Facial hair after chemo

kathleen1966

I have the blonde monkey face right now (I like that).  I thought it was due to chemopause or I was just looking at it and thinking it must have been there before and I never noticed it.  WHEN does it go away, it has been five months for me since my last chemo.  I am still having issues with eyelashes, coming and going on the left eye....weird....

NHsmiles

Lol....I love you ladies!!! I looked at my face when my hair started growing back and said..."WTF!!!! You're kidding me right?!" I trimmed the facial hair with scissors waxed my upper lip.

Heather 

amlg1

Yep,after all the hair loss,now we have to deal with hair coming in in places we don't want.I had so much blonde fuzz,on my face,I bought this facial hair trimmer in Salley Beauty supply,and use to shave it.It didn't come in thicker.It took about 6 months after chemo for it to go away.The same with lashes coming back.I am finally back to normal.

ReadingMama

Me too!!! I am 5 months PFC and I shaved it once, but it all grew back again and I'm afraid to shave it again, because it did seem thicker.  I met with my MO tuesday and she said it would fall out on its own.  But I don't know when?????

apple

if you just shave it off with an electric shaver it doesn't show.

you could use a blade as well... it really didn't grow back for me.. I suppose it could for some women.

flannelette

The weirdest things happen with hair all over the body. Legs just as hairy as ever, eyebrows, too, and such a nice mustache! I did have peach fuzz face after chemo but i think maybe it got waxed off and stayed off. but the funniest things were my underarms - formerly thick patches which I detested shaving. no hair at all now.

and south of the order? well, I have to admit I had been waxing mine as it was getting pretty grey, but my head hair was dyed auburn and had been for 20 years. So, all the hair on my head fell out, then came in a gorgeous mixed silver as befitted my 61 yrs, but down there - it came in perfectly brown ,as when I was in my 20's! I much prefer the system as it is now.

ps that is not me in the picture - now that WOULD be weird!

Paula1231

Hello Ladies

The monkey face post really cracked me up so I will share my story.  I noticed that once the hair on my head became fuzzy, I could see in the sunlight that I had fuzz on my face.  Over the month it became progressively worse!  My husband said with a laugh that I looked like wolf girl.  I went to Sally's and bought some all purpose wax.  When I stripped it off of my cheeks, I screamed like a banshee.  My cheeks were raw for about three days and then I broke out in small pimples in the stripped sites.  What a drag that was.  I am happy to report that there has been no reoccurance of facial hair, but I am waiting for the full moon to be sure.

Paula

sunflowerE152

Getting my hair colored and my peach fuzz waxed off tomorrow - then DIEP on Monday:)  Decided to look good for the recovery time:)

Rachel1

Me too. My dermatologist said to shave. So I did and I still am. It's not very noticeable except to me.  I'm thinking of waxing.  Rachel

Elizabeth1959

I am now 8 months post last chemo.  I think peach hair fuzz is a thing of the past, but chin and neck hair has been quite a problem.   I have been doing electrolysis for several months with encouraging results.  I figure, I can wear a prosthesis and no one knows I'm missing a boob, but a beard is visible to the world.

Elizabeth

Dnye

I am exactly like you and also freaking out. I went to the dermatologist who said it is called malignant down and is also common in anorexia cases. He told me to use gentle facial Nair-I did and now it came back full force. I ran to a laser treatment center-one session and it is back again.

It is very embarrassing and after all we go through seems so unfair! I was very positive throughout all of this and cannot believe this is the issue that drove me to a chat group. But so little info exists on this and doctors brush it off. ANY other suggestions would be so appreciated.

HealedbytheBlood

I was so upset after going through a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, hair loss and THEN...blonde, downy facial hair!!!  Enough already!  Hoping this goes away SOON...like yesterday!!  Thank you all for sharing your experience.  Together, with God, we can overcome anything!!!

kathleen1966

I believe this is called malignant down.  I don't think it means we have a malignancy (that sounds kind of dumb saying that, cause well...we do or did), but it has something to do with treatment.  I got this.  I used nair to remove it (big mistake, don't do it).  Mine came back but not as bad.  I shaved it off and it hasn't really been back like it was.  Mine also seemed to be worst on the left side of my face. You have to shave it off.  It doesn't grow back as a full beard (unless you had a full beard before breast cancer)...I see the person before me also mentioned the term....sorry to repeat...

