Hair loss is often one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatment and we get asked a lot of questions about the best ways to care for fragile chemo hair, both at the start of treatment when hair begins to fall out and also once treatment has finished and hair is growing back.
Many people tell us they worry about brushing their hair during treatment and in this article we look at why it's important to continue brushing your hair as well as looking at the benefits of using a gentle hair brush like the MANTA Healthy Hairbrush that has been developed specifically for fragile chemo hair.
Caring for your hair during cancer treatment
Hair loss is a common side effect of cancer treatment and even if you don't lose all of your hair, you may experience thinning or patchy hair loss. If you're lucky enough not to experience hair loss, and not all cancer treatments cause hair loss, your hair may become more dry and brittle than normal, so it's important to adopt a gentle hair care routine.
Be kind to your hair. Get in the habit of being gentle when handling your hair. Take your time when detangling knots, and avoid applying tension to your scalp.
Continue gentle hair care strategies throughout your treatment and once treatment has finished when your new hair growth will be especially fragile and vulnerable.
Brush your hair when going through cancer treatment
People are often terrified of brushing their hair and it stands to reason that brushing hair less, should minimise breakage and loss. But Susy Brown from Paxman Scalp Cooling, the pioneers in scalp cooling to reduce chemotherapy-induced alopecia explains that it’s exactly the opposite.
Susy recommends brushing hair every day, ideally once in the morning and once in the evening, and definitely before washing your hair. Liberating the loose hairs is imperative to prevent tangling and knotting, that can easily lead to matting (which you really, really don’t want).
Use a brush with soft bristles
Brush or comb your hair gently with a soft-bristle brush or comb. Susy advises starting from the bottom of your hair, holding your hair below the root to avoid tension, and gently brushing through with a detangling brush. Once the bottom section is knot free you can move up your hair and do the next section. Don’t brush straight through from the root to the end as this can create all kinds of knotting.
MANTA Healthy Hairbrush
The MANTA Healthy Hairbrush was created by hairdresser, Tim Binnington to help his wife, Danni care for her hair while it regrew following chemotherapy treatment.
As Danni's hair grew back she wanted to treat it as gently as possible to minimise breakage. Tim watched her combing it with her fingers, too scared of breakage to use a traditional hairbrush.
During her journey back to health, Dani started to blog about her experiences. As more and more people contacted her to share their own personal stories — whether the side-effects of cancer or simply wanting to find solutions for their own lifestyle and beauty challenges — Tim realised that there was nothing available which truly protected the needs of brittle, fragile and damaged hair, whatever the cause.
Combining more than 30 years of hands-on experience in professional hair salons with the latest materials and technology available, Tim spent more than 5 years designing, developing and perfecting the MANTA - a hairbrush that is as gentle on your hair as running your fingers through it - a brush that would reinvent the way we treat our hair.
The MANTA Healthy Hairbush is as gentle as running your fingers through your hair
The MANTA Healthy Hairbrush is ultra-gentle for minimum breakage and maximum shine. The multi-award winning brush has patented Flexguard technology which means it’s totally unique, the base is completely flexible and each bristle has full 360° movement, which means it never reaches the tension point where hair breaks.
The MANTA Story
MANTA Hairbrush offers proven results
120 people of different genders, ages and hair types were surveyed. After 2 weeks of using the MANTA Hairbrush:
91% agreed the MANTA Hairbrush feels ultra-gentle on the hair and scalp
93% agreed using the MANTA Hairbrush made it easy to detangle hair
85% agreed their hair felt less damaged using the MANTA Hairbrush when compared to their usual hairbrush
83% agreed they noticed fewer broken hairs when using the MANTA Hairbrush.
The MANTA Hairbrush can also be used to massage the scalp
Scalp massage is proven to help promote hair growth - for more information on this please see our article Scalp Massage is proven for Hair Growth
The added benefit of the MANTA Hairbrush is that it can be used as a gentle scalp massager.
MANTA have also created the MANTA Pulse. The MANTA Pulse is similar to the original MANTA Hairbrush with the added benefit of magnetic pulsations. These magnetic pulsations will invigorate circulation and increase blood flow - creating the perfect conditions for hair growth. The MANTA Pulse costs £70, so it's definitely a luxury item, but if you're in need of a treat it might be worth taking a look.
MANTA Hairbrush on Dragon's Den
The MANTA Hair Brush was recently praised on Dragon's Den. You can view the Dragon's Den episode (Series 21, Episode 5, 1st Product Pitch) on BBC iplayer here.
CancerPal stocks the MANTA Hairbrush and the MANTA Pulse as well as a range of other products to help care for your hair and scalp during cancer treatment in the Haircare section of the CancerPal MarketPlace.