Beauty tip #11: post-chemo hair growth
Hello my chemo friends and sorry for my absence! Between organising our wedding, getting a puppy and moving houses, plus still working full-time and trying to live and enjoy a healthy cancer-free life, it has been busy here – but a ‘good’ busy as these were all exciting!
If you are starting chemo soon, please check my other blog about avoiding hair loss during chemo, so you can skip this blog. Otherwise, if like me, you lost your hair, I hope this blogs helps you!
I can’t believe I started writing this blog almost 2 years ago, but then I stopped. I decided that at that stage I was desperate to have my hair back but I had no experience in hair growth as I was in fact bald! I felt like a fraud so I stopped writing this blog way too many times. Now, almost 2 years without chemo (and still cancer-free, yay J) and with my natural hair touching my shoulders, I feel much more confident to share with you what worked and what didn’t work to make my hair grow (faster).
I know that the million dollar question is: when will my hair start growing again? Generally speaking, you will notice a soft fuzz growing a few (2-3) weeks after the end of chemo, then about one month after chemo your new hair should start growing again. Hair grows about half an inch (1.2 cm) per month (I know right, so slow!), but of course this changes person to person. I found that my hair grows very slowly, which was difficult at times. Especially during those first months, when our hair needs to basically get through the scalp, again felt like forever! It took me about 10 weeks to have about one inch (2.5 cm) of hair and to feel like I was able to ditch the wig and pretend I had intentionally shaved my hair during summer lol (the wig also became too hot during summer and the scalp got itchy).
Before we go ahead, let me come clear upfront and say that if you are hoping for a miracle, I am sorry to say I did not find one (that worked for me). Some people swear by different products and recipes, besides a large amount of patience nothing else seemed to work, but I have a few tips on how to deal with it.
Tip #1: have patience!
Your hair will grow again, but it will take time. Don’t try to rush it and instead enjoy the different lengths. Imagine it is the first time in your life you can see how you would look like with all sorts of hair length, from shaved, to a pixie, a bob, shoulder length and long hair (if that’s your aim), and then you can pick your favourite. For example, I struggled with short hair every day! I am much happier now (because I feel much more like myself again) with longer hair, but you might decide that short hair is the way to go.
Remember your hair might come back in a different colour and texture than before – this also requires patience! My hair came back several tons darker, thicker and wavier than it used to be. My whole life I have wanted wavy hair, but the reality is that it didn’t look good when it was super short. My solution was to appeal to a Keratin hair straightening treatment as soon as there was enough length, and about 14 months after chemo I did some highlights to open the colour a bit. But change doesn’t mean a bad change! My mum for example was delighted with her chemo curls! Your hairdresser will be your best friend during this phase and their help will ensure each length is enjoyable and manageable.
Tip #2: you can use vitamins and hair products
But honestly I am not sure whether they work or not. They might, however, make your hair and nails stronger, which is great too. I have religiously taken biotin and other hair-specific vitamins (such as this) since the end of my chemo. As per everything else we might want to take during or after chemo, please please please discuss it with your medical team first – mine gave be the thumbs up to use it.
I was so desperate that as soon as chemo finished I started using minoxidil (aka Regaine or Rogaine, which is scientifically proven to increase hair regrowth, reference 1) to help my hair regrow. I used it for probably one month and then I stopped because it was messy and I could see that my hair was indeed coming back (so no need to panic). The reality is that in MOST cases you don’t need that and your hair will start growing again naturally. Sadly but also very rarely, a few people will experience permanent baldness – if this has happened to you ask your oncologist to help. But if you hair came back thinner than it used to be, minoxidil might help. Again, please discuss the use with your medical team.
