Question:
Anybody else develop curly hair after surgery?

Might sound silly, but it happened to me about 12-15 months after surgery. I thought it was my imagination but the hair stylist commented on it when I had my hair cut this weekend. I went through about six months of thinning hair and as it's thickened back up, it has actually become curly. I NEVER had curly hair before; body yes, curls never. Has anyone else had this experience? Just curious.    — L. E. S. (posted on August 21, 2001)

August 21, 2001
I'm pre-op so can't speak from experience as far as wls goes, but after having all three of my children, I went through periods of hair loss only to have my normally curly hair straighten out. I loved it! lol It was always temporary, but I thoroughly enjoyed those months of having a different look. I have heard of chemotherapy patients having lost their normally straight hair only to have curly hair grow back in its place, or thicker hair or even hair of a different shade. I don't know why this phenomenon happens to people, but its kind of interesting. I'm personally hoping for long, thick, straight, frizz free blonde hair this go around :) I don't know if this helps you or not, but good luck.
   — Donna L.

August 21, 2001
I don't know if this changing from straight to curly hair can actually happen. It would be interesting to get an opinion from an expert. I can tell that many years ago when my father was a toddler, he had typhoid fever. He lost all of his hair because of it. Now what is strange is that before he lost his hair it was bone straight. When he got better and his hair finally grew back, it came back very, very curly and kinky. I do not understand what happened to his head. Neither did the doctor at the time. No one at the time ever had an answer for it. Very strange! My sister is a beautician and she said that when she was in beauty school the instructors said that it can be caused by any kind of shock to the body. I guess you could call major surgery a real shock to your system. I have to say though that losing a little hair (in my case anyway) would probably be a blessing as mine is way to thick. I hope that when and if I am ever lucky enough to FINALLY get WLS that my hair comes back a bit straighter. My hair is already way too curly. Good luck
   — Claudette G.

August 21, 2001
I wish it were true!!! I have very straight hair and have always wanted natural curley hair. Sometimes I think I'm the only one in the whole world who actually wants natural curly hair.
   — Betty Todd

August 21, 2001
A friend of mine had an 18 yr old son that went through Chemo and his straight brown hair fell out and came back in black and curly. He was so handsome. Guess maybe God is making things a little better for people who go through hair loss.
   — buhret

August 21, 2001
I had annoyingly curly hair. Not uniform enough to be cute, just random curls, some tight, some loose, all fuzzy. I've had 3 major surgeries that generated hair loss. It came in straigher & smoother each time. This makes NO sense at all, but there it is. I think it is WAY cool, except I wish I'd had it when I was 12, cuz now, I have to get the hang of it! BUT I'll take it! I'll take it!
   — vitalady

August 23, 2001
A friend of mine lost all of her pin straight, dark brown hair during chemo and it grew in auburn and curly. Still is 3 years out. Go figure
   — blank first name B.