solution of thymus concentrate could help patients from experiencing the side effect of hair loss. Products containing both of these substances had been produced (for example products called ThymuSkin Shampoo and ThymuSkin Hair treatments) and had been use in treating hair loss due to chemotherapeutic drugs in Germany and Austria. It was reported that ThymuSkin could prevent hair loss in patients who received a moderate or mild chemotherapy if they are used 1 week before and during the treatment.

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