Post chemo hair

[Bangersndmash]

I’ve just finished my last dose of chemo (hurrah!). Not out the woods yet as need surgery, radio and immunotherapy.

HOWEVER, I want to start my hair journey now it’s all fallen out. I persevered with the cold cap but it was going thin about 75% way thru treatment so cut it all off. I want to start putting some treatments / things in my hair for it to start growing again. Any suggestions?

My mother used rosemary oil.

Her hair grew back quite quickly, and in good condition.

Not sure I used anything special but it did come back fairly quickly once the chemo stopped. It was very fuzzy to start off with but did return to normal before too long. Good luck with the rest of your treatment.

I'm five weeks on from my final chemo dose and it hasn't started growing back yet. Based on previous cycles it has fallen out three weeks post chemo then started to regrow after about six weeks.

I've started taking biotin and using rosemary hair tonic to, hopefully, help things along.

Thank you. I will take a look into rosemary and look products. I think in my head I’m hoping to “bounce back” but I don’t think the reality is that simple is it.

Hi you might want to be prepared for your hair growing back being very different to the hair you had before. Mine grew back like steely wire wool and I ended up shaving it off again. After that it grew back like my regular hair. Wishing you all the best with your recovery.

Congrats on completing chemo! It's a tough old slog.

I used the Lush 'New' shampoo bar (still do, three years later). They actually gifted it to me as I was asking about it in the shop. Might be worth a go!

My hair used to be very thick. It's grown back thin but that may also be due to the hormone therapy.

Be super kind to yourself 🩷

Honestly I don't think anything really helps. Mine grew back quite quickly and thick and curly and I didn't use anything as my scalp felt irritated

Be patient it'll happen

I didn't do anything other than switch to gentle shampoo. It started noticeably growing back about 6 weeks to two months after chemo but it's very slow.

Well done getting to the end of chemo! I had chemo coming up for 3 years ago. I cold capped but still lost about 80% of my hair. Afterwards I used rosemary oil (no idea if it made a difference but i liked the smell!) and also found the Hair Reborn charity really helpful. They provide a ton of advice and also can put you in touch with trained hairdressers that offer 3 free hair cuts/styling sessions as your hair grows back. Mine grew back curly (which I loved) but after about a year it straightened out but has remained thick. It’s now nearly back to shoulder length. https://www.hairreborn.uk/

Well done on getting through chemo.

I don't think there's anything much that makes a difference but would use gentle products and gentle hairbrushing. You often get chemo curls back first which I hated but some people love. Its worth going to a good hairdressers once its part back but after that I left it as otherwise it wasn't lengthening. My hair now (did chemo in 2022) is exactly the same as before but had to grow the length back and grow the curls out.