Hair loss

I have questions for those of you who lost hair after VSG. I'm sure this has probably been asked a thousand times already but I want to know as much as I can from someone other than my surgeon and nutritionist. I realize hair loss is kind of luck of the draw, some lose some dont. For those of you that did was it really noticable? Did like chunks come out at a time or was it more like shedding a lot? Did you have bald spots? Did it grow back the same or different texture? and finally did cutting your hair really help at all? I have really long hair and medium in texture, more on the thinner than thicker side. I realize there is nothing I can do if this does happen to me and its only hair and will grow back but Im a little scared I will be someone who loses a TON. I want to know the good and bad in your experience. thanks!

Hi Meghan,

Great question   Check out the thread on our ObesityHelp Facebook group.

Hair Loss

The shedding is a lot more dramatic with long hair and you may notice it's a little lifeless for a while.  With long, straight hair, the real fun comes when it's coming back...for it resembles a chia pet as new hairs grow straight up until they get enough weight to fall down.  I recommend a makeover with some layers to blend in and maximize that new growth as it's emerging.  It will make you feel so good!

Hey Meghan!

I am 16 months postop and started losing my hair at about 5 months out.  I lost consistently for almost a year and ended up losing about 2/3 of my hair.  My hair was originally super thick and now is very thin.  I used to struggle to get a ponytail holder twisted three times and now I can twist it almost 5 times.  

It is growing back and it is probably growing at a normal rate but it just seems like it is taking forever.  The new hair varies in length from 2-6 inches and the rest of my hair is about 4 inches past my shoulders.  The short hair makes the rest of my hair stand out a bit so I look like I have a lot more hair simply because it is standing off my head kind of like when someone teases their hair for more volume.  The new hair is also extremely curly whereas my original hair had a slight wave but is mostly straight.  My stylist tells me that it will likely be straighter once it is longer and weighted down a bit.

Mostly it just seemed like intense shedding.  I could run my hands through my hair and 10 hairs would come out but they would be from all over, not just one spot.  So no bad spots that I have noticed, just overall thinning.  The majority comes out after I comb through my hair after washing it.  In a week if I wash my hair 2 times or 5 times the same overall amount of hair is lost during the week just more or less each time.  What I mean by that is that washing less frequently doesn't make a difference in how much I lose overall.

Cut and color have been my saving grace.  A darker color and a really good layered cut have made my hair look much better in this transitional phase.  Also getting it cut shorter in stages has helped as well.  Over time as the longest layer was getting super thin, we would take it up a little.

There are face pictures in my profile that show the progression of my hair.

Hope this helps and good luck!

I have a lot of very fine hair that I keep in a pixie cut. I started losing it at about 4 months, though my loss wasn't apparently as bad as some others'; I would usually end up with a bunch of hair wound around my fingers in the shower after shampooing. It didn't come out in fistfuls (like a shedding dog), but it was definitely more than I expected.

I did have a few sparse patches so you could kind of see my scalp. I got some stuff called "Toppik," it's a powder that you shake into your hair to make it look fuller. It worked pretty well, I just put it near my scalp and fluffed things around with a hairbrush. I also poofed some brown eyeshadow onto my scalp once in a while, sounds funny but it worked pretty well.

My hair's grown back just fine, though I do have some "fuzzies" now as I'm growing out the pixie cut. Same texture as before, you would never notice that anything was amiss!

Some folks cut their hair shorter so that the new hair growth doesn't look so strange-- short baby hairs in the middle of longer hair. Having it cut won't make any difference on the rate of loss, though, since it falls out from the root.

Thanks! You have answered so many of my questions so detailed! You are a God send!

Glad to help! Losing a bit of hair is annoying and can hit your self-esteem a bit, but I think it was totally worth the trade-off :)

Let me start by saying I have a lot of hair, but its very fine hair. I'm almost 5 months post op & I'm still losing hair, nothing drastic....I'll have some in my hand when washing and conditioning. I will also pick/comb my hair out when its wet & I'll get some in the pick. I chopped 12 inches off my hair and I have a longer bob. I feel this is the best my hair has looked in a long time. I have gotten a ton of compliments....I had a follow up at my weight loss center today & my doctor didn't believe I had been losing hair. She said it looked healthy and full. I can tell my hair is thinner and I can see some new growth coming back, but nothing that isn't manageable!

Thank you for the insight! I really appreciate all the responses from everyone who has experienced this.