BREAST CANCER/CHEMOTHERAPY’S SIDE EFFECTS: SOME ADDITIONAL PRACTICAL TIPS FOR HAIR LOSS
Here are some additional practical tips for hair loss:
? Buy a small metal screening device (available at a hardware store) that you put over your shower drain to prevent the large quantities of hair from blocking your drain.
? Keep an empty plastic bowl in the shower to collect the hair as it comes out.
? Adjust the water volume on the showerhead to protect your scalp, which may become quite sensitive.
A satin pillowcase may be more comfortable on a tender scalp.
? You can put a linen tea towel over your pillow to facilitate morning cleanup while you are shedding. Some people like to wear a disposable cap (the kind cafeteria workers use) to bed.
? Be aware that you may experience additional hair loss elsewhere or everywhere on your body; this may include eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as body hair.
? Stop by a cosmetics counter in a department store. Ask about using powdered eye shadow to draw eyebrows.
? You may wish to join a “Look Good . . . Feel Better” program, which is designed to assist women undergoing cancer treatment. See the resources section or ask.
? When your treatments are completed and your hair begins to grow in, you may be able to speed up the process if you take brewer’s yeast or wheat grass tablets and massage your scalp with conditioner.
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