to shave or not to shave!!

Hi all,

just wanted to know if anyone has any advice please!
hair has started to grow back finished chemo a few weeks ago but it is very fine and fluffy (and far to grey!!)
is it best to leave it to grow or should i shave this off so the next lot is stronger???

Any tips and advice would be appreciated!

love Debs xxx

well done debs i couldn’t find how to start a new thread. I am the same as you and would love some advice on what to do with my grey, fuzzy short hair. I also wonder if someone further down the line can give us some advice on whether to shave it or shall we leave it alone?

Luv Pauline x

I would leave it if I were you. Apparently it’s not true that shaving it off makes it grow more strongly.
I left mine and eventually it did become more like ‘normal’ hair.
Good luck
Anthi x

I left mine and the fluff turned to curls and now, a year later, it is becoming straighter and I am looking (and feeling) more like me.

Kinden
xx

Thanks for the advice, have to say i am reluctant to shave it!!
love Debs xxx

Hi Debs,

I did shave mine but only because it was all different lengths. I had shaved it when it started to fall out back in April but a few bits continued to grow so it looked very untidy. I wouldn’t say it is growing any thicker because of shaving but it does look better and is growing quite well.

If it’s any consolation I found the grey hairs seemed to come in first and it looked very grey to begin with. The darker ones took longer to come back. The grey is now barely visible and my hair is thicker and darker than it was before treatment (if still very, very, short).

Jan xx

I was advised by the hairdresser at the hospice that you should shave the first “growth”. When it first came in it was grey and fluffy, I got my OH to shave it off after a few weeks and then my hair came back in my natural light brown colour. That was back in April, my hair is still short but it is thicker than before. I have read that if you are on Herceptin it grows at half the speed, which I think mine is. Just have to be patient!

Hope this helps.

Sue xx (this is an old photo taken in May!)

Hi
I left mine till it had probably about 3 inches of length. It was fine and quite curly and very fair to white, although I could see some colour in there. Here’s the thing - I could tell that some of the hairs were getting progressively more colour to them as they went to the root. Went to the hairdresser when it just looked ridiculously untidy and we cut off a good inch and half. This took it down to where the shaft of each hair was coming in more strongly, ie thicker, and also took a lot of the white out. It immediately looked thicker and had more colour, and wasn’t as curly.

Basically, shaving it doesn’t make it grow quicker or thicker, it just shaves off the first couple of inches which are weak, thin, and can be quite colourless, and maybe chemo curled. Your hair follicles keep getting stronger, so each hair gradually gets thicker and thicker, and if you’re lucky gets some colour back, or maybe all of it. At the same time, as somebody said above, it takes a while for all the follicles to start producing hairs, so if you shave for a couple of months and then let it grow you will feel like you have a better head of hair immediately. But really you only have the same as those that let it grow, it’s just that you shaved off the weak stuff.

I’m off for my second post chemo haircut tomorrow 6 months after it started growing back, and while I have lost a lot of colour I do have colour back (I thought I was going to white), and my hair looks pretty similar to what it did before, maybe just teeny bit more wavy.
Must take a new piccie and post it up. Will do that after the haircut tomorrow.

Best of luck whether you shave or not. 18 months of haircut experimenting ahead! :smiley:

My hair came through very curly (more like a 1970’s perm effect)and I hated it but I couldn’t bring myself to shave it off. It just felt so good to have hair again.

One year on it’s bob full of soft curls and I love it. Even better not a grey hair in sight (and I’m 57)!

My photo was taken in January (wig in place) and my hair is now about the same length.

Mal

thanks for all your advice, think i will hang on to it for a while and see how it grows. don’t think i can bare to shave it off, its too precious at the min

Luv Pauline xxx

i agree with you pauline! even if it is grey and fluffy!
thanks for all the advice, glad to hear it does come back eventually think im a bit impatient!

love debs xxxx

any more tips!!! xx

i was wondering about this too as mine is about 1cm long and quite grey and fluffy but dead straight at the mo. i was originally advised to shave it off about a month after last chemo which im having this week.

however as its winter iv decided not to shave it off cos its just too damn cold to intentionally have no hair LOL.

Lxx

Hi folks

Like others on this thread I didn’t shave off my hair when it first came back. I finished chemo in August 2008 and just let my hair grow. It grew in fluffy, then curly and much thicker than previously. I’ve now had it styled twice and I still have curls and waves and lovely thick hair. I don’t see the point of shaving off the first signs of growth - for me that was the most exciting time given it signified the end of the toxic drugs and gave me something positive to watch!

Gill x

Mine is 1-2cm long, fluffy and very grey but its hair and its mine!! Have no intention of shaving it off! Its very thick in the middle like a mohecan!!!

S

I agree Sue, I am pleased with the amount I now have, just not the colour (grey/white) mind you Christmas is coming so there may be some seasonal santa work about! Has anyone further down the line used a vegetable dye on their hair and can they recommend one - I am definitely going to do it in the next week or so but there are so many products to choose from - any advice gratefully received. Isnt it fantastic how we are all progressing - it was nice to find some old faces (as in familiar) on this thread ! Love to all, DebbieX

Thanks for all the tips! I dont want to shave mine as has been said its Hair!!!
Gill I’ve seen your hair and its lovely, how are you???
Debbie think i will need veg dyes too!
Evie, love the sound of your mohican!
Lulu- woolley hats??

love to all the fluffy hair friends Debs xxxx

hi there everyone, just thought i would share this with you all. my daughter goes to the same hairdresser as me. yesterday she went to have her hair done and was telling her about my hair. this is what they said,

  1. i should leave it 6 to 12 months before having it dyed at hairdressers and listen to this one…
  2. they want a note from my doc to say it is ok before they will do it, can you believe that!

Has anyone else come across either of these points? or do i need to be looking for a new hairdresser?

Luv to all you trend setting lovelies xxx

Hi have you read the breast cancer care booklet called breast cancer and hair loss it says to avoid colouring and using chemical products on your hair for at least 6 months after the end of your treatment, it also says you can use natural products such as henna or vegetable based colours. You can get the vegi dyes from holland and barrett look it up its called naturtint either semi or perminant and is in alot of different shades. As for needing a letter from your doctor that is ridiculous my hairdresser has said once long enough she will do a test strand to make sure its ok, i might ask the chemo nurse on wednesday when i go for herceptin how long etc.
julie

Dear All,

I have attached a link so that you can download the booklet on Hair Loss.

breastcancercare.org.uk/healthcare-professionals/publications/health-and-wellbeing/*/changeTemplate/PublicationDisplay/publicationId/12/

I hope this helps.

Kindest regards

Janet
BCC Facilitator