Hair Regrowth After Cancer - Confidence Is Key
- After beating an aggressive form of brain cancer, Michael Strahan’s 19-year-old daughter Isabella is beaming with confidence and beauty while she’s back at college. She recently shared a photo of herself smiling, showing off her stylish outfit and hair regrowth.
- Isabella is now in remission after undergoing surgery, radiation therapy, and grueling chemotherapy for cancer treatment for a type of brain cancer called medulloblastoma.
- Medulloblastoma is a rare primary central nervous system tumor. This type of brain tumor is cancerous and proliferates, making it more likely to spread to other parts of the body. Immediate treatment was needed, including surgery to remove most of the tumor, followed by radiation and chemotherapy to get whatever was left behind.
- “Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, tells SurvivorNet. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body,” Strongin suggests.
- Losing hair or thinning hair while undergoing chemotherapy is a common side effect. And while hair loss is not a medically significant or dangerous side effect of chemotherapy, for many women it can be a blow to their self-esteem.
- “It can have implications about how they feel about themselves,” says Dr. Renata Urban, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. If patients are concerned about hair loss from treatment, they can talk to their doctor about scalp-cooling caps, wigs or head coverings, or other methods that may help.
As Isabella embarks on her first year of college, we can’t help but admire the 19-year-old YouTuber’s ability to bounce back to normality after battling medulloblastoma, which is a rare primary central nervous system tumor, the National Cancer Institute explains.
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The post comes just a few weeks after her mom Jean Muggli Strahan also took to social media to commemorate her daughter returning to school after such an arduous year.
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Alongside a sweet photo of the two sitting in a coffee shop, Isabella’s mom wrote, “It’s been a week since I left Isabella – USC in California. [You] sure miss everything about these girls when they’re away from me, but I hope her first year at college is everything.
“She hoped it would be during that difficult year that she he missed out on last year. I miss everything right down to our daily Matcha tea together.”
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In another post, her mom captioned, “Isabella and I enjoying Los Angeles and getting her ready to be a school girl again at USC after a long and difficult year…
“Thank you all for the prayers….GOD IS GOOD.”
It’s wonderful to see Isabella feeling food in her skin after she endured eight months of fighting brain cancer. Isabella documented her journey through video blogs, shared on YouTube, until she reached a milestone in her cancer journey this summer.
Speaking in that uplifting vlog post, Isabella said, “It was a great scan; everything is clear, cancer-free.”
Her “cancer-free” announcement comes months after she revealed that she had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor after suffering from intense headaches and nausea and had trouble walking.
She then told her followers she had medulloblastoma, rare primary central nervous system tumor, as per the National Cancer Institute. This type of brain tumor is cancerous and grows quickly, making it more likely to spread to other parts of the body.
Isabella, who has had an immense amount of support through her cancer journey from her friends, fans, and loved ones, first underwent emergency surgery to remove most of the mass in her brain earlier this year. Additional treatment included radiation therapy, followed by chemotherapy, to try and get any remaining cancer cells left behind.
It’s important to note that common symptoms for this type of tumor may include:
- Difficulty walking or balancing
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Difficulty with vision
- Seizures
Isabella’s brain cancer journey began last Fall when she started experiencing headaches, nausea, and difficulty walking. When she would wake up, there were times when she would throw up blood.
Since chemotherapy has concluded, Isabella has admitted she’s looking forward to growing her hair back, something she spoke about in another YouTube video she shared in April.
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Self-Acceptance and Body Image
Body image problems are not unusual, especially for so many people dealing with health challenges – whether cancer or another type of illness.
And it’s important you try to work on how you view your body because it can positively impact your emotional and physical well-being as a whole.
Learn to Accept Yourself A Huge Part of Living With Cancer
“Every day of our lives is really filled with uncertainty” but those facing a cancer diagnosis tend to feel that uncertainty at a more extreme level, Dr. William Breitbart, the chair of the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet.
Dr. Breitbart also said that learning to embrace that uncertainty is a part of living, not just for those fighting cancer, but for everyone.
“What the task becomes is having the courage to live in the face of uncertainty, realizing that you cannot necessarily control the uncertainty in life, like the suffering that occurs, challenges both good and bad,” Dr. Breitbart says.
“You may not be able to control those but you have control over how you choose to respond.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Marianna Strongin, a New York-based licensed clinical psychologist, also has some helpful advice. She encourages people that spending time in front of the mirror can help with body image.
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Although “research has found that when looking in the mirror we are more likely to focus on the parts of our body we are dissatisfied with” which can cause “a negative self-view and lower self-esteem,” it’s important to look at the parts of your body that you love and the parts of your body that you don’t.
Eventually, Dr. Strongin says, doing so can help you create a more accepting relationship with yourself.
“Body image is both the mental picture that you have of your body and the way you feel about your body when you look in a mirror,” she said. “As you allow yourself to spend more time looking at all of you, you will begin having a new relationship with your body.”
