The Oncology Aesthetics Podcast

Navigating Hair Loss with Grace: Expert Tips for Scalp Care During Treatment

• Ricardo Fisas Natura Bissé Foundation • Season 1 • Episode 10

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Losing your hair during cancer treatment can be a deeply personal and emotional experience. Beyond the physical changes, it often represents a loss of privacy and control at a time when maintaining normalcy feels most important. This episode tackles this sensitive subject with compassion, offering practical strategies to help navigate hair shedding, shaving, and scalp care with dignity.

Our guest expert Jeanna Doyle-Ruhl shares invaluable tips for managing daily life during the shedding phase. Simple adjustments like shifting your hair-washing routine from morning to evening can significantly reduce emotional stress, while choosing silky fabrics over cotton prevents constant reminders as shed hair clings less to your clothing. The nighttime turban technique we discuss not only collects hair in one place but also helps with the unexpected temperature fluctuations many experience as hair thins.

When it comes time to shave, we explain why leaving a quarter-inch of hair is crucial for preventing infections and painful ingrown hairs—a detail many professionals overlook. Host Rae Jeanne builds on this foundation with essential scalp care strategies, from proper moisturization techniques to sun protection practices that support both comfort and future regrowth. These expert recommendations acknowledge that while we can't prevent treatment-related hair loss, thoughtful preparation and care can transform how you experience this journey, helping maintain your sense of self when you need it most. Subscribe now to access more supportive guidance for enhancing well-being during cancer treatment, and please share this episode with anyone who might benefit from these insights.

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Raejan:

This podcast is brought to you by the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation, produced by Lyons Creative. All the information contained in this podcast is intended only to provide general skincare guidance. The information is not a substitute for consulting with a physician or other qualified medical professional. Welcome to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast, where we explore ways to enhance well-being, self-esteem and resilience while navigating cancer. We bring you expert skincare tips, practical self-care strategies and inspiring stories to help you rediscover strength, radiance and joy. Welcome to the show everyone. I'm your Raejan, the National Educator for the Ricardo Fisas Foundation. I'm here with Jeanna Doyle-Ruhl, one of our perfect partners, Jeanna welcome back.

Jeanna:

thanks for having me.

Raejan:

We're going to talk a little bit about hair shedding, shaving and scalp care during treatment, and understandably so. I feel like we all know that this topic can be pretty emotionally charged.

Jeanna:

Yeah, I always say the sudden loss of hair. There's a sudden loss of privacy and for those navigating a cancer diagnosis, many times the priority is to change as little about their appearance as possible. So the loss of hair can be very impactful to their sense of privacy and identity.

Raejan:

Absolutely. I can definitely understand that. So in that time frame, what does support look like for someone while their hair is actively shedding?

Jeanna:

Well, we can't really prevent the hair from shedding, but we can give them some tips to help them navigate that phase. So typically if you get up in the morning you're trying to get your family out the door, get ready for work at spouses or kids or whatever and you shower in the morning, you're trying to get your family out the door, get ready for work, get spouses or kids or whatever, and you shower in the morning. Whenever you shower and shampoo your hair, you're going to see more shed. So if you can switch that routine to where you're showering or at least shampooing your hair at night, you won't have that facing you first thing in the morning. So it's like you can't control when it'll happen, but kind of when you will deal with it happening.

Raejan:

That makes a lot of sense and I, honestly, wouldn't have even thought about that, but it seems like a modification that's accessible, something that they can actually do about it. What do you recommend to help somebody actually manage that shedding phase?

Jeanna:

With the shedding phase. It can be very challenging to kind of navigate hair that's coming out at all times of the day, During the day, after you've showered, at night and got ready. The best thing that you can do is really be thoughtful in your garment selection. Okay, I wouldn't have thought about that. What do you mean? So when you go to the hairdressers and you're getting your hair cut, they put a cape on you and it's slick, right?

Raejan:

Okay, yes, I kind of see where you're getting at.

Jeanna:

So the hair falls off the cape very easily, and that's what you want with the fabrics that you choose at this time. So, instead of your cotton or your knit, where the hair will really cling to it, if you wear a slicker, silkier fabric. You won't have the hair accumulation on your clothing, especially in spots that you can't see, like the back of your head, so that could be super helpful.

Raejan:

That makes a lot of sense, especially, like you're saying, for daytime understanding. First, we're mitigating, really, the stress of having to deal with that first thing in the morning, and then also kind of saving the aspect of the hair being stuck on the clothing throughout the day. What about during nighttime, though? What can you tell us to kind of help manage these shedding aspects during nighttime?

