Why do cancer patients shave their heads?

Question

It doesn't look cool at all.

Answer 1

They don't - the chemotherapy and radiation sometimes causes their hair to fall out.

BTW: let's see how stylish you look if you ever get cancer.

Answer 2

I have decided to treat this as a serious question, but I am not sure every one else will. For a lot of cancer patients the bald look isn't a choice. Chemotherapy drugs for some cancer treatments can cause all your hair to fall out. Some cancer patients feel that the chemo hair loss is inevitable and therefore shave it so that their hair goes when they want not as a result of the illness.

Answer 3

What makes you think the heads are shaved? Chemotherapy or radiation to the head causes complete loss of hair. Certain chemo treatments cause loss of ALL body hair-eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic, hair on arms and legs.
Some people do chose to shave their heads rather than have the hair fall out slowly and get into food and clothing. Also, the hair follicles sometimes hurt as the hair falls out and shaving may hasten the end of the discomfort. Believe me, no woman wants to lose her hair!

Answer 4

Well if I sock you in the face and you get a black eye that wouldn't "look cool at all" either but you wouldn't really have any choice. That's like cancer patients the chemical treatments often cause their hair to fall out they don't shave it to look cool. I bet if your mom, child, or yourself get cancer you will find mocking the diseased less entertaining.

Answer 5

the baldness is a side effect of the therapy cancer patient is undergoing known as chemotherapy. They don´t shave their head. After a period, the hair will grow again like by new born babies, fine in structure and mostly different color than they orignally had. Later, it changes into the original color.

Answer 6

Not every cancer patient loses their hair. I'm dismayed by the advice to "the first thing you should do is 'take back your control' by shaving your head when you're diagnosed with cancer. NOT ALL CHEMO DRUGS CAUSE HAIR LOSS. RADIATION DOESN'T ALWAYS CAUSE HAIR LOSS. These idiots are causing additional trauma that may be unnecessary.

My mother went through just about every kind of chemo with her breast cancer treatments, including two recurrences. She never lost her hair.

Answer 7

And a dead body does look 'cool'?

With certain treatments, it's not a matter of "shaving" your head - the hair falls out!!

As well as nausea - what you'd call "throwing up" - and several other things, it is one of the things cancer victims have to endure, along with surgery to remove bits of their body, to stay alive.

Don't you ever dare suggest again they 'do it' for some "fashion" statement or as a symbol of "Hey, I'm a cancer patient!" Nobody really wants to be bald - especially women. Cancer is bad enough for them and their families (like me), without that sort of mindless comment!

Answer 8

My friend has breast cancer and she shaved her head instead of watching it fall out over a couple of weeks, she also said it was one decision that she made and not the doctors telling her, she felt has if she had a say in what was happening to her body.

Answer 9

Cancer patients don't shave their head. Their hair falls out due to the chemotherapy, that is if the patient does do the chemotherapy.

Answer 10

I think you know the answer to this but it's not their dislike with their hair style. It's the Chemotherapy treatment. The radiation causes their hair to fall out. Some decide to just take care of it themselves and shave it off. Others choose to wear a wig. I prefer them to go natural; they shouldn't feel self-conscious because of a few ignorant people.

Answer 11

its not suppose to look cool they do it for a reason like my mother did it was falling out everywhere even in the food she was eating and a wrap on the head dont work the hair dosent fall out all at once and sometimes it falls out in big clumps so the decide to shave it so it will all come back 1 lengh