Question:
Does the hair grow back?

I am losing my hair by an alarming rate and it may be normal but I am wondering if my hair loss may be worse due to being under anethesia 3x's in a 2 month period and I have lost count of all the upper GI's my guess would be around 14, I was told that the Berium is radio active, is this true? Could this cause more hair loss? Does the hair loss stop? I am taking my vitamins and getting my protien, I have accepted I will lose the hair I just am wondering if it will grow back? Has anyone out there not been able to get their hair back? I would hate to be bald at 30. Thanks    — Krista B. (posted on February 23, 2002)

February 23, 2002
Hi. I lost at LEAST a third of my hair. Mine started very thick and curly. I cut mine off preop and donated it to LocksOfLove because I suspected I may lose it. Mine fell out from month 4 to month 7 post op. It started growing back in before it finished falling out. It's now coming in nice and thick and curly. I have been on this website for a long time and don't recall hearing anyone say they lost their hair and it didn't come back in. What I had left of hair...was dry and lifeless and I just kept cutting it off. Bear with it, it will come back. I'm sorry I don't have more info on the radioactivity...but I suspect that they would keep close track of that for you and inform you if this was a possible side effect of it. If not..they would sure be liable. Take Care...it doesn't last forever. It's difficult though. I'm 30 too and had visions of being bald. Have fun with the different hairdo's....make it a little adventure. It'll be growing back in a few months:) HUGS
   — Nicole P.

February 23, 2002
My hair loss, I prefer the word,'thinning' began at about month 3-7 I guess. Now by 8 months I still have a little extra hair falling out, but I do have lots of new hair growth on my hair line on my forehead. I even asked my beautician and she said that they were no split hairs, but new baby hairs coming in. I really don't know about the radioactivity or many surgeries issue except that all of these are very hard on our bodies. I wish you the best!
   — Molly S.

February 23, 2002
Although my hair loss isn't from the surgery as yours is, it is for a similiar reason...stress on the body. Mines from prolonged illness of trying to control my diabetes over the last year. Anyhow, I just went from LONG hair to very short hair today, and although its going to take some getting used to but it DID help it look more full. Also I'm starting a natural treatment called TheraPro which I've heard gives excellent results for women who have recent hair loss. It should be available from your beautician. I can't verify my results with it as I'm just starting with the treatment today. One note, if your hair isn't in bad shape and is long please look into donating it. Today I did just that. My beautician will be sending it in. They make wigs out of it for children who go through chemotherapy. From what I understand the lenth you cut off only needs to be clean, in good shape, and 10" in length(or longer) to be acceptable.
   — Shelly S.

February 23, 2002
Krista-I am only 2 months post-op, so I am not losing my hair yet. However, Barium is radio-opaque not radio active. Radio-opaque means that it had properties that allow x-rays to be absorbed, therefore visible on a radiograph(x-ray).
   — Barbara H.

February 23, 2002
I started losing my hair at about 4 1/2 months post op. By 7 months, I swore I was going to be bald. I had a huge bald spot right in front. Drove me crazy, although no one else seemed to notice it much! LOL! It suddenly stopped falling out at about 8 months and within another month had grown back noticably. Now, at 14 months post op, I have a full head of hair, which seems to be thicker and seems to grow faster than before. I've never heard of anyone going totally bald, nor have I heard of the hair loss being permanent. Relax, it's just a phase we go through. Thankfully it's a rather short period of time. Good luck.
   — Maria H.