If you have cancer, you may not only be dealing with physical pain but also going through a lot of mental turmoil. Though cancer is a dreaded demon in the world of medical ailments, various advancements in the medical sciences have made medications and therapies available. If you have cancer, chemotherapy is something that may help you get cured. However, this can take a toll on your health and cause some side-effects that may include myelosuppression, mucositis and alopecia or loss of hair. In this post, we talk about ways to deal with hair growth after chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy and Hair Loss – What You Need to Know
Chemotherapy involves using drugs that help in rapidly killing increasing cancerous cells. However, the drug cannot distinguish between healthy cells and cancerous cells, thus it kills both kinds of cells in the process. This could affect your hair follicles and cause hair loss from your scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, armpits, etc. Once the chemotherapy gets over, the hair follicles start getting repaired and the hair starts going. Here is some information that you need to know about chemo and hair loss:
- It is not necessary that you will experience hair loss when you undergo chemo.
- You may lose hair only from one place or all over your body.
- The pace at which hair grows may vary from person to person.
- You may start losing your hair as soon as you start with chemo or after a couple of sessions.
- Your hair may start growing while your treatment is on or a few months after your treatment gets over.
- In case you experience total hair loss, you will lose hair from all parts of your body such as eyebrows, eyelashes, genital areas, etc.
- Your hair may just thin out or you may lose your hair in clumps.
Hair Growth Timeline after Chemotherapy
Hair re-growth majorly depends on how adversely your scalp has been affected by the chemo drugs. Here is the general re-growth timeline after chemo that will help you understand how your hair would start growing back:
1. Fuzzy Soft Hair
The first kind of hair that will start growing will be very soft and fuzzy and this growth can start two or three weeks after the end of chemotherapy.
2. Re-Growth of Hair
Hair can start growing approximately one month after chemo.
3. Around One Inch
Your hair may grow up to this length approximately two to three months after chemotherapy.
4. Around Two to Three Inches
You may be able to have this length of hair approximately six months after the therapy.
5. Substantial Length
The length of hair that you can comb through or a sizable length of hair may grow after a year.
The above-mentioned is the general timeline; however, your scalp condition, hair health, age, etc are other factors that affect how your hair will grow back. However, you can make efforts to stimulate hair growth.
Also Read: 5 Things You May Not Know About Pores on Your Face
