CURLY HAIR AFTER CHEMOTHERAPY
Why does it occur?
Chemotherapy drugs are powerful medications that attack rapidly growing cancer cells. Unfortunately, these drugs also attack other rapidly growing cells in your body including those in your hair roots. Chemotherapy may cause hair loss all over your body not just on your scalp. Your chemo curls are temporary. They typically grow out with time, and the texture and color will return to its normal state eventually.
However, if you always had straight hair, and now you have to deal with unruly curls it could add stress to the already stressful day.
There is a solution for those uncontrollable curls until they grow out, and most likely your own texture will take over. This procedure does not take all the curls out, but it makes those curls softer and more manageable . Even if you have gone through a life change with your hormones, your hair texture can also change that can be fixed. It can also occurred that you have curly hair and now it’s completely straight that problem has a solution also.
Medicine and situation that can affect your hair.
Anesthesia
Thyroid medicine.
Insulin
Pain medicine
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Five classes of medications associated with texture changes.
1. Cancer medications (antineoplastic agents) A 2019 study of 1,478 women on chemotherapy for breast cancer (https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2021/cancer-progress.html) found 63 percent saw their hair become more wavy or curly, on average six months after starting the treatment.
2. Epilepsy drugs (antiepileptics) Several case studies have reported patients whose hair became curlier from a few weeks to two years after taking antiepileptic medications.
3. Acne, wrinkle meds (retinoids) Several case studies have reported patients whose hair became curlier from two months to a year after taking retinoid medications that include treatments for eczema and psoriasis.
4. Immune system regulators (immunomodulators) Several case studies have reported a patient experiencing curling hair after three to six months of treatment with an immunomodulator.
5. HIV treatment (HIV antiretroviral therapy) A single case study was found in which a 48-year-old Belgian man’s straight hair curled about 17 months after he began a regimen of HIV (https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/hiv-vaccine.html) antiretroviral medications. His hair remained curly at a follow-up exam more than two years later.