does hair loss always come with cancer treatment?
Cancer - 4 Answers
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1 :
For most people, chemo makes their hair fall out. Some people don't lose their hair, some of them lose some hair but not all, it depends. My cousin had chemo for her leukemia, and when part of it fell out, they went ahead and shaved the rest off. She lost even her eye lashes and eyebrows at one point, but now she is doing a lot better and in maintenence stage where they are less aggressive with the treatment. Along with hair loss, there is a host of other vicious side effects. She got so frail, so thin and pale at one point that her being bald was the least of her problems. She had a lot of joint pain and fatigue, plus weird cravings and a hard time with throwing up a lot. If you are that sick, it really becomes the least of your problems in having cancer. Now her hair is back in and it annoys the crap out of her when it won't lie down, it's too short to do much to.
2 :
Some chemo drugs do induce hair loss. The drug I'm taking doesn't. My hair feels like baby hair, very soft and fine. The only bald spots I have are from my radiation treatments to my head. They're already growing back except for the spot my surgeon peeled open. It's stil swollen with some fluid, so my hair won't grow till the swelling goes down more.
3 :
No. Some cancer patients' treatment doesn't include chemotherapy. And not all chemotherapy regimes cause hair loss; some just cause hair thinning, some cause no hair loss at all, and some cause extensive hair loss. . A patient's oncologist will be able to advise them in advance if their particular drug combination is likely to or will definitely cause hair loss. Radiotherapy is a local treatment and won't cause hair loss unless it's to the head or another area with hair.
4 :
Not always. My grandma and uncle had pancreatic cancer and they never lost their hair, in fact their hair didnt even thin, or at least not to the point were it was noticable. They had the same head of hair in their coffins as they did before the cancer.
