My hair growth after chemo

If you’ve been following my blog since last year, you may remember a post I wrote about how I was coping with hair loss during chemotherapy. It feels weird to look back and remember the feelings I was going through at that time.

Chemotherapy has some pretty awful side effects. It left me physically exhausted, however, losing my hair had the biggest impact on my mental health. I felt like I'd lost my identity, and every time I looked in the mirror I was reminded of how sick I was. When I finished treatment in August, I couldn't wait for it to start growing back.

If you've recently finished chemotherapy and are wondering how quickly your hair will grow back, then hopefully you'll find it helpful to browse through my photos. I follow a few people on Instagram who finished treatment before me, and I know I found it interesting to see their hair growth. It helped to reassure me that I wouldn't be bald forever!

6 weeks post-chemo

22nd September 2019: This was when I first noticed my new hair starting to poke through. It was mostly fuzz but felt so soft. I couldn't stop stroking my head! My eyebrows and eyelashes were also making good progress. I'd filled in my eyebrows here, but you'd never know that 6 weeks earlier I literally had nothing! My eyelashes were so delicate I was scared to touch them in case they fell out again.

I became obsessed with reading advice online about how to grow your hair after finishing chemo. I decided to pop into a local Lush store, as I'd heard they have a few products which can help with hair growth. The lovely sales assistant recommended the NEW shampoo bar and the Wasabi Shan Kui shampoo. After trialling both of them, I didn't honestly feel like they'd made any real difference in terms of hair growth. However, I would try them again now my hair is a little longer to see if my opinion changes.

12 weeks post-chemo

4th November 2019: This is the point where I was starting to feel a bit more comfortable leaving the house without wearing a wig or hat. My eyebrows and eyelashes had also regrown which really helped with my confidence (I'm not wearing any make-up in this photo so you can see how they looked naturally!)

Lots of people recommended using castor oil on my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I definitely feel like it helped. I used a clean mascara wand to apply it lightly to my eyelashes without getting it in my eyes.

18 weeks post-chemo

14th December 2019: By Christmas (4 months after finishing treatment) my hair covered my entire head. It still felt soft and fine, but it was starting to thicken up.

I saw a few people raving about the Grow Gorgeous Intense Thickening Hair & Scalp Mask so I bought myself a small tub to try. I'm happy to confirm it's 100% worth the hype! It smells incredible and my hair would feel noticeably thicker after using it. Once the small tub ran out, I bought myself a full-sized tub, and I'm still using it to this day.

24 weeks (nearly 6 months) post-chemo

30th January 2020: I had my first haircut at the end of January. It had reached a length where it was starting to look wild, and I wanted to get it trimmed into a proper shape and style. I was super nervous, but it looked so much neater afterward and my confidence soared!

I also started using the Hair Growth Shampoo and Conditioner by Watermans and had mixed feelings. Mainly because it smells like toothpaste! My hair felt soft and in good condition while I used it, but I don't plan on re-purchasing it.

7 months post-chemo

14th March 2020: When I was going through treatment, so many people told me to expect my hair to grow back differently. A few people have said it looks a shade darker, but otherwise, I think it's pretty similar to my old hair. It feels softer and thicker, but I think that could be because I'm looking after it properly and it hasn't yet been damaged by the sun or hair straighteners!

8(ish) months post-chemo

6th April 2020: So it turns out I forgot to take a photo at 8 months post-chemo, but here's one from the week before. I was planning to get my hair cut this week, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to thanks to the UK coronavirus lockdown.

9 months post-chemo

11th May 2020: I can't see much growth between this photo and the one I took in April. So I decided to switch up my hair care routine again and see if that makes a difference. I'm exclusively using Grow Gorgeous products. Shampoo, conditioner, hair mask (that I mentioned earlier), and their Intense Hair Growth Serum.

TBH I'm mostly shocked at my eyelashes in this photo. How is it possible they look like this without any mascara!? I swear they didn't look this thick before chemo!

10 months post-chemo

13th June 2020: I decided to blow-dry my hair flat to see what it looks like, and I'm not sad at the result!

12 months post-chemo

8th August 2020: A few days before the first anniversary of when I finished chemo, I was finally able to get my hair trimmed. Not gonna lie, I cried happy tears when I saw myself in the mirror afterward. For the first time in a long time, I felt almost like my pre-cancer self.

16 months post-chemo - my 30th birthday!

December 2020: I always expected to have a big party to celebrate my 30th birthday but thanks to COVID lockdown that didn't happen. By this point, my hair was around chin-length and from this point onwards I started to question how much longer I wanted to grow it. Before chemo, I'd always had long hair but I started to see the benefits of keeping it shorter (it was so much easier to manage!)

2 years post-chemo

July 2021: Nearly two years after finishing treatment (and many haircuts later) my hair was finally past my shoulders and long enough to use a hair curler properly. I stopped documenting my hair growth after taking this photo as I was happy with the length and decided to keep it this way for a while. I love having mid-length hair and I think the only reason I would grow it longer would be to donate it to The Little Princess Trust.

Thank you for following my hair growth after chemo!