Why Do People Lose Their Hair in Chemo?

It’s well known that people who undergo chemotherapy are at risk of losing their hair. This is a common side effect, but plenty of people who have this experience are ultimately able to regrow their hair after treatment has been completed. Few patients should be dealing with permanent hair loss.

This kind of alopecia or hair loss can also be associated with radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or bone marrow transplants. All of these treatments are connected with possible hair loss because they attack the cells that help a person’s hair to grow.

How Does Hair Loss Happen on the Body?

While many people know about the loss of hair on the head because of people who have used hair wigs or head coverings while going through chemo, hair loss also affects other areas of the body, too.

According to Cancer.net, it is not uncommon for hair loss to affect the legs, underarms, face, arms, and the pubic area. Each patient’s experience might be different in that some people lose all their hair at once. It is also often reported by those going through chemo that their hair gets thin. Not all of it might fall out, but the patient could still have extremely thin hair throughout their scalp.

What Should Patients Expect With Hair Regrowth After Chemo?

The hair regrowth process is usually slow and steady, but most people who make it through the chemo process will be able to regrow their hair. Growth rates can also be affected by a person’s age, overall health after chemotherapy treatment, and other factors.

When Should My Hair Start to Regrow?

A common concern for anyone moving on after their cancer treatment is when the hair might start to grow again. This will look different from one patient to another, but most people see their hair start to come back a few weeks after their final treatment of chemo.

The delay of growth, however, is due to the chemo treatment running the course out of the body. Some of the ingredients and impacts can still be inside the body after the final treatment, so it can take some time for this to cycle out.

Proper hair regrowth can be expected a few months out from the final treatment. Those patients who don’t have any hair regrowth should speak with their doctor about further expectations.

What Happens if No Hair Grows Back?

Certain people might have major changes in their hair after chemotherapy, according to NBC News, but permanent alopecia is rare. Some patients have reported that their hair texture changes entirely when hair comes back after the conclusion of cancer treatment.

When no hair comes back, however, this can be a shock, especially for women who have overcome cancer and had no reason to believe their hair loss was permanent. Many women who went through Taxotere breast cancer treatment reported permanent hair loss after they completed their cycle of chemo. This permanent alopecia, they claim, is a known side effect of Taxotere, but the patients argue that the manufacturer failed to warn them.