Chemotherapy: How Can I Maintain Healthy Hair And Protect My Scalp During Treatment?

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More Videos from Isabel Calleros 14 videos in this series

Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Can These Affect My Hair, Skin And Nails?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Can I Revive My Healthy Hair After Treatment?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Will This Affect My Skin?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Can I Maintain Healthy Skin During Treatment?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Can I Revitalize My Skin After Treatment?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Should I Care For My Nails Before Treatment?

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Chemotherapy And Radiation: How Can I Maintain Strong, Healthy Nails During ...

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Isabel Calleros discusses ways to maintain healthy hair and protect your scalp during treatment.

Isabel Calleros:
During the time that you are going through radiation or chemotherapy you are going to begin to notice changes in your hair, as well as your skin and your nails, and we will talk about that a little bit later.

But during the time that you are going through this you are going to start to see the texture of the hair change.

You are going to start to see depending on what types of drugs they are giving you for chemotherapy or the amount of radiation. You are going to start to see your hair fall out.

The scalp still needs to be protected. The scalp still needs to be clean. The hair itself needs to be clean and protected. So some of the suggestions that I have for you would be stay away from bristled brushes that are hard.

Number two, the hair itself is going to be a little bit drier and brittle during this treatment so try not to take aggressiveness into the hair like teasing the hair, using lacquer hair sprays into the hair.

Those things create the dryness in our hair. So those are the things I definitely would suggest that you stay away from.

Get a haircut that’s going to be easy to maintain. At some point during your treatment you are going to get to the point where you are going to go, I need to shave my head. It’s going to be a lot easier to maintain.

So when you do get to that point during the chemo or the radiation, just remember to maintain the scalp, okay?

If you are brave and you are one of those natural beautiful women that want to walk out with no wig on and no scarf on your head, that’s great. Just make sure that you put sunblock on your scalp during that time, as well.

You are going to find that your hair is going to become really soft, almost baby soft. It’s going to be very, very… what’s the word, flat on your head.

It’s not going to have much body. So don’t try to load it up with mooses and all of that because those only add dryness to the scalp.

I always tell my patients that at some point you are going to have to consider shaving your head so that you still have that feeling of womanhood by wearing a wig because that’s a great opportunity to see what you are going to look like in a different hair color or a different style.

So keep that in mind, that’s something that’s very important, keeping the hair lubricated and the scalp protected.

About Isabel Calleros:
Isabel Calleros has dedicated over 30 years to education in aesthetics and permanent makeup for both cosmetic and breast repigmentation for breast cancer recovery. As a voice for the breast cancer survivor, Mrs. Calleros wants to provide each and every woman the opportunity to know and understand their choices as they regain their femininity, womanhood and self beauty.

Isabel is a facilitator for the Look Good…Feel Better program through the American Cancer Society. She has volunteered her time at the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, Arizona, through the Women’s Cancer Support Group, along with participating on in the 2009 Breast Cancer Wellness Cruise for breast cancer survivors.