Hair Loss During Cancer Treatment Is About Identity, Not Vanity

For many women, losing their hair to chemotherapy can feel like losing a part of their identity.

Deborah A. McDowell has spent more than a decade helping patients hold onto that part of themselves through treatment. She founded Oncology Aesthetics & Wellness (OAW), formerly Hair With A Cause, around a process that allows patients to preserve their own hair before chemotherapy and wear it through regrowth.

The program is called CPR, short for cut, preserve and reattach. Before chemotherapy begins, a patient's hair is cut and made into a wig. Once her natural hair grows back to about half an inch, the hair from the wig can be repurposed into extensions. After about a year, when her natural hair reaches roughly bob length, the same hair can become clip-ins.

Patients who do not want extensions can also have the wig repurposed into a hair hat or halo. Some women later donate their preserved hair for another patient to use.

The idea started in 2010, when a woman came to McDowell's hair extension studio after finishing cancer treatment. Her hair had grown back to about half an inch, and she wanted to stop wearing her wig. McDowell spent 14 to 16 hours installing extensions and worked with her throughout the next year as her hair grew back.

Two years later, the woman's sister-in-law was diagnosed with cervical cancer and also came to McDowell for help. Those experiences eventually led McDowell to focus on helping women navigate hair loss and regrowth during cancer treatment.

That focus later widened to other changes that can accompany treatment, including changes to the skin, eyebrows and breasts. OAW also connects women with others who have had the same type of cancer or undergone similar treatment, giving them a place to talk about parts of the experience that may not come up with their medical team.

For patients concerned about these changes, McDowell recommends considering their options before treatment begins. That may include preserving their hair or looking into eyebrow microblading before chemotherapy. She also encourages patients to stay hydrated as treatment can affect the skin.

Patients do not have to live near OAW to ask about hair preservation. McDowell said the organization offers complimentary virtual and phone consultations and works with clients across the United States and internationally. Cost depends on a patient's needs, insurance coverage and location, with payment plans, donated hair and financial assistance through its nonprofit foundation available in some cases.

McDowell said some women do not learn that preserving their own hair is an option until after chemotherapy has begun or ended, when they may have already shaved or donated it. Knowing beforehand gives patients time to decide whether it is right for them.

"It's not vanity; it's your identity," she said.

A woman may not feel her best during treatment, McDowell said, but she can still look in the mirror and see herself.
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