Paljo

I dry shaved mine.....and thankfully it did not return!

chele

I had white peach fuzz sideburns about an inch long before I noticed.  So embarrassing!  I shaved twice, I think, and it's gone.

sanbar8771

I got facial hair once I started Zoladex and tamox but after 3 months it went away. My onc stressed to me NOT to shave or do laser that the hair will fall out and it did. Hope this helps!

Anonymous

Yep, got facial hair just before ending chemo.  These three ugly long hairs sticking out of my chin.  Shaved them off, never grew back!!

Barb

Sian65

Me too! Was thinking to shave it but will just leave it I don't want to end up with it permenantly

Andi_B

Just joined this forum after, like so many others here, doing a search for the topic. I was surprised that my oncologist (whom I love and have the utmost confidence in) more or less blew it off. Said it was due to menopause (which I guess I've been in since the oopherectomy at 39). Suggested I see a dermatologist. My last chemo (Abraxane) was in June. Face was fuzzy by end of July/beginning of August. Reading these posts, it seems like if it were going to go away, it'd be already going or gone, right? Don't know what to do now. I am a night person, but I'd rather have that be by choice rather than coming out only at night lest my blonde monkey face horrify the masses. I almost feel like I should tell any man I'm talking to, "hey, buddy, my boobs are down there!"

bak94

Andi-too funny!

Yes, I also have the fuzz, getting better but not gone. I just want to mention that if you shave it, it will not grow in thicker, it is just when you shave the hairs are cut off very bluntly and that is why it feels stubbly and thick when coming back in. When using nair or waxing, the hair is taken out by the root, so it comes in less stubbly,no blunt cut. Waxing continuosly also can damage the hair follicle, which in turn can slow down or thin hair growth. That is why many that wax consistently find that they have less hair coming in (a good thing in my opinion). I hope I am making sense!

kathleen1966

I had this as well.  I naired it off.  It came back, sort of......I shaved it off.  It did not come back.  It is called malignant down. I would not worry about it growing back as a "santa beard" because it won't!!!

pupfoster1

Oh how I remember that well.  I had peach fuzz all over my face for a while after my hair started coming back in, and although it has definitely subsided significantly I still have a bit of a "mustache" too.  It's not too bad and I shave it from time to time and that seems to do the trick.  The cheeks have really disappeared thank God!  I'm on Tamoxifen, so don't know if that's an SE of Armidex.  You might want to check w/your onc, but I suspect it will taper off pretty soon!.

Chin up (minus any straggling hairs of course ).

Sharon

Andi_B

Sharon - Cracked up about the "chin hairs" comment! And don't we all have these images of some elderly great aunt who we remember staring at as children, wondering just how they managed to have a beard and they were women! (Mine was Crazy Aunt Flo.). Are we going to look like that? The unfairness of it all, like so many other brave women here have said, is that we've gone through the surgeries, the chemo, the pain, life disruption - to be rewarded with Fur Face. Sigh. I'm very glad to have stumbled on you wonderful ladies. You've calmed me down quite a bit.



Andi B

Andi_B

Bak94- the thought of shaving is too scary. I will try to wait for another month then see a dermatologist. Should be able to find one who's worked with cancer patients. Besides, I'm just on a chemo "break" for now after 9 months of Abraxane for liver mets. I may very well have to go back on if my scans next month show that the liver tumors are misbehaving.



OK - have to comment about your avatar - goats?? Are weTHAT fuzzy? 😃🙈



Andi

cdd

Horrifying is the only word to describe the full face beard I've been growing for the past few weeks, complete with mutton chops! It's a miserable surprise after enduring a year of surgery, chemo and radiation, but was comforted when I found this site a few days ago and realized I'm not alone. Last night I took a rough, dry face cloth and started rubbing at the mutton chops—what a relief to find that with a bit of patience I could actually rub most of the beard off my face. It was a good 1/4 of an inch long, if not more, and I was afraid to start shaving it. Let's hope this is a permanent solution and that others may also be able to do the same thing.

kc13

Did your facial hair eventually go away? If so how long did it take. I noticed it not long ago and I've never been so self conscious in my life.

kc13

Did your facial hair go away? If so, how long did it take?

Momine

KC13, yes, it goes away. I don't remember how long it took, but one day it was just gone. It wasn't too long.

kc13

Thank you so much for the reply. It helps more than you know, I need more people like you to talk to.

Momine