Hair loss.

Hi Love to walk,

My hair is just starting to grow back after chemotherapy and it is going to take a fair bit of time. Once it started coming out, it happened very quickly, which was quite upsetting.  

I got a couple of wigs and pleased I did. I wore some scarves as it started to thin but in my opinion, I felt that a scarf advertised that I was losing my hair and I didn't want that.

I'm pleased with my wigs which are realistic and one looks very much like my previous hairstyle, colour etc.

As for eyebrows, I bought lots of pencils and used eyeliner seeing as I had lost my eyelashes.

The wigs took a bit of getting used to but so does everything. 

Hope you find what works for you. 

Take care and hope your treatment goes well with very few side effects. 

1. Helen x

Thank you so much Helen. Very helpful. I hope you're starting to get back to normal now, after your treatment. I have been recommended a site called Simply Wigs, but if you used somewhere else, I'd be interested to know, because to have a couple of options might be useful. Take care.x

Hi Love to walk. The cancer I have is incurable and I have recently started a clinical trial using immunotherapy drugs. Only had one cycle,  the next on Wednesday. I'm in South Yorkshire and I applied to my local hospital for a prescription...it was about £75 then about another £20 to the lady that came to see me with a selection.  

Ask your CNS to see what procedures they have in place. They can take 2-3 weeks to arrive. 

Glad to have been sone help.

Helen xx

I am so sorry to hear that your cancer is incurable and I hope the clinical trial is successful. It is so easy to feel sorry for yourself, when you hear the words radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but I realise just how lucky I am, that after treatment, my prognosis is so good.

Thank you again for taking the time to reply to me.xx

You might like to look into the cold cap option, which can reduce hair loss. 

Thank you, but have discounted that idea, as a friend tried it and said it was like having brain freeze for 4 hours!! To be honest, I'm actually far more concerned about the side effects of the external radiotherapy.x

Hi again, I’d suggest asking on here on a new post or on the chemo support thread, and not automatically discounting it just yet, as we have some members on here for whom it helped, eg Madesp 

It obviously varies from person to person but as I’ve said to you in another post, for many people side effects from radio are minimal and temporary, 

Hi Love to walk,

If you do ever experience hair thinning or hair loss (anywhere - head, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc) , I can highly recommend an incredible charity called Cancer Hair Care (https://www.cancerhaircare.co.uk/).

Heaps of info, group + one to one advice, some super helpful give aways and they even have a wig bank.

Brilliant! Thank you so much for that suggestion.

Hi Love to walk 

I had the paxman scalp cooling during my chemo sessions, tbh it is very cold at first, you can take paracetamol half hour beforehand to lessen the effects and your head climatises after about 20mins and then it was ok for me but it meant that I didn't go bald. I did shed hair but kept most of it too. I also did buy a wig to wear if going out or special occasions, but during the heat of summer I wore wide headbands to cover the worst bit at the front as the wig was uncomfortably hot for me. Here's a link if you want to explore the scalp cooling option, you could try it once and if not for you then continue without? We are all different and I found it tolerable but as you said your friend did not. 

Because I kept most of my hair, I found it grew back quick and now, a year later it's back to normal. I would use the paxman again if I needed chemo.

https://coldcap.com/cold-capping/decision-making-guide/ 

Take care x