Question:
A different ? about hairloss...

This may sound silly, but i am 6 weeks post-op...i have'nt as of yet been losing any of my hair, but am anticipating some hair loss soon. what are some of your experiences w/ getting your hair done (permed orstreaked) i am paranoid that if i add any product to my hair i am going to be completely bald...i know it it sounds silly ! (SMILES) for any answers you may have for me.    — tiffany E. (posted on May 21, 2006)

May 21, 2006
I used to have my cosmetology license and after surgery your hair is supposed to react very differently to color, bleach and perming. I am 2 weeks postop and I don't know what I am going to do yet. If you go to a hairdresser, I would ask his/her opinion. Chemicals shouldn't hurt you, but you might not get the desired effect.
   — lkirshstein

May 21, 2006
Tiff love your web site....... Its been 6 mo. and now my hair loss has started and will end in a few months after my weight decides where It wants to be. I believe my hair will grow back much healthier as I am, but you should know it will take a while and all I can say is time heals everything......It will grow back stronger. Take care.
   — sue831

May 21, 2006
Tiffany ,My hair started falling out about 2 months out from WLS it fell out like crazy, I really thought I was going to go bald.There was hair everywhere all the time. Well it finally stopped falling out about a month ago (about 7 months)If you are going to have something done chemically to your hair just be careful. I did home hair color but I wouldn't get it relaxed or anything like that.I just had mine foiled a few weeks ago. Good luck. Like the other posters said it will seem freaky to have it fall out so much but it will grow back. I reccommend Biotin. It won't keep it from falling out but when it does start falling out,the Biotin will help it grow back beautifully.Pam
   — sunnie

May 21, 2006
I will be two years out in June. My hair is still falling out, but I've always had lots of hair so it's not a big deal. Also, my hair has always fallen out to a certain degree. I've been coloring my hair for 16 years now, even the past two years since my WLS. I don't think it's any worse for the wear from the coloring.
   — juju524

May 21, 2006
Hi Tiffany, I am 10 months out and loss some hair starting at 3 months out until about 7 months. I took Biotin(1000mcg x3 per day) and use Nioxin Shampoo and conditioner mostly . I do color my hair(have for the last 5 years) I found that it faded faster(but I am a red head..so it fades fast anyway)and my hair seem to be a lot drier so I got a few conditioning treatments from the salon very few months to improve the texture of my hair. I am lucky that I mostly only l;ost it around my temples...and my hair grows realitly fast so it came back in almost as fast as it had fallen out. Be sure to get all your protien in everyday...because lack of protien can cause your hair to fall out! Good Luck and welcome to the losing side!
   — jpcal

May 21, 2006
I found a way to keep from losing any hair. I'm almost 3 months post op and haven't lost any hair at all. I use professional protein packs on my hair weekly. I have also dyed my hair twice and am planning on getting a perm next week. Just get protein packs and keep using them!
   — vlaster

May 22, 2006
There is no sure-fire way to avoid hair loss. Some people will lose hair but even if you did everything to the letter that they did you could still end up losing it - everybody is different in that respect. As for coloring, I say go for it. Why? Because what will fall out is going to do so from the root, not because of chemical damage. Sure, you could fry it and it would break off, but I don't believe that coloring will cause it to fall out at the root any more or less than it would already. I read one fantastic explanation as to why we lose our hair not long after I had surgery a couple years ago, and it makes sense. When your body perceives an emergecy is happening, it will shut down feeding non-vital portions of the body. The most non-essential part of our body is our hair. So you just had a double whammy. Not only did you have major surgery that the body perceives as a dire emergency (after all the stomach was involved) but you are also effectively starving it. So it is putting all it's energy into repairing the damage and trying to survive...even though we know we are doing fine, our body is just going into auto-pilot to do what it feels is necessary to repair the "damage." The hair has already been determined to fall out shortly after surgery, but it takes awhile for that to happen because the growth stops inside near the root. By the time you see it, the deed is done - you just have to wait it out. Certainly good nutrition cannot hurt. But it's likely not going to change things dramatically. I did everything I could/should do and used special shampoos to help, but I still lost massive amounts of hair. The good part of that was that just when I was seeing my scalp through my hair, it started growing back in, and even though it was short, it looked full again because that little stubble forced out body and covered those bald spots. Hope that helped...Dina
   — Dinka Doo

May 22, 2006
I was reading through what others wrote. I've been doing hair for 12 years and i know from experience that everyone will react differently to hairloss after surgery. The best thing you can do is continue with maintaining your protien levels, if you use a protien treatment on your hair, make sure you leave it on for the recommended time only. I love K-Pak from Joico. FYI to much protien in the hair will cause breakage, resulting in the APPERANCE of hairloss. I recommended that you use Nixion, it has natural properties that will help boost hairgrowth and at the sametime it makes your hair appear thicker and fuller. Another thing I've heard of people doing and I would check with your Doc about this was taking prenatal vitamins, it does make the hair grow in faster due to the extra iron. As far as coloring your hair, you will be fine. You can always get a semi permenant color and you will be fine. Hope that helps
   — Jenney