Can you dye your hair after radiation?

ppurdin
ppurdin Member Posts: 1,181 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi,I have awhile to have enough hair to dye.I also have another 4wks. of radiation.But I wonder after that if I can dye my hair.Unforuntly it is coming back completly gray.I will be thankful to have hair.But I don,t look good with gray either.I know some people do.Someone said they thought you had to wait a year.I hope their wrong.Thanks for your replys.(Pat).

Comments

  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #2
    I'm hopeing that mine comes
    I'm hopeing that mine comes back 'gray'! LOL I'm 63 and had no gray naturally (it's a genetic 'family thing' on Daddy's side of the family) before it fell out so was always being told that I should not dye my hair soo dark (VERY dark brown) at my age. I have a while before I can think about that though as still have 10 weekly doses of Taxol before rads.
  • Aortus
    Aortus Member Posts: 967
    #3
    You sure can
    Moopy heard the same thing somewhere or another. But her hair stylist told her it was an old wives' tale. So as soon as Moopy's hair was 1" long all the way around, she and her hair stylist went for it. No bad results whatsoever. Of course, Moopy is now a redhead for the first time in her life, but that's for me to deal with.
  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #4
    Aortus said:

    You sure can
    Moopy heard the same thing somewhere or another. But her hair stylist told her it was an old wives' tale. So as soon as Moopy's hair was 1" long all the way around, she and her hair stylist went for it. No bad results whatsoever. Of course, Moopy is now a redhead for the first time in her life, but that's for me to deal with.

    I Did
    Mine came back grey too, I was blonde before. As soon as I had enough hair to do anything with I dyed it to my natural ash blonde... However, it then came in a really dark nut-brown, so now I look like a Badger! LOL

    Oh Evil Professor Aoriarti, I was shocked to find you answering this thread! After all, you are the rooms folically challenged Expert!.... What a cute picture..You could see your sense of humour even at that age. You look like a right little sod!... Love It..
    Hugs to the Moopster!
    Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #5
    :-)
    NOt only can you dye it but you can perm it! LOL My first cancer battle was nearly 13 years ago and perms were all the rage, when I had enough hair I had it permed no problem. I dye my hair regularly you should be fine!

    Hugs

    RE
  • Tux
    Tux Member Posts: 544
    #6
    Dyed my hair before, during,
    Dyed my hair before, during, & after rads--no problems! Actually, my stylist says my hair is in great condition, prob. because I have not had so many tough workouts (I was a distance runner before bc) where perspiration was damaging my hair on a daily basis.
  • roseann4
    roseann4 Member Posts: 992 Member
    #7
    Tux said:

    Dyed my hair before, during,
    Dyed my hair before, during, & after rads--no problems! Actually, my stylist says my hair is in great condition, prob. because I have not had so many tough workouts (I was a distance runner before bc) where perspiration was damaging my hair on a daily basis.

    My hairdresser told me no dye.
    Hi Everyone,

    My hairdresser attended a seminar where the trainer said that cancer patients needed to wait 12 months after treatments end before having their hair colored. She called me very upset because I had been having my hair colored all along. She said that it could cause infections of the hair folicle. I thanked her for her concern but said that I had checked with my oncologist and she said that coloring my hair was not a problem. I did not have chemo and the radiation was localized. I don't know if that made a difference.

    Roseann
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #8
    Mine started stark white....
    So, I became a blond for the first time in my adult life!!!!

    Then, the 'real' color started, now, I leave it to whatever color it wants to be....the last time a hair stylist saw it, she said 'you know, you would have to pay about 200 dollars to have it done the way nature did it for you!'....I smiled...

    Hugs, Kathi
  • ainvista
    ainvista Member Posts: 7
    #9
    Just had mine dyed
    I just finished radiation last week & had by hair dyed. My stylist used
    Colorance by Goldwell that doesn't contain any peroxide. No burning or
    any other issues. Couldn't deal with having gray hair!!! Good luck..Andrea
  • meena1
    meena1 Member Posts: 1,003
    #10
    ainvista said:

    Just had mine dyed
    I just finished radiation last week & had by hair dyed. My stylist used
    Colorance by Goldwell that doesn't contain any peroxide. No burning or
    any other issues. Couldn't deal with having gray hair!!! Good luck..Andrea

    Yes, you can dye your hair.
    Yes, you can dye your hair. I have a lot of blonde hi-lites. I had it colored when it was about an inch
  • mrty
    mrty Member Posts: 3
    #11
    Hi
    Hello my name is marty and they say not to but it is not a rule that you can't dye it I did mine because it came back completely grey and I said no way do I want grey after the biopsies, mamaograms, x-rays, MRI, mastectomy, chemo 8 treatments, radiation 36 treatments with 6 of them being boosters, so I went to wal-mart and got the mens color your grey. It worked so well and only took 5 minutes.
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #12
    Coloring hair
    Pat, I think they say 12 months because it can take that long for your hair to resume its prior texture and color. My stylist told me that sometimes "chemo hair" is coarse, hard to handle, and doesn't take color very well. However, this is very individual. Moopy, for instance, dyed her hair and the color took beautifully. My hair is not course at all and is, in fact, incredibly soft and pliable for some reason. As for infection, I guess I would ask my oncologist if that is an issue for you. I am a bit concerned about the dye chemicals, although I long to color my hair, too. I've been looking into henna hair dye and other natural colorants. Maybe I will try an Aveda salon since they are known for their organic ingredients. I think you should go for it!

    Mimi
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #13
    mimivac said:

    Coloring hair
    Pat, I think they say 12 months because it can take that long for your hair to resume its prior texture and color. My stylist told me that sometimes "chemo hair" is coarse, hard to handle, and doesn't take color very well. However, this is very individual. Moopy, for instance, dyed her hair and the color took beautifully. My hair is not course at all and is, in fact, incredibly soft and pliable for some reason. As for infection, I guess I would ask my oncologist if that is an issue for you. I am a bit concerned about the dye chemicals, although I long to color my hair, too. I've been looking into henna hair dye and other natural colorants. Maybe I will try an Aveda salon since they are known for their organic ingredients. I think you should go for it!

    Mimi

    My rads oncologist told me
    My rads oncologist told me to wait while having rads. He said it could come out a different color than you might want. He said he had actually seen it. So, I waited. No big deal to wait a couple of extra weeks, just to be sure.

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