Beauty tip #4: hair loss and scalp care
One of the scariest side effects of chemo for women is hair loss... I have fun taking bald photos here and there but most of the time I don’t walk around bald. I love wearing my wig, as it gives me a sense of normality back. So below I will share with you my hair loss survival plan.
Ask your doctor if a side effect of your chemo is hair loss
I have good news for some of you: not every type of chemo causes hair loss! Unfortunately for me, one of the recommended drugs for ovarian cancer is paclitaxel and it causes hair loss (everywhere!). So the first step is to ask your oncology team if you are likely to lose your hair with the chemo regimen they have planned for you.
If the (sad) answer is yes, the next question should be: is scalp cooling an option for me? Some hospitals (such as the Royal Women’s Hospital, where I had my chemo) have it available, for free. Basically, while you are receiving your chemo you wear a cap that reaches -4oC, which causes vasoconstriction and prevents the drugs from reaching your hair bulbs, so there is less hair loss. The downside is that it hurts (a lot!), but just try to get through the first 15 minutes and the pain should decrease. I used the Paxman scalp cooling system during my first 4 cycles, and I was able to keep my hair for 3 months longer than I expected. Unfortunately I changed my chemo from weekly to 3 week cycles, and the increase in dosage resulted in a substantial amount of hair loss and had to shave it. But I know other patients in the hospital that have successfully kept their hair during the whole treatment with the scalp cooling.
Preparing for chemo
If the chemo drugs you are receiving are likely to cause hair loss and scalp cooling is not an option, you better prepare yourself for the inevitable. If you want to get a wig that copies your own hair, this is the best moment. Go to wig shops before you lose your hair, so they can see the texture and colour that copies your own hair. Or if you have long hair, you can cut it and make a wig with it (like I did and absolutely love it!). In fact, I would recommend getting some options of headwear before you lose your hair, so that when it happens you have something lovely to wear.
You will start losing your hair about 2 weeks after the first treatment. I highly suggest you cut your hair short or shave immediately when this starts. Why? Because losing clumps of hair every single minute (and especially in the shower) is quite heart breaking, and you might want to avoid it. In fact, I have seen lots of women saying that shaving before they lost their hair was empowering, as you can take control of the process and don’t wait for the treatment to take it over.
Headwear
These days there are several options of headwear for chemo patients, and I should emphasise there are several lovely options! You might already have several at home, so have a look at your options before trying to buy new ones. The same scarves you used to wear around your neck can be used in your head! Same applies for beanies and caps. Since everybody is different, you might want to try a few things and see which ones you are more comfortable with. For example, while I love wearing my wig, I didn’t get used to scarves. For some reason, they remind me constantly that I have no hair, while I feel great wearing my wig, beanies or caps. So this is what I usually do: I wear my wig to go to work and attend events (restaurants, parties, shops...), I wear my beanie at home and if I am going to the supermarket, and I wear caps to exercise. I also wear a snow beanie to sleep, which is super soft and comfy, and keeps my head warm at night.
Wigs: Most women are unhappy with their hair, so this is a great opportunity to have the hair you always dreamed of! There are so many options these days, from synthetic to real hair, short to long, different hair texture and colour... You can have one of each if you want. I was planning in getting a few, but good wigs are expensive, and I loved mine very much to need a second one (although I have a pink one as part of a butterfly costume from years ago). Real hair wigs tend to be more expensive, but they also might look better than most synthetic ones. They also require more work in terms of styling. Synthetic wigs tend to be cheaper (but again the price might relate to the quality, although there are some really good – albeit more expensive – synthetic ones). I can probably write a whole blog on wigs, so I will leave more details for a later blog, I just want you to know that there are plenty options. I am also making a video of how to wash your real hair wig, I will post it over the next few weeks!
Scarves: my suggestion is to check what you have at home first, as we all tend to have some scarves. I got a few as gifts but my favourite ones were still the ones I owed previous to chemo. Something cool to do is to match the scarf with your clothes and accessories, and wear some colour, so it looks like you are trying to be fashionable instead of hiding the lack of hair. I was going to make some videos of how to knot them, but since I don’t like wearing them much I gave up for now, but here are some links to some easy and beautiful knots:
Carly has some lovely videos and Flavia in our sister Brazilian site “Quimioterapia e Beleza” (in Portuguese, but easy to follow with images) also has 10 knots in 5 minutes.
Turbans: they are super cute and you can make them look super fashionable too! I got some as a present from Estacao Outono in Brazil (but they deliver globally), they look and feel really good. Otherwise eBay is always a good option!
Caps: my partner, Ian, was who suggested that I should wear caps to exercise, and I loved it! I had to buy new ones as the one I had was too big for my head without hair. They are comfortable but stay firmly in my head, so I am not afraid of going bald in the middle of my training. Again here I suggest wearing something with colour to cheer you up!
Beanies: my favourite beanie is one that Ian gave to me before my diagnosis. It is light in colour (so it matches almost everything) and made of wool, very handy for Melbourne’s winter. If you know how to knit (or someone who does) you can make one of each colour! I have 5 beanies, 3 that I previously owned and 2 that I got as a present from a work friend.
Turbans and scarves might be a preferred option if you lose your hair during summer/spring, as they are lighter, while I found that beanies were great for winter/autumn baldness.
Scalp care
So you have lost your hair... remember to take a good care of your scalp as the skin might be very sensitive now. In my opinion, the best part of having no hair is the scalp massage in the shower, every day! But remember to use warm (not hot) water, and also moisturise your scalp as soon as you leave the shower. I use my facial moisturiser, and twice per week a combination of vitamin A and E with Bepanthen cream. Also remember to put sunscreen and cover your head if going to the sun, to avoid sunburns.
I have been bald now for 2 months, and I am looking forward to some hair growth now that I finished chemo (will do another post on that!). Of course, I would prefer to still have hair, but I am used to being bald now. And you know what? It was not the end of the world! There are times that I quite enjoy my bald head, as I learnt to see beauty in other things, and I hope you can learn that too in your journey.
Fran xo
