Breast Cancer Awareness Month
10 / 18 / 17

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How Much Do You Know?

Just the thought of being diagnosed with breast cancer is scary for most women. October is here, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation wants to raise awareness of the disease and educate women because as the well-worn, but true cliché goes, "knowledge is power". But we can't acquire knowledge about this common form of cancer unless we get out of our comfort zones and acknowledge that it exists as a threat to all of us -- even men.

Important Facts About Breast Cancer

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and 1 in 8 will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives. Other important things to know ...

  • Although breast cancer in men is rare, roughly 2,600 men are diagnosed with it each year.
  • Good News: Over 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive and in remission in the U.S. today!
  • Of the 246,660 women diagnosed each year in the U.S., the vast majority will survive!

In recent years, the rate of breast cancer among women aged 50+ has been on the decline, and death rates from breast cancer have been declining for nearly two decades! That's encouraging news!

Experts attribute these declines to awareness, early detection and ever-improving treatment options.

What are the Treatment Options?

Treatment options include surgery (a partial mastectomy, a lumpectomy, a radical mastectomy and breast reconstruction), chemotherapy and radiation treatment, along with complimentary alternative therapies such as acupuncture and relaxation therapies. Sometimes, treatment may involve medications and targeted therapy. In addition to your medical treatments, it's also extremely important to take really good care of yourself while you're undergoing cancer treatment. That means eating a healthy diet -- perhaps working with a nutritionist who can guide toward foods that are high in antioxidants and provide other cancer-fighting nutritional tips.

If You Need Chemotherapy ...

Chemotherapy for breast cancer is typically administered for short periods of time with several weeks in between courses to allow healthy cells to recover. Not everyone will need chemotherapy. When it is administered, it will be based on things like the size of the tumor, whether lymph nodes have been affected, and how aggressive the cancer is.

Not everybody who receives chemotherapy gets sick, and not every person loses their hair. Some forms of chemotherapy cause only shedding, while others may cause more noticeable or even complete hair loss.

Coping With Hair Loss

Hair loss can be devastating to any man or woman, but it's an especially hard pill to swallow when you're also worried about your condition and going through sometimes difficult medical treatments as well!

If you experience hair loss as a result of your chemotherapy treatments, there are numerous options available to you to help keep your confidence level up and to help you retain a sense of confidence while you're going through treatment. There are hairpieces and wigs made from human hair or high-quality synthetics, laser scalp treatments and even a shorter haircut to help better prepare you for hair loss.

Remember, you don't have to live with hair loss. The team of hair restoration technicians at Hair Loss Professionals in West Palm Beach can help design a program geared specifically to your needs. We've been successfully addressing the hair loss concerns of both men and women for the past twenty years, and during that time we've morphed into one of the best hair restoration clinics in the state of Florida. Contact us to learn more about your options, or request your consultation today! We're committed to meeting the needs of all of our clients with the most advanced techniques available anywhere!