Jeanna:

So at nighttime I like those turban style headbands. They'll kind of wrap around the head and then usually there's like a button or a tie in the front so that the whole head is kind of cocooned, if you will, in this turban, and it helps to really collect the hair so that you don't wake up to a pillow full of hair, you wake up to it in one place. It can also be very helpful with temperature fluctuations, which can happen a lot as we kind of have hair shed can happen a lot as we kind of have hair shed. We can have greater temperature regulations, loss of heat, or we can become colder. Whatever the case may be, a turban can help with that.

Raejan:

Yeah, I think a lot of us don't really expect sort of that temperature fluctuation because we don't really consider the fact that the hair really does provide a lot of functions, and one of those being that temperature regulation on the top of the head. So that makes sense. What about shaving the head? I know that you have a few different tips and tricks that you give to people. There's some ways that you approach it that I think are really unique and very important. People need to know about them.

Jeanna:

This is super helpful, whether some people want to go it alone and they just want to shave in the privacy of their own home, or some people will go to their hairdresser. Others will have kind of like an event where they have support from their family and friends. No matter what choice you make, you want to leave a fourth of an inch of hair.

Raejan:

Why would you want to leave a fourth of an inch of the hair? Wouldn't that still shed? Yes, that hair will shed.

Jeanna:

However, if you have a mole or a skin tag or a blemish and you cut that, you're at higher risk of infection with that. So we don't want to cause a bleed. That would lead to infection. The other really important thing is if you shave to the scalp and you're wearing a hat or a wig, a close shave will cause really painful and grown hairs because of the friction. So leave that fourth of an inch. It still will shed. So keep that turban on at night to collect that as it falls.

Raejan:

I like that. You touched on the possibility of there becoming irritation or those ingrown hairs on the scalp once it's kind of bare. As an esthetician, I've seen that and would love to offer some tips and tricks for that. Because, first and foremost, we really want to make sure that we're helping to prevent dryness and irritation on the scalp. So we want to make sure that we're nourishing the scalp, and this will actually support future regrowth. If you can keep the scalp hydrated and keep it protected, it's really going to help benefit you in the long run.

Raejan:

So think of your ingredients like hyaluronic acid, organic aloe vera, shea butter, mango butter things that are kind of rich moisturizers. Additionally, I really always am going to point out how important that sun protection is, especially because when we have hair, we obviously don't get used to putting SPF on the scalp, but once that hair is gone, your scalp is much more susceptible to burn. So I highly recommend utilizing an SPF 30 or higher. On top of that, too, you can really help by keeping your scalp hydrated at night. Easiest way to do this is to layer on those products You're going to want to start with the thinnest in consistency or texture, so think of things like a nice oil and then move up in the thickness, whether that is a really rich moisturizer or something like a balm or a butter, you can utilize that. And then again, coming back to that brilliant turban idea, you can put that turban on top and it will really help seal in all of that moisturization.

Jeanna:

Yeah. So your head covering is great. Those are exactly spot on.

Jeanna:

Sun protection is really key for temperature regulation of hot and cold, but also it's almost not enough to just have the sunscreen.

Jeanna:

I like to have them have a hat in the car with them for that direct exposure. The other thing is to be mindful of placing oil on the skin or the scalp if you're going to be out in the sun so it's really a night time is the right time for that, because you don't want to have a situation where you're photosensitive and you're having that issue. So I think that's a really just great addition so that they can have that protection. The other thing is with your wig or your hat, if you hold it up to the light and you can see light through it, then the sun can get through it. So, even though we wouldn't think, oh, we need sunscreen underneath our hat or underneath our wig, if we're going to leave those on all the time, you really do want to do that and you're going to follow your protocol for that wait till it dries a little bit and then place the wig or the hat on.

Raejan:

Absolutely. That's a really good point. I would like to kind of break it down even to saying you know, during the daytime you want to make sure that you're hydrated, but mostly focus on that protection aspect, and then at nighttime you can really double down on that hydration so that your scalp, you wake up and your scalp's just feeling a little bit more soothed.

Jeanna:

Yeah, they'll sleep better. Everything, everything will be better if you listen to Ray.

Raejan:

I wish that was true. Well, gina, I feel like these are really great tips and tricks that will benefit everyone listening. Thank you so much for being here again. Glad to be here. Thank you for joining us. We hope you found this information helpful. It's your reviews and feedback that help make this podcast even better. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who might benefit. Until next time, take care, stay radiant and we'll see you soon. Thank you.