You may lose your hair during chemotherapy. Hair loss usually starts about 2 weeks after the first treatment. You can wear a wig, scarf, turban or hat or you might be comfortable leaving your head bare. You can try a few options and see what feels right. Generally, hair starts to grow back after 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 you have. These machines are not available at all treatment centres and are not suitable for everyone. Some people find them too uncomfortable and they are not usually covered by Medicare. Ask your treatment team if cold caps might be an option for you.
Learn more about hair loss.
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A/Prof Cindy Mak, Breast Surgeon and Director of Breast Services, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW; A/Prof Nick Murray, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Royal Adelaide Hospital and GenesisCare Adelaide, SA; Caroline Bennett, Consumer; Tamara Casey, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Breast Assessment Unit, Fiona Stanley Hospital, WA; A/Prof Joe Dusseldorp, Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Lauren Lores, Consumer; Dr Linda Madigan, Breast Physician, Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA; Catherine Meredith, Consumer; Ash Mondolo, Breast Cancer Clinical Nurse Consultant, Mater Private Hospital, QLD; Chris Rivett, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Catrina Ross, McGrath Breast Care Nurse, Northern Sydney Local Health District, NSW; Prof Christobel Saunders AO, James Stewart Chair of Surgery and Director of Research, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, VIC; Dr Janice Yeh, Radiation Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; A/Prof Yvonne Zissiadis, Radiation Oncologist, Medical Director, GenesisCare WA and Adjunct A/Prof, Curtin University, WA.
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