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If you are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer treatment you have to be mentally prepared that some chemotherapy drugs can result in hair loss. You can confirm from your doctor or nurse if the drugs included in your chemotherapy regime would lead to hair loss. It is quite difficult to deal with the emotional stress of losing your hair combined with the stress of fighting against a deadly cancer.

However the good news is that the hair loss caused by these drugs is reversible. Also chemotherapy is given only for a few days depending on the type of regime your doctor prescribes. You can consider the following options in order to deal with your hair loss:

1. You can consider wearing wigs or hairpieces if you want to wear one. You can ask your chemotherapy nurse to help arrange one for you.
2. Now days, there is another remedy called cold cap or scalp cooling, which is becoming very popular in order to prevent hair loss associated with chemotherapy. However there is little scientific evidence to prove the efficiency of this treatment modality. Under this modality of treatment the patient is made to wear a cold cap while undergoing chemotherapy. This would reduce the temperature of their scalp. Cooling of the scalp produces narrowing of the blood vessels in the scalp. This greatly reduces the amount of drug reaching the hair follicles. Thus the side effects, which could result from chemotherapy, are greatly reduced. However, cold cap does not work for everyone and is not effective with certain chemotherapy drugs. It is alsonot advisable for certain types of cancers like leukaemia or lymphoma. There is also a theoretical risk that cancer cells might hide in the scalp vessels and thus escape the effect of chemotherapy drugs. Even though there is no scientific evidence behind this, many doctors are not happy with the idea of a cold cap. If you are considering cold cap, you need to consult your doctor regarding this.
3. Some general precautions you can take to decrease the effect of chemotherpy agents are:
· If your drugs are likely to cause hair loss, think about having your hair cut short before treatment.
· Do not comb or brush your hair too hard. Use a comb with thick teeth or a soft baby brush.
· Avoid using hair curlers, hair dryers etc.
· Avoid using any chemical over your hair. For eg hair sprays, mousse, colouring agents, strong shampoos etc. Try to use mild herbal shampoos.
· Give your hair a steam bath after applying coconut oil in your on weekly basis. This will reduce the thinning of your hair.

Learn more about this author, Dorothy Wilde.
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