Many people worry about losing their hair after being diagnosed with lymphoma. You may wonder: Does lymphoma make your hair fall out? Both the disease and its treatments can lead to hair thinning or shedding. Although hair often grows back after cancer treatment, losing it can be upsetting. Hair loss may also affect self-esteem, adding to the daily challenges of life with lymphoma.

Not everyone with lymphoma loses their hair. But if you do, there are many ways to adjust.

What Is Hair Loss With Lymphoma Like?

While some people experience hair loss as a symptom of lymphoma, most experience it as a common side effect of treatment. Even though losing hair is a sign that you’re taking steps to treat your lymphoma, it can be hard to handle.

Many MyLymphomaTeam members have described the different ways hair loss has affected them.

Hair loss often occurs fairly quickly after starting treatment. As one member wrote, “I lost my hair three weeks after the first chemo treatment.” They added, “Losing my hair was the hardest part. I went from medium length to short before starting chemo.”

Many people find it difficult to deal with hair loss with lymphoma. Another member shared, “Now that treatment is over and I am trying to get back to a normal life, I am really struggling to accept my new look (I have absolutely no hair/eyelashes/eyebrows right now, and no patience for waiting for them to grow back).”

A third member found losing their hair to be a very emotional experience: “All my hair is falling out. I feel sick. It just keeps coming out. It waited until the day after my second chemo, and now it just keeps falling out. I don’t know how to deal with this. All I want to do is cry.”

As many members have shared, lymphoma treatments typically cause hair to fall out in clumps. People undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, or other lymphoma treatments may find that their hair comes out when they brush or wash it.

One member reminded others of an important point: “You are beautiful with and without hair. As women, we certainly dread losing our hair. Thank goodness it grows back.”

What Causes Hair Loss in Lymphoma?

There are two main reasons why people lose their hair after being diagnosed with lymphoma: the cancer itself and the treatments for the cancer.

Types of Lymphoma That Can Cause Hair Loss

Certain kinds of lymphoma can cause hair loss, especially cutaneous lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the skin. This happens when cancer cells damage hair follicles or when treatments like chemotherapy and radiation cause hair to fall out.

Cutaneous Lymphoma

Hair loss happens in about 2.5 percent of people with cutaneous lymphoma, a type of lymphoma that affects the skin. It’s more common in people with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome. These are the most common types of cutaneous lymphoma and affect about 34 percent of people. Hair loss is most likely in those with folliculotropic MF (FMF), where it develops in about 65 percent of people. These are all types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In people with cutaneous lymphoma, the immune system may attack the hair follicles, causing patchy hair loss in people with FMF, and more generalized alopecia (hair loss throughout different areas of the body) in people with Sézary syndrome. Hair loss, including body hair loss, can be an early sign of cutaneous lymphoma.

Hair Loss With Other Types of Lymphoma

Hair loss from Hodgkin disease, or Hodgkin lymphoma, is considered rare. While there are isolated cases in which Hodgkin lymphoma hair loss has occurred, it is not common enough for researchers to have determined the prevalence (how often it happens) of alopecia in Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hair loss has also been seen in cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), although it also appears to be a rare occurrence.

Lymphoma Treatments That Cause Hair Loss

In most cases, hair loss happens as a result of lymphoma treatments, rather than the lymphoma itself. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drugs, and immunotherapy can all cause hair loss. Targeted drugs attack specific cancer cells, while immunotherapy helps the immune system fight cancer.

Radiation Therapy

People undergoing radiation therapy usually lose hair at the radiation site. Some people start to have hair loss in the first few weeks of radiation. It tends to start gradually and can continue throughout radiation therapy. Hair may grow back three to six months after radiation treatment. However, there is a chance of permanent hair loss if you received a high dose of the treatment.

Chemotherapy

Hair loss is common with chemotherapy and can happen slowly or fall out in clumps. Sometimes, hair loss can occur quickly. Factors that increase hair loss as a side effect of chemotherapy treatment include:

• Treatment plans with more than one chemotherapy drug, particularly a combination of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin
• High-dose intravenous (IV) chemotherapy
• High-dose chemotherapy before stem cell transplant

Hair usually grows back within a year after treatment and sometimes after a few months.

Targeted Drugs and Immunotherapy

Hair loss caused by targeted drugs and immunotherapy is less common. According to Lymphoma Action, fewer than 15 percent of people who receive targeted therapy and fewer than 2 percent of those undergoing immunotherapy experience hair loss. Your hair will likely grow back if you lose it due to these treatments.

Treating and Coping With Hair Loss in Lymphoma

Hair loss from lymphoma can frequently be reversed. If you successfully treat the lymphoma, your hair will likely grow back over time. However, in some cases, hair may change and only grow back partially, or hair thickness may be affected and your new hair may be thinner than before.

Hair loss can take a toll on self-esteem and may be emotionally distressing, but there are ways to cope with hair loss associated with lymphoma. If you’re not sure what you can do to manage your hair loss, talk to your oncologist and healthcare team.

Here are some tips to help.

Treating Your Lymphoma

If you have hair loss from lymphoma, the best way to help is by treating the lymphoma. Once the cancer is under control, your hair should start to grow back on its own. If hair loss continues, schedule a follow-up with your doctor to find out why and see if treatment options are available.

Planning Ahead

If you know you’ll be undergoing treatment for lymphoma that may cause hair loss, plan ahead so that you’re prepared for changes in your appearance. You may want to:

• Avoid perms, chemical products, curling irons, and other harsh treatments that may damage your hair more.
• Use gentle shampoos and conditioners that moisturize your hair.
• Cut your hair short or shave your head. This can help you feel more in control of your changing appearance.
• Purchase a wig or have one made out of your hair. Some people like to have several different wigs in different colors and styles.
• Choose head wraps that you love. These can cover either patchy hair or baldness.
• Use makeup to fill in your eyebrows or to compensate for other hair loss.

One MyLymphomaTeam member put it best when they encouraged another member: “Don’t feel bad going back to school without your hair. Put on a hat, scarf, or wig for now, and know how incredibly strong you are!”

Scalp Cooling

Cold caps may help prevent hair loss in some people undergoing cancer treatment. By keeping the scalp cool, it’s possible to reduce blood flow to the scalp and decrease the amount of chemotherapy drugs that reach the hair follicles on the head.

However, cold caps aren’t recommended for people with lymphoma because blood cancers circulate through the bloodstream and a cold cap may reduce the circulation of chemotherapy drugs that kill cancer cells.

Be sure to talk to your oncology care team before trying a cool cap to make sure it’s right for you. Cold caps aren’t effective for preventing hair loss from radiation treatment to the skull, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy.

Seeking Counseling

Some people struggle with hair loss or find that it seriously affects how they think and feel about themselves. If this is the case, ask your oncologist for a referral to a mental health professional who specializes in working with those diagnosed with lymphoma and other cancers. This can be a great way to process your lymphoma diagnosis as a whole and begin to feel better about your hair loss.

One member recommended speaking to a counselor. “Hair and eyebrows will grow back. My oncologist sent me to a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of cancer patients,” they said. “It really helped me to move on from this devastating diagnosis.”

Find Your Team

On MyLymphomaTeam, the social network for people with lymphoma and their loved ones, more than 21,000 people come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with lymphoma.

How have you managed hair loss with lymphoma? Share your story and tips in the comments below or by posting on MyLymphomaTeam.