HI. I have one more chemo to go with Pertuzumab and Herceptin and then all being well I continue with Herceptin and Pertuzumab forever. (dx Met in liver). About half way through treatment my hair started to grow and I now have a fluffy layer of grey hair (original hair brown but started to go grey). I am quite excited it is growing back and would love some advice as to what to do to encourage it to grow (using natural products if possible). If there are any ladies or gents out there that could give me some advice it would be most welcome. Thanks. Angela.
Be kind to it! Right now it is like baby hair, and I bet everyone wants to touch it if you have it on view. Don’t use bleaches and harsh colours on it if, and when, you want to get rid of the grey. Use vegetable dyes which you should be able to get in a Health Shop near you. Maybe ask them about the products that they would be able to get for you.
Don’t necessarily use baby shampoo as that has stuff in it for cradle cap which you don’t need. Don’t blow dry it anymore than you need to, or use styling products. Of course, if you have a good hair dresser you could always ask them for advice.
After a quick ‘google’ you might like to have a look at these. As I have never coloured my hair it is not something I have looked into that much. I just try to use natural products and get rid of as many of the nasty chemicals as possible.
nhs.uk/ipgmedia/national/my%20new%20hair/assets/mynewhair-haircareaftercancertreatment8pages.pdf.
herbatint.co.uk/herbatint/features/herbatint-article.php?id=50
cancerhaircare.com/page/commonly-asked-q-a-pre-treatment-chemo/56
Vicki xxx
Ok to tag onto your thread Angela? I’m in the same place, I’m only a few weeks after finishing chemo, didn’t bother with the cold cap. My hair was naturally black with a few strands of grey. It’s now fluffy grey/dark at the moment. I read, somewhere, it’s best to clipper it again to get stronger hair in the long run. Has anyone else done this or read it’s the best thing to do? I don’t like fluffy. :smileytongue:
HI
Stickivicki. Thanks for the info. Im trying to be kind to my fluffy hair at the momment but just a little impatient and would love to find something that would encourage it to grow quicker. Know what you mean about using chemicals. I made the decision when dx to stop using creams etc that had chemicals in them and to be honest my skin in better for it now. So OH says he quite fancies me being grey (even though only 43) and I think I might give it a go, maybe only dye it on special occasions. Again thanks for the info.
Belinda. Can’t remember if it was the hospital hairdressers that said if I clipper it when it comes back it will grow thicker. When I go for number 6 chemo I will pop in and ask next week and let you know. Not sure I want to cut back though. Hope your hair continues to grow fast and thick. Any ideas for speedy growth would be most welcome.
Thanks Angela.x
Hi Angela,
I recently bought a shampoo bar from the natural products shop ‘Lush’ it contains natural ingredients that are supposed to promote hair growth the young guy who sold me the bar suffered with Alopecia and swears by this bar, it smells gorgeous and really lathers up when rubbed directly onto wet hair and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hair seems to be growing a bit faster!!! The sales man told me that "people who have gone through chemo buy this bar as
well as men who are going bald". I used to take a supplement called Biotin available from most health shops but no longer take it as I’m not sure it really does work on encouraging hair growth. Its made harder when your indefinately on things like me herceptin forever and tamoxifen. I also use products by a company called ‘Faith in Nature’ available from most health shops or Oxfam charity shops, they sell a range of hair and body products including beauty creams etc all paraben/SLS free with no hidden nasties and reasonably priced. Hope this helps you xxxx
Thanks for the hair advice everyone. I’m off to check my hospital website to see if we have a hair dressers.
Angela best of luck with your hair growing. :smileyhappy: I’m so happy I have almost complete eyebrows now. I missed my eyebrows over my hair I think…x
Hi
I used Phytocyane Hair revitalising serum and found it really helped my hair grow back thick and strong after chemo. I’ve attached a link with some reviews which seem to be mainly positive. It is quite expensive and the glass vials are very fiddly to use but it might be worth a try. I also used a natural henna called Surya to colour my hair. It was one of the few henna products I could find which came in blonde shades.
reviews.sephora.com/8723/P2883/reviews.htm
Happy hair days!!
Nothing to add apart from my hair grew back curly which I loved having had straight hair before, also got fluffy hair on my face which has never went unfortunately x