How to Grow Hair Back After Chemo

Chemotherapy is an effective cancer treatment. However, it has many side effects on the human body. Excessive hair loss is one such chemotherapy side effect, which most cancer patients find it difficult to deal with. Parting with your beautiful mane is indeed not easy, especially for the women folk. Naturally, this is not a favorite treatment option among women. 'How to grow hair back after chemo', is the first question they ask their oncologist, when they hear that they will need to undergo a chemotherapy. Thus, if you are wondering about will hair grow back after chemotherapy then here is good news for you, your hair does grow back within few months after chemotherapy!

Chemotherapy Drugs and Hair Loss

The extent of hair loss largely depends upon the chemotherapy drugs used for cancer treatment. The working mechanism of these drugs is simple, they detect fast growing cells and attack them. However, they cannot tell the difference between cancer cells and harmless body cells, thereby end up killing these cells as well. This also applies to the cells that are responsible for hair growth. Drugs like Cytoxan, Taxol and Adriamycin are responsible for excessive or total hair loss. You may lose hair of eyebrows, eyelashes and hair on the other parts of body.

When Does Hair Grow Back After Chemo Treatments?

Hair loss begins after 10-15 days of chemotherapy. You may start losing clumps of hair rapidly and within a week you'll lose about 50% of your hair. This continues for about a month or until the effect of chemotherapy drugs completely subsides. Within next 2 weeks, you will start noticing hair growing back! Thus, typically, hair regrowth begins within 4 to 6 weeks of chemotherapy treatment. This duration may vary depending upon your general health and the type and amount of chemotherapy dose.

How Does Hair Grow Back After Chemo?

The regrowth of hair is mainly due to the wearing off effect of the chemotherapy drugs. The cells that are responsible for hair growth, then start their normal function. The growth of hair is about quarter inch per month. Thus, it will take several months to get your full length hair back. Also, hair growing back after chemo may differ in texture and color from your original hair. Your new hair may be curly or straight with a bit more thickness. Initially, you may have gray hair, since the pigment may be lacking. But once the cells start functioning properly, you'll probably get your original hair back.

Growing Hair Back Quickly After Chemo

If you wish to grow hair back quickly after chemo, you will have to begin preparing for it several weeks before you are due for chemotherapy. The first and the foremost thing that you should do is, strengthen your natural hair, so that they can endure the harsh chemo treatment. This may prevent the ill effect of chemotherapy drugs on your hair, to some extent. This can be achieved through proper nutrition and gentle hair care. Refrain from going for any hair treatment before and after chemotherapy, at least for six months. Any type of hair treatment damages the hair follicle and results in aggravated loss of hair during chemo.

Now that you know how to grow hair back after chemo, you may find it a bit easier to deal with hair loss. You may start preparing yourself by trimming your hair so that there is not much transition, more so, if you have long hair. Also, short hair create an illusion of added volume, hence your thinning hair will go unnoticed for long time. Moreover, you may even consider trying different hairpieces, before you grow back your full length hair.