One of the most frequent side effect of cancer treatments is chemotherapy hair loss. What is the reason why hair loss occurs during chemotherapy? Well, the drugs used in this type of cancer treatment are very strong, therefore very efficient in attacking the rapidly developing cancer cells. These medicines also attack other cells in the body that have a rapid growth; the cells in the digestive tract and the hair follicles are the main examples here. The effects of chemotherapy on hair are not limited only to the scalp as the procedure affects the hair on the body, too. Thus, patients will experience the loss of eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic and armpit hair.

There is a wide variety of drugs that are used in chemotherapy. Some of these will trigger chemotherapy hair loss more quickly than others, but some may not even cause such a side effect. The difference in chemotherapy drug doses is relevant for chemotherapy hair loss, and while some patients will experience thinning of the hair others will go completely bald. Thus, discussing the medication that will be prescribed with the doctor and nurse is very important as they are the specialists able to inform the patient on what to expect from chemotherapy.

In most cases you’ll start losing hair within ten or fourteen days after you start chemotherapy. It may happen quite fast, gradually or in clumps. Chemotherapy hair loss remains a problem throughout the entire period of the treatment and a month afterwards. Half the hair will be gone without one even noticing. Fortunately, in the majority of cases, chemotherapy hair loss is a temporary effect. Hair will probably grow back within six months to one year from the end of the procedure. Although the regrowth of the hair occurs in most of the cases, the new hair could be of a different texture and shade temporarily.

The hair recovery period after chemotherapy is six weeks on the average, and generally, the hair grows at a rate of about a quarter inch each month. When the hair starts growing back again, it might be a little different from the hair that was lost because of therapy. The color and texture alteration will stop and the hair will recover the look previous to the treatment the moment the cells that control the hair pigment begin working again. Unfortunately, one cannot prevent chemotherapy hair loss as none of the treatments available is completely free of such side effects.

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