Losing My Hair to Chemo – Breast Cancer
What can I do since I have lost all my hair?
Some women spend many hours brushing, blow drying, styling, and coloring their hair, so it can be devastating when hair loss is a part of your cancer survivorship. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, by the age of 40, approximately 40% of women have begun to experience some form of hair loss.
Hair problems include hirsutism (excessive hair growth on the face) and alopecia (loss of hair on the scalp). For some women, hair loss can be all-over thinning. Because of menopause and lowered estrogen levels, chronic thinning of your existing hair pattern can be seen, especially on the top of the scalp or frontal area.
Some women may benefit from women’s minoxidil (Rogaine) (McNeil Pharmaceuticals), a topical medication that may stimulate hair follicle growth and increase blood circulation to the scalp. Common side effects include itchiness of the scalp, headache, heart palpitations, and mild facial hair growth. Another oral medical hair-loss treatment, Finasteride (Propecia) (Merck), is presently not indicated and approved for the treatment of women with alopecia. An herbal product, Revivogen, may promote hair growth and prevent further loss or thinning. Hair transplantation is a surgical procedure that moves hair follicles from one area to another. Wigs are another practical suggestion for women who have had hair loss.
They are no longer the plastic, fake-looking hairpieces of the past, but are very well made and are able to be colored, styled, and personalized. Well-constructed wigs can be discreet, stylish, and natural looking. You can do most activities without fear that they will fall off.
Wigs are low maintenance and flexible. Several nonprofit organizations, such as Locks of Love, collect human hair donations so that wigs can be manufactured for cancer survivors. This group provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the United States. These children receive custom-made wigs for free or on a sliding-scale based on need. Wigs for Kids, another nonprofit group, also gives hairpieces to children.
For more information concerning the services that are available in your area or if you would like to enhanceyour physical appearance, contact the Look Good . . . Feel Better Organization (www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org).
Magnolia Myrick:
Hair loss can be devastating, but it does grow back. And meanwhile I do not have to spend hours (and hours) fooling with it to make it look good or paying somebody to make it look good. I see (and saw) this as a bonus. It almost made up for the time spent going to doctors’ appointments and treatments and radiation and all that-not quite, but almost.
Wigs are great. They really are. The fake-hair ones now are really good. Everyone told me if I got an expensive, custommade, real-hair wig and a less expensive good fake that I
would end up wearing the fake one most of the time. I didn’t believe it, but they were right. Wish I had saved myself the thousands the fancy one cost and just gone with the several hundred-dollar fake. There are also in-betweens-wigs that are combinations of real and artificial hair, with varying prices in the hundreds, generally. Check the Internet andYellow Pages. Go to the wig place and try them on. Have them cut, color, and style it especially for you. That’s what they do.
Near the end of treatment, I got a shorter wig to make the transition to my real hair less dramatic. When you do begin sporting your real hair again, have it professionally cut and shaped. Mine was dark and curly (“chemo curls” they call them) for about a year. I looked like a Kewpie Doll-or a poodle. Anyway it was cute.
I definitely kept my wig or scarf or whatever on during The Act, lest I burst into a “Kojak” impersonation at just the wrong moment. You have to be careful about swinging from the chandelier and stuff like that, but otherwise, those wigs stay on pretty well by themselves. If you use wig-tape, they aren’t going anywhere, trust me. Think all those Broadway dancers are wearing their natural hair? So you can have sex and be in a kick-line while wearing a wig. I didn’t usually sleep in a wig, though. Once I slept in a cute little white knit cap, and my boyfriend said it was like sleeping with the pope. We still laugh about that, but I did not tell the pope.
Terms:
Hirsutism – Excessive hair growth.
Alopecia – Loss of hair.