MORE: My Confidence Was Destroyed: Dealing With Body Image During Cancer Treatment
Whether you are living with cancer or some other type of illness, it’s important to know you’re not alone if you’re having a hard time with how you view your body after receiving a diagnosis or going through treatment.
Body Positive & Cancer
There has been a major movement in the last couple of years praising all shapes, colors, and sizes of women’s bodies. This is particularly important for cancer survivors as well, especially breast cancer survivors who have had one or both of their breasts removed.
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Cancer can be brutal to the human body. Along with dealing with the physical side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments, there are also the emotional blows that women and men suffer from losing their hair, organs and other body parts, along with the scarring that comes with it.
Beauty can be found in all forms. No one is perfect, and we need to learn to be proud of our battle wounds. Especially after beating a disease that is trying to take us down.
How To Cope With Hair Loss
It’s completely normal to feel upset about losing your hair, even when you know that your hair will usually grow back after treatment stops. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to make the experience less distressing.
RELATED: Chemotherapy Side Effects – Hair Loss
Try a Cooling Cap to Minimize Hair Thinning
One potential option is something called cryotherapy”just a fancy way for saying cold therapy,” says Dr. Urban.
What that means is wearing what are called cold caps or special cooling caps before, during, and after each chemotherapy treatment. The caps, which are tight fitting and strap-on helmet-style, are filled with a gel coolant that’s chilled to between -15 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Essentially the caps “cause vasoconstriction, or a narrowing of the blood vessels bringing blood to the scalp,” Dr. Urban explains. By constricting the blood flow to the scalp, the caps limit the amount of circulating chemotherapy that reaches the hair follicles, protecting them from some of the chemo’s damaging effects. The cold also decreases the activity of the hair follicles, which slows down cell division and makes the follicles less affected by the chemotherapy medicine.
“This has been shown to reduce hair loss by 50 percent,” Dr. Urban says. “I do try to let patients know it’s not a 100 percent prevention strategy, and it’s not been studied in all hair types, but it is at least an available strategy for patients to try.”
Keep in mind, though, that it does take commitment to tolerate the cold. Some women find the caps give them a headache. And they can make you really chilled, so if you want to tough it out, dress warmly and bring blankets.
Choose a Wig or Other Head Covering
Some women choose to cut their hair very short or even shave their head before their hair starts falling out, and then buy a wig or other type of head covering.
Dr. Manojkumar Bupathi Says Coping With Hair Loss Really Comes Down To Personal Preference
If you’re thinking about buying a wig, consider buying it before your treatment starts, or soon after. Cancer.org suggests asking if the wig can be adjusted as you might need a smaller size as you lose hair. To match your hair color, they recommend cutting a swatch from the top front of your head, where your hair is lightest or try a completely new hairstyle or color.
Wigs and other scalp coverings may be partially or fully covered by your health insurance. If so, make sure the prescription says “cranial prosthesis.” (Don’t use the word wig.) Someone on your cancer care team can likely recommend wig shops in your area.
Hair Loss Is Temporary
Losing your hair can feel overwhelming in the moment. Experts tell SurvivorNet that being aware of the timing can help you better cope. Hair loss typically begins about three to four weeks after you begin chemotherapy for ovarian cancer and will continue throughout treatment. Most women can expect regrowth around four to six weeks after they complete treatment, though you may see some changes to color and texture.
But it’s important to remember that your hair will grow back after chemotherapy ends.
Dr. Samantha Boardman’s Advice
“For cancer patients losing one’s hair can be unbelievably stressful. To start with, the dread of losing one’s hair can lead to some sleepless nights and feelings of anxiety,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, told SurvivorNet.
To cope, Dr. Boardman suggested reaching out to other survivors who have been through a similar situation if you feel comfortable doing so.
MORE: Coping With Chemo-Related Hair Loss
“Talk to people who have been through it, get their advice, voice your concerns to your caregiver and see what they can do,” Dr. Boardman added. She stressed that anxiety over hair loss doesn’t just affect women, as men going through cancer often struggle with it as well.
For those who can’t stand the idea of being seen without their hair, there are plenty of options available, such as wigs, head wraps, and hats. Some survivors have even created products specifically for people with cancer so they can feel comfortable in their own skin.
Dr. Boardman also noted that some people may not feel comfortable talking about hair loss, and that’s OK, too.
“To encourage them to bring that up, to encourage them to talk about it, I think can be very helpful,” she said. “But also, for patients, it might be something that they don’t talk about. [And they should] feel good and strong about saying, ‘This is something that I don’t feel like discussing right now, and I’ll let you know when I do.’”
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you’re in the midst of a cancer battle and experiencing hair loss, here are some questions you may consider asking your doctor:
- Are there any treatments to help manage or minimize my hair loss?
- What are scalp-cooling devices and how do they work?
- Do you recommend scalp-cooling devices?
- What other options are available to help me cope with hair loss?
- Can you recommend a wig maker?
- I’m struggling mentally with my hair loss, can you recommend a therapist to talk to?
- How can I find a local support group with people going through similar things?
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
