Hair - How Fast Does It Grow?

mgm42
mgm42 Member Posts: 491 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
My peach fuzz and stubble started to come back shortly after my first chemo. I was thrilled because it was a little reassurance that it would grow back. My final chemo is scheduled April 18th. Once I'm finished, how long does it take for your hair to really start growing and how long does it take until you can wear a decent pixie cut? I met a gal at the Oncologists and she said her hair grew back an inch a month. She had such a full head of hair, I was flabbergasted. She was a year out. Amazing. What was your experience? Thanks. Marilynn

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
    Hi Marilynn, Being bald is not so bad but I too was anxious to have hair again! I finished chemo Nov. 06 and my pech fuzz started to turn into hair by january. By Feb. I had about a 1/2 inch only but it was enough to make me sweat under my wig. I stopped wearing it at the end of Feb. It didn't look great;very severe, but it was a great feeling to have enough hair to go out without my wig and still feel ok about it. After that it grew slower than it did before chemo and was very curly. I was ready for my first trim in Oct. 07. Now, it is back to growing about a half inch a month and my curls are starting to relax. I have grown to like them so much that i'm considering getting a perm to maintain the curly look! Good luck in your journey, Eil
  • mgm42
    mgm42 Member Posts: 491 Member
    #3
    unknown said:

    Hi Marilynn, Being bald is not so bad but I too was anxious to have hair again! I finished chemo Nov. 06 and my pech fuzz started to turn into hair by january. By Feb. I had about a 1/2 inch only but it was enough to make me sweat under my wig. I stopped wearing it at the end of Feb. It didn't look great;very severe, but it was a great feeling to have enough hair to go out without my wig and still feel ok about it. After that it grew slower than it did before chemo and was very curly. I was ready for my first trim in Oct. 07. Now, it is back to growing about a half inch a month and my curls are starting to relax. I have grown to like them so much that i'm considering getting a perm to maintain the curly look! Good luck in your journey, Eil

    Thanks. Your experience sounds a whole lot closer to what my doctors had said. I can't get used to wigs. I'm going to have mine styled later this week and we'll see if I'm comfortable with it. I sure like tying a scarf around my head with a scrunchie - like I had a pony tail. It's easy, quick and doesn't look all that bad. But, I would love to have my hair back soon. Thanks again. Hugs, Marilynn
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #4
    My favorite topic! My hair is peach fuzz. I first noticed it with the help of a magnifying mirror about three weeks ago and it has grown steadily since then till it is...peach fuzz. Still. It is growing in very fine which makes it less in volume so I will need more to cover my head than if it was regular thickness (which on me is fine to begin with.) I had some hairs that never fell out to compare it to and it is much finer. So fine that it looks white (I have naturally lightish hair). I noticed yesterday that I have those creepy little dark hairs that I used to hate growing on my eyebrows, like a few weeks after a plucking. But I love these! I touch my head constantly to see if miraculously while I was, say, writing this email, it has grown back two inches. I will be checking on other responses to this mail for more input on my output. Like I say, this is my favorite topic. Here's (hairs) the good part. Hair gets better every day! And it grows whether you do anything about it or not. And here's the bad part. Nothing I can do will make it grow faster. Oh well. But I will be checking back on this post anyway for a secret. And Marilyn's tip about the scrunchie with a scarf (pretend ponytail) is one I have used and like alot! Thanks, Marilyn, you're a peach. lol - love Joyce (I am too!)
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #5
    I was on one round of meds from may-Nov. stopped about 4 weeks for surgery. I had patches of total baldness with some 1/4 inch dishwater-grey fuzz in other patches....looked a bit like a dog with mange. By the end of the 4 weeks the bald patches had just about filled in (I kept it all cut to the same length). I've been on another set of meds since Feb, just stopped last Mon. These meds have me nearly totally bald, just a few patches of grey stubble. If it grows like it did last time, I would guess mine will grow about 1/4 in a month.

    I don't know if this helps, but it is my experience.

    best wishes, seof
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #6
    Between each infusion, my hair grew in about 1/4 inch. Then fell out. Then grew in...etc (lol).

    After my last infusion it started growing in...totally white (!). A month living this way, I went and had blond put in...by month 4, when I went to Washingtion with ACS, I have a FULL head of hair...still short, but dark, and short because by then I was having it cut....I like it MUCH better than my long locks of days passed...

    Hugs, Kathi
  • Irish_Girl
    Irish_Girl Member Posts: 9
    #7
    Hi Marilynn:)
    I believe that everyone's results are different, but I started chemo in April 2005, after my second treatment, I could pull it out with my hands, I personally shaved my head, it was just easier for me. My last chemo was July 25th, 2005 by Christmas I had about a 1/2 inch and it was just starting to get thicker again. By that Easter (spring 06) I had a about a inch and a 1/2 of full thick hair like it was B-4 I lost it. Hang in there sweetie, it get's better :)

    Be blessed
    Patti
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #8
    Hi Marilyn:
    My hair started falling out 2 weeks after my first treatment, so i shaved it off. It then started to grow in like peach fuzz. I had 1/2 in of hair by my last treatment (Nov. 16th) and I had my first haircut in January just to give it some shape. I have since cut it twice and had it colored 3 times. My hair came in mostly white with some brown, (my hair was always a dirty blond) so I colored it the color my hair was before chemo. I now have very curly hair, thicker than I had it before chemo and very soft. I am sure that by July you will have had your first trim. Wish you luck and don't fret it will grow in nicely. Hugs, Lili

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