Not banded yet. Hoping for mid-august...

ANYWAY... I've been reading people mentioning losing their hair... How often does this happen, why does it happen, and is there anything you can do to prevent it???

I'm a morning radio DJ and do a lot of public appearances and my hair is my favorite physical trait (for now...) but I don't know how I'd go in front of a high school for career day or introduce a band at a concert if I was balding. I know it sounds shallow, and it probably is, but it's my truth. Being so obese makes my job hard and I have a LOT of insecurities in front of a crowd, but if my hair and makeup look good I feel better...

Thanks for the tips and stories in advance!!!

i had a little bit of hairloss... it doesnt come out in chunks or anything, just a "thinning" of hair you could say. if you make sure you are getting all your protein and taking your vitamins, you shouldn't have a problem with it though.

p.s. that's not shallow at all. :thumbup:

Okay...so on the other perspective...I have had a lot of hair loss, and it is still coming out. I get all my protein in as I only have 3cc in my band after 6 months. I purposely am going on the low side of the band filling for that reason. Doesn't matter. Still falling out. I have been to a endo, dermatologisty, regular PC,,,,,still falling out..after test after test after test. And before anyone give me the bright idea about vitamins, I can tell you that for me...taking MVI, hair pills, saw palmetto, cal with vit d, fish oil, extra biotion, niacin....LOL...its still falling out...soooooooooo there is the downside, but that doesn't mean your hair is going to fall out...its a side effect for some of us.......onenuttynurse

onenuttynurse- have you tried prenatal vitamins? i've been taking those and it seems to have gotten better. not to mention, my nails are really strong too :thumbup:

I had horrible hair experience. My hair starting thinning after I lost about 50 pounds...tried everything but nothing worked. I have read on here that some do lose hair and some don't.

I have always had thin hair so you could really notice it when it was thinning. However...for the past year, my hair has been thick and curly and it's never been like that in my entire life. Plus...the thinning of the hair was well worth the thinning of my body at the same time. I can understand your concern but if it does happen to you, it won't be very long and you could come up with different styles to "mask" it.

Best of luck to you!:thumbup:

Thanks guys! Feeling a bit better. Thinning is sure different from what I was picturing! I've got pretty thick hair as it is and always have my hairdresser "thin" it out with the texturizing scissors because it gets so poofy and hot. Maybe it will be a good thing?! :-)

No hair loss here. It's amazing how different peoples' responses to the band are though. Unfortunately you won't know until you're banded, but I'm guessing that most hair thinning bandsters would choose the hair loss over the fat any day!

My hair started thinning about 3 months post op! And it lasted about a month or so. It would just come out in handfuls when I washed it. It has stopped now! I have kind of thick hair, so no one noticed! But it did scare me a bit. haha

I am nearly 6 months out and can't say I have had any hair loss. I have lost 71 pounds so far. I use Dr. Andrew Lessman's Hair, Skin and Nails vitamins since day one after the surgery. You can buy them on QVC. You are going to love this band.

I've lost about 33lbs and I'm weeks out of being banded. I'm very strict with getting the protein in and taking vitamins. No hair loss and I noticed my nails are growing like crazy and much stronger. I guess everyone's body and metabolism is different.

Be carefull about getting obsessed with hair loss. Obsession with hair loss creates more hair loss. Also keep in mind that a normal head of hair loses 100 hairs every day. That is normal hair loss. I think sometimes the discussion on here about hair loss, gets people looking at their own hair. They discover some hairs in their brush and then they start obsessing and they end up causing a worse problem. If you have thick hair you will lose considerably more than 100 hairs and if you have long hair, 100 hairs can look like a lot of hair.

There are many causes of hair loss, like there are many causes of a fever. The band surgery causes trama to the body much like having a baby does. If you lost hair after a baby, you know that it grows back. You have to be mighty malnourished to have hair loss, so I do not believe lack of protein or vitamins is the culprit. If you are worried, get some Nioxin Shampoo from your hair dresser along with some Nioxin Scalp Therapy. The scalp therapy is a light weight conditioner but it is designed to be rubbed into the scalp. These two products started now will prevent hair loss from any baby, surgery, or any other trama. There are not any drugs in them, they work by unclogging the pores and allowing the skin to breath. I am a hair stylist and I lost hair after my babies, but did not lose any after my surgery, because I use these products every day. You are going to love being banded!!! Hugs!!!

Edited June 26, 201016 yr by JoJo1

I was banded in February of this year and had a Uterine Ablasion done 4 weeks later (both with general anesthesia) and have not lost more hair than I usually do....I do have pretty thick hair and have ate a pretty balanced diet and most of the time just chew a kids vitamin or two a day. I'm lucky.

It happens because surgery (like childbirth or trauma) interrupts the normal growth cycle of hair. Ordinarily, we lost a certain amount each day. For a while, post surgery, that is interrupted. Then we lose a bunch at once.

For some people, it is more noticeable than it is for others.

Inadequate protein/biotin/zinc intake can play in--but I get plenty of all of the above, use Nioxin, and still have been experiencing loss. It's noticeable to me when my hair is wet; it is not noticeable to others.

I'm almost 5 months post-op, have lost 44 pounds, and have really been noticing a lot of hair coming out in the past few weeks. I get in all my protein and vitamins, so I've not really been sure what was happening... it's very comforting to read what others are saying about it being a temporary thing! I have A TON of very long hair, so it's not noticeable, but it's been freaking me out when I brush it!