PUBIC HAIR LOSS AND THINNING AND CHEMOTHERAPY

About hair loss

Hair loss is one of the most well known side effects of chemotherapy. This can be

Your hair just gets thinner and does not look very different
You lose some of your hair and it is noticeable (partial or patchy hair loss)
All of your hair falls out (alopecia)
Chemotherapy drugs can cause anything from slight thinning to complete loss of hair. Some drugs don’t cause any hair loss at all. Other body hair may also fall out, including your eyelashes, eyebrows, underarm, leg and sometimes pubic hair.

The chemotherapy drugs can damage the hair, making it break close to your scalp. If your hair is going to fall out, it usually begins about 2 – 3 weeks after you start the treatment. Sometimes it starts within a few days. It will not usually be sudden, so you are unlikely to wake up one morning with no hair. It is usually a gradual loss.

We can’t tell beforehand who will get it or how bad it will be. Some drugs are more likely to cause hair loss than others. Below there are lists of drugs, showing which are likely to cause hair loss. You can click on the name of the drug to go to information on the specific side effects associated with that drug.

Hair loss also depends on other factors like

The type of drug or combination of drugs you are taking
The dose
Your individual sensitivity to the drug
Your drug treatment in the past
When your hair grows back
If your hair falls out because of chemotherapy, it will grow back once you have finished your treatment. This may take several months and your hair is likely to be softer. It may come back a different colour, and may be more curly than before. It will probably grow back at the same rate as it grew before chemotherapy. By 4 – 6 months you should have a ‘good head of hair’.