Hair After Cancer: Alvi Armani SA’s Incredible Partnership With CANSA

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which sheds light on a disease that affects over 2 million people worldwide. However, thanks to advancements in early detection and treatment, many individuals are surviving breast cancer and other cancers. Unfortunately, for a large part of these individuals, surviving cancer is only part of the journey – especially if the effects of the disease and its treatment linger.

With that, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) has partnered with Alvi Armani South Africa to launch complimentary consultations and personalized assessments for individuals recovering from cancer who have experienced hair loss due to their treatment. The new partnership not only aims to restore hair but also dignity, confidence, and identity.

CANSA x Alvi Armani South Africa: The Fight Against Post-Cancer Hair Loss

Surviving cancer is a journey, and for many, the journey continues after remission, especially when faced with reclaiming one’s sense of identity after dealing with visible reminders like hair loss that linger long after remission.

“You’ve survived cancer, you’ve been through probably the hardest thing in your life, and now that you’ve become a survivor in remission, you’re dealing with even more battles.” – Dr. Kashmal Kalan

As the director of Alvi Armani South Africa, the largest FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) hair clinic in Africa, Dr. Kalan is dedicated to protecting, enhancing, and restoring the appearance and health of the hair and scalp. This same dedication is what drove him to lead the collaboration between Alvi Armani South Africa and CANSA, especially after one patient’s experience:

“What really stood out for me was Cindy Pretorius’s story. She’s not the first cancer survivor we’ve had. Yet, her particular story sparked a lot of emotional interest in me because it’s something that she physically had to carry on top of her scalp,” Kalan explains. He adds that Cindy’s struggle was not only physical but also profoundly personal.

“She would only wear caps or scarves – even a tennis headband – and that became her look. She was in corporate, and she lost her job because she was unable to present in the manner in which a corporate setting would prefer her to,” Kalan shared, concluding that this moment became the spark for the vital collaboration.

Hair Loss in Cancer Patients

Cancer can have a profound impact on the body, and our hair often becomes the first indicator of this distress.

“Cancer in itself puts severe trauma on the body, both from an immune and overall health perspective. When our health takes a toll, the first place we typically see it is in our hair,” Kalan explains, adding that this is no different from other conditions.

“Take COVID-19, for example – even though people survived it, they experienced hair loss, brittle nails, and dull skin. So, first, the cancer itself causes illness that affects hair health.”

However, the main culprit behind cancer and hair loss is quite often the treatment:

“Chemotherapy works by attacking rapidly dividing cells because that’s what cancer is,” Kalan reveals.

“Unfortunately, our hair follicles are also rapidly dividing cells. So, chemotherapy doesn’t just target the cancer cells – it also attacks the hair follicles.”

Unfortunately, radiation therapy can also have a similar effect, with Kalan sharing that if one has radiation therapy to the head or neck region, the radiation can be so strong that it may kill the hair follicles. This can lead to significant hair loss.

Restoring Hair Post-Cancer

It should be noted that not all cancer survivors will experience hair loss, yet for those who do, Alvi Armani provides both regenerative and surgical options.

If a cancer survivor is dealing with pre-existing hair loss, chemotherapy may result in many of those thinner hairs not returning. That’s why, when analyzing cancer survivors, Dr. Kalan and his team need to determine if the survivors can undergo regenerative therapies – “This is where we can take thinner hairs and restore them to their thickness again.”

Now, if the follicles are too damaged for regenerative therapies, then surgical restoration may be an option:

“We remove follicles from an area of the scalp that’s thicker and stronger and physically place them in the affected area. But we can only do this after a thorough medical and emotional evaluation.”

It should be noted that not every cancer survivor struggling with hair loss is immediately eligible for treatment, which is why collaboration with oncologists is essential.

“One of the key things is to have a patient in remission for at least 6 to 12 months,” Kalan notes,

“We need to get good feedback from their oncologist about their prognosis. You don’t want to start an intervention, and then all of a sudden, they’re back on chemo.”

However, it’s not only the physical readiness that plays a part, as emotional readiness is equally important.

“We can’t just take any patient to surgery. We have to be 100% certain -medically, emotionally, and physically -that the patient is ready.”

Kalan adds that they work to be upfront and honest with patients, emphasizing that there’s no ‘hope therapy.’

“We outline the journey from start to finish, make sure they understand what to expect, and we’re there to support them emotionally throughout. It is about restoring confidence, dignity, and identity -one survivor at a time.”

This is exactly where the partnership with CANSA plays a vital role, as the new collaboration works to help survivors take back control,

“They’ve already kicked cancer in the butt – but it’s about how we’re going to help them reclaim their lives again.”

Holistic Hair Healing

While hair restoration treatments are quite effective, Dr. Kalan emphasizes a holistic approach to recovery.

“Hair health is almost a mirror reflection of our internal health,” he says, “If we have an unbalanced diet, don’t exercise, or have vitamin deficiencies, no matter what interventions we do, we’re still battling from within.”

As such, Alvi Armani works to treat their patient holistically, which means providing lifestyle, diet, emotional, physical, and mental support.

“It’s always important to make sure that there are no underlying medical conditions, like iron deficiencies, vitamin B 12, and vitamin D deficiencies, that could also be affecting the hair,” says Dr. Kalan, “That is why doing thorough blood work and scalp analysis will ensure that we give our patients the best sort of treatment plan to move forward.”

Alvi Armani x CANSA: Hope Beyond Healing

For Alvi Armani, their experience of dealing with cancer survivors and being personally touched by their stories made it easy for them to align themselves with the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA). This way, they can provide survivors with more than just ‘superficial’ restoration.

“We want to allow cancer survivors to understand that there’s hope beyond just surviving. Many people say, ‘Why are you worried about your hair? You’ve just beaten cancer.’ But that doesn’t take into account the personal identity of the patient. They are living proof of survival every day -and they deserve to feel whole again.”

In partnership with CANSA, Alvi Armani continues to remind us that restoring hair is about more than appearance; it’s about restoring confidence, identity, and hope.