Hair Issues

[Faith in Him]

I'm 4 months out from chemo. My hair is about an inch long. It sticks straight up and I kind of look like an ostrich. Also, I can easily be misktaken for a man.

I've tried putting a small clip or flower to make me look more like a women but I just look ridiculous. And it is not quite ready to be spiked yet.

Any suggestions, ladies?

[Mary Jo]

Only suggestion I can offer is simply continue letting it grow and soon you'll have more hair. It does seem to take forever, I know but it happens. For now enjoy what you have and if they think you're a man - oh well - shake your booty and let them know you are all woman.http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

Mary Jo

[Ceesun]

It will get better...try not to worry. Ceesun

[anne2]

My mom wore her wig until her real hair was acceptable. You can try some gel to to tame it a little.

[cafe1084]

I can totally relate!!! I got called "sir" so many times, it made me sick! If I'd had boobs it may have been different lol. I always had something pink on: a hat, shirt, shoelaces, whatever because it made ME feel better. I don't know if it really helped. Buy some big hoopy earrings and some funky tourban type headwrap, or scarf... if it's too hot to wear it, I had a man tell me once that bald chicks who weren't afraid of their baldness were HOT lol. Not alot of good advice, not much you can do with the hair yet, but I hope it at least makes you LOL

Steph C

[new shoes]

My hair started coming back 7 months ago. I have been told that my "new" straight hair reminds people of Lyle Lovett before his perm. Big earings and lots of make up reduced the number of times I was addressed as "sir".

[Mary Anne in TX]

How about sexy eye makeup and Big Earrings!!!!

[Sheila]

If I get a funny look, I just say Hey, when you rub my bald head, you get three wishes...that stops them!

[Lolly]

I can only say, go with the big earrings and makeup. It's become something of a "fashion statement" in my community, unfortunately, as so many women here have gone through BC treatment that no one treats you any differently except to be extra kind, which is nice.

<3 Lolly

[fauxgypsy]

I don't bother with makeup but I do like big earrings, glittery and shiny. I'm just glad to have a little hair and eyebrows and lashes. My hair has a mind of its own as well. I am afraid I will resemble a kewpie doll before it grows on out. It's trying to come to a peak on top. I'm thinking of moussing it and making it just stand up all over.
Leslie

[DonnaD]

I finished chemo in March. Gave up the wig the end of June. My hair is just like you describe. I have gotten it trimmed several times hoping it would help, but it hasn't. So I have gone with the spike look. Gel or paste seems to help tame it. Not complaining it is hair :). Hoping once I am done with Herceptin it will begin to grow faster and come in thicker.

Good luck!
Donna

[Bev]

Get a rad color job so it looks like you're having a mid life crisis. For many of us, we actually look good in short hair. Wild colors make it look like we planned it.

Eventually your hair will be beautiful. Mine is so much better then before chemo, although it's very wiley and I don't know how to style it.

During the 1" stage I wore visor hat lots. Hang in there, you are just months fron feeling normal again, Bev

[weezie1053]

I am 8 months out from chemo, and I finally got to "foil" my hair to give me back my old look. It is still short. My hair came back curly and fuzzy, and I never had a bent curl a day in my life. The fuzziness is starting to go away, but so far, I have hung onto my curls. http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif Regis makes a styling wax that I have found very good. I started out with BedHead, but it was pretty stiff. The Regis Syling Wax holds the style but doesn't feel as gunky.

To the newbies, be careful on coloring too soon. I was so anxious to cover up the new gray hairs, but I didn't realize how the chemicals in our body will affect our hair when mixed with the hair dyes. It took me a while to get a natural look back. Patience is not my strongest virtue and I got teased at work about my wild hair colors.

Louise

[harrie]

It has been 6 months since my last chemo and my hair is starting to look a bit shaggy. Still really short. I still like to wear my wig to work. At the gym I don't mind a band that goes around the front and behind the back. A short scarf is kinda cute too because it looks fine with the short hair sticking out. I think I might need a hair trim soon.

[VirginiaGirl]

Hi! I'm 7 months out from chemo and while I have plenty of hair now, it's still short and very curly! I'm a poodle head! I had a hair appointment Friday thinking maybe it was finally long enough to straighten, but my hairdresser said it was still too short, come back after Thanksgiving. I really felt like crying, and reminding myself "at least I have hair" wasn't helping. I confess too that I'm afraid once I get my hair grown out & looking like I want, I'll find out I need chemo again. I have a 3-month check after Thanksgiving, so I guess I'll force myself to wait to straighten my hair after I confirm I'm still in remission!
Peace and Blessings!

[nitewind]

I finished chemo in December and I look like a cross between Kramer on Seinfield and Lyle Lovet with the perm. I figured I might have more hair by now but no luck. What I do have is wild and I've been trying to glue it down with gel. Oh the joy! But hey....at least it's hair and I'm rid of that wig.
I was called "sir" a couple of times (even while wearing a bright pink hat) I started wearing the big earrings and it helped a lot.
Hugs

[MJo]

Also, remember that your new hair is "virgin"
Never been colored, never been permed, never been dried out by sun and saltwater. Just brand new fresh hair. THat's the good part.

[SoCalGal]

Buy some fancy, dangling earrings or some jumbo hoops - with some sparkling diamonds - either real or fake and no one will think you are a man. Also, I used to wear a LOT of make up when my hair was first growing in - people constantly said I looked great. So I would advise to always have some bright lipstick, jewelry, and things that will make you FEEL pretty and look more feminine, too! It's hard when the hair first grows, it takes quite a while for it to be "right".

[KRISS]

I'm 5 months out and my hair is about 1 1/2 inches with some wave. I have a big set of shoulders and with the added 20lbs now look pretty manly. In just the last couple of weeks I've started using bandanas and scarfs. I fold them like a head band and tie them at different points around my head depending on what else I'm wearing. I have been getting a lot of comments on how "cute" it looks. That with some big earings and I actually feel kinda "cute".

[Mary Jo]

You definitely are "kind of cute!" Not a doubt in my mind. That smile definitely makes you WAY more than "kind of cute!

http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gifMary Jo