Eyebrow Regrowth After Chemo
Hair loss during chemotherapy treatment is one of the results of the radiation treatment that is necessary to overcome the disease. A part of this is the loss of eyebrows and eyelashes as well as the hair follicles are unable to maintain the hair growth.
Eyebrow regrowth after chemo is one of the aspects of recovery that can be the most frustrating as eyebrow growth is typically much slower than the growth of scalp hair. It can be up to 3 months before the eyebrow hair begins to grow back with enough vigor to be discernable and for some people they may never grow back to the same extent as they were originally.
It may take some time for the body to settle down and for the natural hormones to get back to their normal job. In the meantime it would be helpful to the body’s creation of eyebrows if you were to eat a healthy diet. In order to grow hair the body needs to have a strong supply of Vitamin A, C, B3 and E, all of which are found in what is considered a healthy balanced diet. Further folic acid supplements would also be helpful as a means of stimulating the hair follicles back into action.
A little extra stimulation would not be a bad idea either. This can be done with an eyebrow brush, brushing it over the area in the direction that the eyebrows grow. A 2 minute routine of eyebrow brushing may help to stimulate the area.
You may find some advice on what to do to ensure that you don’t lose your eyebrow hair once the chemo treatment has started. Unfortunately there is no sure fire solution with the final reaction to the treatment different from one person to the next. The drugs used with chemotherapy cause all sorts of things to happen inside your body and the effects can linger for some time after treatment has completed.
Some hair growth treatments such as Minoxidil (which is better known by the brand name Rogaine) can be applied to the eyebrow area in an effort to promote new growth. This is a solution that could work, but only when your eyebrows have reached the point where they are ready to start growing again. What it might do is help your eyebrows to grow back thicker. Many people who have been through chemo find that while their eyebrows do regrow, they don’t come back as thickly as before. Rogaine can be a method you can try to avoid the eyebrow thinning effect.