Hair Loss, The Unfortunate Side Effect of Radiation and Chemotherapy

Hair loss is a side effect of chemotherapy and radiation

One of the many unfortunate side effects of radiation treatment and chemotherapy is hair loss. Thinning hair and hair loss due to these treatments is often temporary but for many their hair never fully returns and if it does it comes in much thinner or sometimes in patches. In this blog, we are going to discuss hair loss and hair thinning due to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, what to expect, and some solutions for people suffering from hair loss due to chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy may cause hair loss all over your body — not just on your scalp. Sometimes your eyelash, eyebrow, armpit, pubic and other body hair also falls out. Some chemotherapy drugs are more likely than others to cause hair loss, and different doses can cause anything from a mere thinning to complete baldness. Whether or not you will suffer hair loss from chemotherapy or radiation treatment depends on multiple factors such as the type of drug used, the dose, duration or intensity of treatment. Some medications are much more likely to cause hair loss than others so it is important to speak with your doctor so that they can tell you what to expect in your particular case.

Patients undergoing these treatments can expect to see hair loss beginning at two to four weeks after starting treatment. The hair loss may start suddenly or come on gradually. The patient’s hair may just start thinning slowly or they may notice hair coming out in clumps. As mentioned before a lot of this has to do with the type of medication, dose, etc. The hair loss usually continues until three to seven weeks after treatment. At this time patients can usually expect to start to see their hair growing back in some capacity. The new hair may have a different texture and even a different color than the hair that was previously lost. What was once straight hair may now be curly and vice versa. In some instances, gray hair has even grown in place of what was once brown or black hair. This will often correct itself once the pigment cells begin to function normally again. On average patients start to see normal hair growth at around the 7th to 8th week after treatment. For some individuals though, their hair will never return to its former condition. Fortunately, there is a now viable option for treating this hair loss.

Alpha Micropigmentation is a scalp micro pigmentation center in Las Vegas, NV that is experienced in treating hair loss of all types including hair loss or thinning resulting from chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments. Scalp micro pigmentation is a procedure in which color matched pigment is precisely imprinted into the dermal layer of the scalp to replicate hair follicles on a hyper-realistic level. The procedure is relatively painless and the results are both instant and permanent. Hair loss and thinning of all kinds can be treated with this procedure including loss of eyebrows. Contact Alpha Micro pigmentation today to speak with them about how they can best help you!