If you lose your hair during chemotherapy, you may choose to wear a wig, scarf, turban or hat while your hair is growing back. Or you might feel comfortable leaving your head bare. You could try out a few options over time and see what feels like the right thing for you. Generally, hair starts to grow back after your treatment ends.
Some treatment centres offer cold caps (also called scalp cooling), which may prevent total head hair loss, but this depends on the chemotherapy drugs used. Ask your treatment team if cold caps might be an option for you.
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Dr Diana Adams, Medical Oncologist, Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, NSW; Prof Bruce Mann, Specialist Breast Surgeon and Director, Breast Cancer Services, The Royal Melbourne and The Royal Women’s Hospitals, VIC; Dr Shagun Aggarwal, Specialist Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Prince of Wales, Sydney Children’s and Royal Hospital for Women, NSW; Andrea Concannon, consumer; Jenny Gilchrist, Nurse Practitioner Breast Oncology, Macquarie University Hospital, NSW; Monica Graham, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; Natasha Keir, Nurse Practitioner Breast Oncology, GenesisCare, QLD; Dr Bronwyn Kennedy, Breast Physician, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, NSW; Lisa Montgomery, consumer; A/Prof Sanjay Warrier, Specialist Breast Surgeon, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Dr Janice Yeh, Radiation Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC.
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