Hair loss is one of the most well known side effects of cancer treatment and can be partial or complete. It commonly affects head hair but may also affect the eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair.

Not all chemotherapy treatment causes hair loss and if you do lose your hair it almost always grows back once treatment has finished. By 4 to 6 months after chemotherapy it should have grown back fully and there may be some changes to the quality of the regrown hair such as colour or curliness.

  
Radiotherapy treatment to the head always causes some hair loss particularly at the treatment site. If you are receiving treatment to a particular part of your head, you will lose hair in that area and possibly also on the opposite side of the head, where the radiotherapy beams pass through. After radiotherapy it may take over 6 months for your hair to grow back. Growth may be patchy but usually recovers completely in time although some people do have permanent hair loss.

Covering your head with a soft hat or scarf will help protect the exposed skin from the sun and keep your head warm when it’s cold.
FORCE provides a wig fitting service at its Support Centre on specific days of the month. To find out more about this service and/or make an appointment please call Naomi Snook on 01392 406154. A variety of scarves are also available from the Centre at very reasonable prices. Instructive literature is also available to help you tie the scarf effectively.

Further information about cancer and hair loss is available through the following sites:

www.cancerbacup.org.uk (CancerBACUP)

Contains over 4000 pages of accurate up-to-date information on all aspects of cancer and a searchable database of other organisations and sources of help. Alows you to send questions to specialist cancer nurses by email and has a questions-and-answers section.
www.cancerhelp.org.uk (Cancer Research UK) Contains patient information on all types of cancer and has a cancer research clinical trials database to allow people to identify suitable clinical trials.
www.hairlineinternational.co.uk (Alopecia Patients Association) Has tips on coping with hair loss caused by cancer treatment.
www.hairscientists.org (The Trichological Society) Has a section on hair loss caused by cancer treatment.