Hairdresser help please - chemo hair

[ceecee32]

Hi, just looking for some advice please.

I used to have straight brown hair which was quite thick.
I have had 3 lots of chemo and my hair has come back dark grey, curly and fluffy.

It's not the colour that I have a problem with but it's just growing upwards and outwards. It looks as if I have a bald patch because it's not covering my scalp.

Do I need to find some sort of specialist hairdresser or are they all trained to deal with chemo hair ?

Bumping for you x

Not a hairdresser ceecee but i too had chemo hair which grew back curly, fortunately mostly through lockdown as my chemo finished at the end of last year.
I had a wash in wash out colour put on at my 2nd post chemo hairdresser appt, and he just kept trimming it every 6 weeks or so until all the dry and curly chemo hair was gradually gone. It thickened up lots during this time as well. Its now in a short smooth bob and I'm back to my blond foils. If anything it's even thicker than before chemo.
I think many hairdressers will have had experience with post chemo hair. Mine hadn't, but I've known him a long time and he saw me through the whole experience including wig buying and cutting my hair short as it was falling out (I chose not to shave it). I trust him completely and he made the whole hair nightmare slightly easier to get through.
Good luck with it.....its so nice getting your hair back!

I also used nioxin shampoo and conditioner for the first few months after chemo. I'm not sure if it helped very much but I felt better that I was doing something to encourage regrowth

Check out the charity Hair Reborn who support women like you (and me!).

Thank you. You have given some hope that I can get my hair to look something like normal x

I too have had chemo hair. It grew like a dark grey Brillo pad. It was awful.
My hairdresser put a colour rinse on it. As it grew it went back to my normal brown colour, but slightly curly and thicker than before.
I don't think my hairdresser had had much previous experience of chemo hair but he did lots of research and was brilliant.

A friend of mine uses Philip Kingsley’s Elasticizer and it had made a huge difference to the condition of her post chemo hair.

My friend had chemo hair and eventually it grew back thick, strong and curly. After a couple of years it was less curly, but has remained thick. She's had blonde foils for years and it's her crowning glory.
I like Cantu products for adding weight and mositure to my grey hair.

I lost around 50% of my hair on methotrexate (I haven't had cancer though) and when it finally grew back, I had strange half and half hair. Anyhow, a friend recommended a back street salon with a predominantly older clientele. They were marvellous, having seen it all over the years and knew exactly what to do. If you have one of these 'blue rinse' type places near you, don't discount it - they often have years of experience with 'poorly' hair.