Cancer Treatment Can Cause Hair Loss
Cancer Treatment Can Cause HairLoss - Hair-loss often occurs as a side effect due to cancer and its
treatment. They can be quite emotionally distressing and lose your self-esteem.
By proper understanding and preparation, this can be conquered and tolerated.
Hair-loss occurs when hair falls out from the follicles that are present
in the pores of skin. Usually when they fall off new ones are replaced in its
place. If any sort of damage happens to the follicles, then hair growth can be
stopped either temporarily or permanently. Usually cancer does not lead to
follicle damage or hair loss. Its treatments often lead to hair loss.
The cancer treatments that lead to
hair-loss are chemotherapy and radiations. In chemotherapy, very powerful
and strong drugs are heavily pumped into the body to act against the cancer
cells. These drugs have many side effects. They lead to the destruction of
healthy hair cells and follicles. In radiation treatment, high energy rays are
used to destroy the cancer cells, by focusing the rays upon them. It causes
hair loss when the rays are used for the treatment of cancer cells on the scalp
of head or the follicles.
The amount of hair lost due to
these treatments can vary from person to person. It depends upon the
intensity of treatment. In certain cases hair loss is a sudden reaction while
in certain others it'll take time. In some cases hair from both the head and
scalp is lost. In some other cases, hair of the head might be lost completely
while in some other cases can be in patches. In chemotherapy hair loss begins
after 2-3 weeks of the commencement of treatment. In radiation treatment, hair
loss begins after the 1st treatment itself.
The lost hair due to chemotherapy
is replaced by new ones before the termination of therapy. But in radiation
new hair growth is usually seen only after 6-10 months after the termination of
treatment. Whatever be the case, it is important to take things in the right
way, as the side effects due to cancer treatments are difficult to restrain. It
can only be conquered by the right attitude and treatment.