Not every chemotherapy patient will lose their hair during treatment. It mostly depends on the type of medication you are taking and your hair type.
Why It Happens
Since chemotherapy drugs are very powerful, patients will often experience side effects which are rather severe, with complete hair loss being one of the most common, including the loss body hair, so not only the hair on the scalp is subject to loss from chemotherapy. Radiation is often used in conjunction with chemotherapy. The purpose of radiation is to kill off the cancer, but it can also damage the hair shaft as well.
Can It Be Avoided?
If you lose your hair from chemotherapy, there's really not much you can do to avoid it, unless you just don't go through with the chemotherapy treatments. But since cancer is such a severe disease, you're better off dealing with loss of hair from chemotherapy as it occurs, since avoiding the treatments is not really a viable option.
What To Do
Dealing with cancer is difficult for everybody stricken with this disease, but dealing with loss of hair from chemotherapy in addition to coping with whatever type of cancer you may have only makes coping even more difficult. The loss of hair can cripple your self-esteem, so rebuilding your self-esteem after treatments are complete is something you may have to deal with as well.
Keeping lots of family and friends around during that time can help keep your spirits up, since they can offer a lot of support, and give you support and guidance. keep in mind that your life and health are much more important than your hair. Getting rid of the cancer is most important, regardless of whether you lose your hair or not. Remember also that this type of hair loss is usually temporary, so it will likely grow back after the chemotherapy treatments are concluded.
Other possible side effects of chemotherapy include fatigue, loss of appetite, diarrhea, constipation, and nausea. Make sure that you speak to your doctor before going through with any chemotherapy treatments, so that you can discuss the other possible side effects as well.
Although your hair may be important, your health is the most important. Rest assured that your hair will most likely grow back again once you get well. When you look at it from that perspective, perhaps dealing with loss of hair from chemotherapy isn't that difficult after all.
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Angus Zimmerman - http://www.besthairlosspro.com. Angus is a hair loss expert who has spent considerable time studying the various types hair loss. More information on hair loss can be found at http://www.besthairlosspro.com.
