hair

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1

Hi,

having finished my chemo on 29th april, my hair is growing back slowly,
I can feel bristles, but the majority of it is like fine down,

should I shave it all off and start again?

what have you all done with yours?

advice gratefully received Liz xxx

2

I’ve left mine alone. Couldn’t face loosing it again.

3

Hi,

I finished chemo on 10th Feb and my hair seems to be taking forever to grow back. I only completely stopped wearing scarves for work a couple of weeks ago.
I have just left mine alone, its quite thick now, but only about an inch long. Its quite nice in this hot weather though!!

Julie
x

4

I finished in April and mine has only really starting growing over the last couple of weeks or so. It’s very fine compared with my normal hair but I’m going to leave it for now and see what happens.

I’m using the Lush stimulating spice solid shampoo, not sure if it’s made a difference or not but it smells nice! :slight_smile:

Nymeria x

5

My fluff started about 2 weeks before the darker stuff. I have left mine well alone!! No point messing with it until I know what it is really doing.

I’m only on a chemo break for surgery though and likely to lose again, which is a shame as I actually like my 5 o’clock shadow after being bald for ages!!

6

Hi

I finished chemo on 4 April and I have soft, downy hair - longer and thicker at the sides and its slowly creeping upwards (looks monk-like)! I was hoping that by now I wouldn’t be wearing my wig, but in hindsight I think this was optimistic. Someone told me to shave it off and it would grow back thicker and quicker, but I’m not willing to take a chance!

Waiting patiently … Rachel.

7

I’m leaving mine as is, although the regrowth is a bit uneven, because I can’t bear to lose what I’ve got either. Most of it is around an centimeter and there’s still a thin patch on top. Eventually I’ll ask the hairdresser to trim it even, but I think it’s going to be a couple of months before I get to that point. I only shaved my head once, when quite a bit of it had fallen out.

Here’s progress: I plucked some stray hairs from around my eyebrows today, which I haven’t needed to do for months.

I don’t think shaving or cutting hair ever makes it grow more quickly, but it might make it more even and so look thicker.

Cheryl

8

Hiya,
I had my last FEC on 5th May, I then clipped my hair having not shaved it before this.
I now have about 1/2" of velvety hair over all my head and it looks like a VERY short crop haircut. It’s come back more salt than pepper than it was before and I had a couple of days where the pillow was covered again.

Eyebrows are taking their time to return to the correct place…I have had to pluck the usual strays but still using pencil to infill the gaps! Eyelashes are slowly returning too but getting there.

The only thing I’ve done to “encourage” my hair is massage my scalp regularly in the shower with a massage mitt! It seemed to like this when I had least hair.

I think I can count on one had how many times I’ve worn my wig - I did wear headscarves until last FEC then went “commando” as it wasn’t a problem where I work.

I must admit it’s brilliant in the hotter weather and I’ll keep it v short for rest of summer.

Helen
x

9

hi ladies,

thank you for all your comments, and advice,

I will leave it alone, mine is still shiny on top, longer on the sides and back,

I couldnt seem to bring myself to shave it off again, so I am so glad everyone else has said the same,

love and best wishes Liz xxxx

10

Liz, I got given the same suggestion, but I think I’ll just leave what’s there to do its own thing. It started to grow back after FEC4, and the last time I shaved my head was the Reading meet last month (end of May?) and now I have almost 1cm of stuff on my head, so I don’t look completely totally bald. That said, it isn’t terribly firmly attached and comes out if I scratch my head or pull it (I know, I shouldn’t).

Reports from others after Reading.

11

Hi ChoccieMuffin,

moral to the story: dont pull or scratch it lol,

No seriously I have heard that sometimes it does grow a little and then fall out, this happened to me half way through my 6 tax, it didnt grow much but it tried to make a come back and failed,

I am just going to leave mine be and see how I get on,

best wishes Liz xxx

12

When my hair first started to come back it was baby fine. I read on this form that a silk pillowcase is beneficial because it helps stop new hair breaking when we are in bed. A bit like when a baby rubs it’s hair away from laying in one place. Also as a side issue silk pillowcases are reputed to help with facial wrinkles!

Andie

13

Yes, I think it’s best to leave it well alone, couldn’t bear to cut off my new growth. After last chemo on 1st April,I have about 1cm of hair but unlike you Liz, mine’s thicker on top than at the sides. It’s like a Judi Dench cut but unfortunately it looks better on her head than on mine! I’m also piebald with white on top and sides and a dark grey band around the back. Just as well I love my wig although people have told me my hair would grow more quickly if I left off the wig and let the air get to it. True or not?

Love to all, Loula