For 6 months I also used a shampoo that was recommended by other chemo girls and by a hairdresser – it is supposed to make our hair grow faster, but honestly I am not sure if it worked and it made my hair drier than usual. I also tried a caffeine shampoo based on a friend’s recommendation, but again didn’t see any difference. The smell was quite masculine so I decided it was not for me after I finished the first bottle. Not enough research has been done in this area, and we can’t rule out a ‘placebo effect’ (when we believe a treatment is going to work, but this cannot be attributed to the properties of the treatment itself). Also hair growth (and thickness) could be due to the daily scalp massage (reference 2) as a consequence of washing your hair more frequently. Surely my hair has grown, and I have more hair than I used to, but that might just be the ‘after chemo’ effect and time!
Tip #3: get a haircut
Getting haircuts might seem counterintuitive, but having regular (every 2-3 months) haircuts will ensure that you look like you got that short haircut in purpose – and not that your hair is growing wild after chemo. Make sure you have a hairdresser you can trust, and if your aim is to grow your hair long again ask them to remove as little as possible to make it tidy but without removing much length. This won’t make your hair grow faster but it will help you deal with it while it is growing. Especially because our hair does not grow at the same speed evenly – which means you might experience a not-so-wanted mullet (I had a mullet so many times!).
Tip #4: hair extensions
That’s definitely the fastest way of getting long hair again, but also an expensive way! It is possible to do it even with an inch of hair – have a look at some amazing transformations by the American hairdresser Jon Richard. The issue is finding a competent hairdresser that has a lot of experience with hair extensions near you, so that they can blend your new hair with the extensions well but especially avoid causing any damage to your precious new hair.
If you talented in the hair area, you can also get clip-in hair extensions. I am not… Out of excitement, I bought clip-in hair extensions when I had only a few inches of hair, but I never managed to wear them as I didn’t know how to blend them well. Three months ago, in preparation for our wedding, I got 150g of micro weave hair extensions. It was helpful to go to the hairdresser beforehand to prepare for them – for example, it is easier to blend your hair with the extensions if you hair doesn’t have a proper cut for a few months, and also they need to match the colour well. I loved my hair extensions and especially I love having long hair again, but I didn’t realise how much work they are… They need to be brushed at least twice per day as they get knotted very easily. Also they are difficult to wash as you need to dry and blend them with your hair every time, so now I live out of dry shampoo lol but seriously, I always had straight hair before chemo and I didn’t even owe a hair straightener so I had to learn to straight and curl my hair extensions – not an easy task if you are a beginner like me! Every 2 months, as your hair grows, they also need to be moved back closer to your scalp, and this is costly too. But having the hair extensions were worthy every cent for me and my self-stem especially for our wedding!
Importantly, if you want to get hair extensions after chemo I strongly suggest you get tape hair extensions, because the other types are attached by small metal rings. I recently had a breast MRI cancelled because I forgot I had these tiny metal rings in my extensions, and was terrified they would heat up and burn my hair and scalp during the exam.
Tip #5: learn to style your new short hair
For short hair, I found that I had to wash (or at least wet) my hair every day to be able to style it properly. I can’t recommend enough that you get a matte hair wax (like the ones guys use) to help control the hair and also texture powders (some options here), they do a wonderful job adding volume so you don’t look like you are wearing a helmet! You can get both at the supermarket or pharmacy. I don’t suggest investing in anything expensive until you found what works the best for YOU.
Still trying to rock that pixie? For me that was the hardest of all haircuts! But after a few tries and errors I even got compliments in my short hair style! You can find some more suggestions and also some ideas here. Pinterest is also a great source of short hair styles! J
Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you have found something useful! Remember we are all unique and because of that there isn’t a ‘one fits all’ when it comes to chemo, cancer and hair growth.
If you have any tips to add to this article, I would love to hear from you! Just email or message me J
I wish you the best in your journey and lots of health, love and laughs!
Love and health xx
Fran
References
Van Zuuren and colleagues: http://www.cochrane.org/CD007628/SKIN_treatments-female-pattern-hair-loss
Koyama and colleagues: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4740347/?report=DocSum&format=text
