King Charles III, 75, managed to keep his hair while being treated for an unspecified cancer after doctors discovered it while treating his enlarged prostate.
Although Buckingham Palace has not disclosed the exact nature and severity of the disease, one thing is certain: despite his battle with cancer, the current king of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries still exudes charm and confidence and wears his seemingly eternally white hair.
An insider close to King Charles told The Sun’s royal editor Matt Wilkinson: “The sun wasn’t shining in February, but it’s shining now.”
However, the king is reportedly “not out of the woods yet”. Those around him are “very optimistic” and his treatment has “gone better than anyone would have thought”.
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A source also revealed to The Sun how he managed to keep his hair while battling cancer: “He is in no way a pioneer because the hairstyle is available to any cancer patient.”
“The treatments are sophisticated and advanced, which was not the case with previous treatments.”
Dealing with hair loss during cancer treatment
According to The Sun, a source also said: “He wasn’t completely finished and we’re not completely out of the woods yet because treatment is ongoing.”
“The treatment went better than anyone could have imagined in their most optimistic dreams.”
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The news portal also points out that the king was able to attend 464 events and receive over 105,000 invited guests in the royal palaces last year.
A source also noted that despite the King’s occasionally “grumpy” attitude, “what he has been able to do to fight his illness gives him a sense of great positivity and encouragement.”
“A positive attitude is just as important as having the best medical expertise for the physical side of his symptoms. Being able to handle the type and size of events he can handle has been a huge boost to his morale and recovery.”
A source also stated that “rest and recovery” were the king’s top priority.
And finally, the King is recovering well and keeping his hair thanks to an ongoing “groundbreaking non-invasive treatment,” another source told The Sun.
Another source familiar with the king’s treatment plans praised the fact that King Charles and men like him battling the disease have “precision-guided weapons” at their disposal in the fight against cancer.
Dealing with hair loss during treatment
Hair loss can be an emotional phase of cancer for anyone. SurvivorNet offers tips and resources for anyone facing this side effect and struggling to cope.
“For cancer patients, hair loss can be incredibly distressing. First of all, the fear of losing hair can lead to sleepless nights and feelings of anxiety,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, told SurvivorNet.
Chemotherapy can cause hair loss. This usually begins about three to four weeks after chemotherapy and continues throughout treatment.
This is because this treatment targets rapidly dividing cells throughout the body. These include cancer cells, but also hair cells.
Radiation treatment is another treatment that can cause hair loss if the hair is in the path of the tumor being treated. For example, radiation treatment for a brain tumor can cause hair loss on the head.
“If you lose hair, it will grow back several weeks or months after treatment,” GensisCare radiation oncologist Dr. James Taylor tells SurvivorNet.
“Fortunately, hair loss is not a problem for most patients during radiation therapy.”
Most patients can expect hair regrowth four to six weeks after treatment, but you may notice some changes in color and texture as your hair grows back.
Dr. Boardman recommends reaching out to other people going through similar cancer treatments to you and asking them for first-hand advice.
“Talk to people who have been through this, get their advice, share your concerns with your caregiver and see what they can do,” Dr. Boardman added.
If you’re worried about hair loss before cancer treatment, know that options like wigs, hats, scarves and more are available to you.
Preventing hair loss during chemotherapy: scalp cooling devices
There are now scalp cooling devices that provide some relief for chemotherapy patients.
The idea for such a device came from a British company that made cooling equipment for breweries. When the company’s CEO’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy, the cooling company began working on the technology that would lead to a scalp cooling device.
The devices have been approved by the FDA in recent years, first for breast cancer and then for a number of other cancers. Dr. Julia Nangia, a medical oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine and lead author of one of the key studies on the device, says that 50 percent of women were able to keep their hair after four rounds of chemotherapy, adding, “Without the devices, 100 percent of patients lost their hair.”
There have been some doubts about the safety of scalp cooling, but Dr. Nangia says the devices are safe in people with solid tumors (such as breast, ovarian, colon and lung cancer).
SEE: What is a scalp cooling device?
Scalp cooling devices were recently approved by the FDA, first for breast cancer and then for several other types of cancer. This means wearing cooling caps or special cooling caps before, during and after each chemotherapy treatment. The caps, which fit tightly and strap on like helmets, are filled with a gel coolant that is cooled to -20 to -40 degrees Celsius.
Essentially, the caps cause “vasoconstriction, or narrowing, of the blood vessels that carry blood to the scalp,” explains Dr. Renata Urban, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington.
By restricting blood flow to the scalp, the caps prevent circulating chemotherapy from reaching the hair follicles, thereby protecting them from some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy.
The cold also reduces the activity of the hair follicles, slows down cell division and ensures that the follicles are less attacked by the chemotherapy drugs.
It’s OK to grieve over hair loss
Feeling upset about losing your hair is not an uncommon feeling, and it’s completely justified. Experts tell SurvivorNet that they encourage patients to grieve their diagnosis, as it often means the end of their life as a “healthy person.” Therefore, grieving is an important step in accepting the new normal and following through with treatment.
Once you get over the initial shock of hair loss, it is easier to accept it. Then you can change your attitude and try to find something positive.
“I help patients accept their grief so they can move on. I think the more we try to push (those feelings) away and say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,’ the longer they linger. If it looks like (a woman) is having trouble moving on, we get to the bottom of (that too),” says Laurie Ostacher, a medical social worker at the Sutter Bay Medical Foundation in the Bay Area.
“It’s amazing how quickly you can get used to not having hair.”
Questions to ask your doctor
If you have a health problem or are undergoing cancer treatment and are experiencing hair loss, you should ask your doctor the following questions:
- Are there any treatments that can help me stop or minimize my hair loss?
- What are scalp cooling devices and how do they work?
- Do you recommend scalp cooling devices?
- What other options are there to cope with hair loss?
- Can you recommend a wig maker?
- My hair loss is causing me psychological problems. Can you recommend a therapist I can talk to about it?
- How do I find a support group near me where there are people who have similar experiences?
Contributors: SurvivorNet staff
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