Does Latisse Help Eyelashes Grow After Chemotherapy?

Your lashes will improve after completion of your chemotherapy.   Once the lashes have stabilized LATISSE will aid in lengthening and thickening.  To sustain the improvement of you must continue its use otherwise the will go back to their usual length and thickness.

I hope your recovery goes well.

Dr. ES 

Interestingly, there is currently a study planned which attempts to evaluate its effectiveness of Bimatoprost (Latiesse) on post chemotherapy eyelash loss aka madarosis, alopecia, hypotrichosis. In all likelihood, it will be effective but is currently considered an off-label use.

Bimatoprost, the active ingredient in Latisse has been shown to stimulate eyelash growth. In fact, a competitor product called Revitalash was developed by an opthalmologist to help his wife regrow eyelashes after her chemotherapy for breast cancer. Latisse is the only FDA approved product available to stimulate eyelash growth, and it will work for your needs.

Latisse is FDA approved for hypotrichosis of eyelashes, otherwise known as short or sparse eyelashes. To understand how it works you should understand that hair has 3 phases: a growing phase, a resting phase and a falling out phase.  Latisse helps to lengthen the anagan phase (growing phase) of eyelashes so that instead of falling out after a short growth phase, eyelashes will continue to grow before falling out.  I have seen this work very well in chemotherapy patients.  What a wonderful option to offer patients. 

The FDA found Latisse useful in growing eyelashes longer in people with short eyelashes. Latisse acts by getting more follicles (the skin units producing a hair shaft) to remain in the growth phase AND to stay in it longer. The result, longer richer eyelashes. Using Latisse for other hair growing purposes is legal as an "off label" use done under your doctor's discretion based on his/her experience. It may not be covered by your insurance company. Talk to your doctor.

Latisse works well for lengthening eyelash growth. As long as the hair follicle is not permanently damaged , you should naturally grow back your eyelash hair after chemotherapy. This is not uncommon. Latisse will help eyelashes grow longer in normal eyelashes. I think it is worth discussing using Latisse after chemotherapy with your dermatologist and certainly worth serious consideration.

After chemotherapy, your eyelashes should gradually return to normal. Once this has happened, Latisse can help them continue to grow longer and thicker. There are approximately 100 to 150 eyelashes on each upper eyelid. The growth of eyelashes is cyclical, going through 3 stages: a growth phase, a transition phase, and a resting phase. Normally, at any given time, numerous hair follicles can be found in each of the different stages. Chemotherapy can throw many or all of them into the transition phase causing them to be lost. The growth phase of an average eyelash hair is approximately 1 to 2 months. Latisse has been shown to increase the amount of time each eyelash hair remains in the growing phase which will help them to grow back after chemotherapy. The application of Latisse has also been scientifically proven to increase the thickness of eyelash hair as well as the darkness of each hair which will help them look fuller as well.