Should I cut my hair? (Hair Loss)

[Swanton_Bomb 522]

53 minutes ago, AshAsh1 said:

I'm 8 months post op, and had EXTREMELY thick hair pre op. Now, my hair is teetering on thin... it brings me to tears thinking of all the loss. I am still losing weight, but not as rapidly. Despite the slowing of loss, my hair is still falling out in clumps. I don't see an end in sight.

The other very scary and real thing is... regrowth. What in the hell will my hair look like when it starts to regrow? How long will I struggle with the regrowth, years...?

I did everything right. I took VERY good care of my hair 1+ years going into surgery. My hair was uncolored and virgin hair. I was/am taking 10k units per day of Biotin. I get my Protein in daily. I limit heat exposure and use only the best products. There is virtually nothing I can think of that I haven't done to prevent this loss.

I'm close to tears thinking about this aspect of the surgery and just how bad my loss will be. I am not a very attractive person, and my hair is literally the only thing somewhat decent looking about me, and it's pretty thin now. I'm really scared about this and the inevitability of it. I do NOT look good with short hair. I know extensions can be an option but they damage regrowth. I'm starting to wonder if this is a mistake. When I first started the pre op process I thought the Hair loss would be minimal, but now I'm reading about people who have lost enough to need a wig and people who lost so much they felt they had to shave their heads. I feel sick to my stomach over this.

[TakingABreak 2,733]

1 minute ago, Swanton_Bomb said:

I'm close to tears thinking about this aspect of the surgery and just how bad my loss will be. I am not a very attractive person, and my hair is literally the only thing somewhat decent looking about me, and it's pretty thin now. I'm really scared about this and the inevitability of it. I do NOT look good with short hair. I know extensions can be an option but they damage regrowth. I'm starting to wonder if this is a mistake. When I first started the pre op process I thought the Hair loss would be minimal, but now I'm reading about people who have lost enough to need a wig and people who lost so much they felt they had to shave their heads. I feel sick to my stomach over this.

I feel you 100%. I am just trying to hold onto the fact that I am grateful for the weight loss and it has ultimately made a huge positive impact on my life, as it will yours. Hair loss (for those who lose it) is a very large draw back to the surgery. I have a friend who would never consider it, because she has such thin hair to begin with. Ultimately, seeing how much this has changed my life... I wouldn't take it back. Hair will regrow, it won't be pretty, but it will regrow. At the end of the day, this process will be a small blip of my life.

[Swanton_Bomb 522]

Would anyone who has experienced Hair loss be willing to post a picture (face hidden if you are private about the surgery, of course). It would help to actually see what I'm in for.

[Neversaynever 268]

I decided to go for it and chop a lot off!

I had very long hair, almost reaching my bum and had had it for years so was very reluctant to cut it.

I was so depressed though at the amount of hair every time I combed my fingers through it. Because it was so long, it looked like more than it probably was. It was the best decision ever, seriously!

It feels amazing, looks amazing and already there is way less Hair loss and I only had it cut two days ago. Picture to follow.

[sillykitty 10,706]

On 9/13/2018 at 9:44 AM, Swanton_Bomb said:

Would anyone who has experienced Hair loss be willing to post a picture (face hidden if you are private about the surgery, of course). It would help to actually see what I'm in for.

I had a lot of Hair loss 3-5 months post up. But no one can tell the difference except me. When my hair is down, even I can't really tell. Only when I pull my hair up, and the temples are thin, and my ponytail is 1/2 the diameter it once was, does it become apparent to me.

[Neversaynever 268]

Before and after, long hair, short hair!

[Jingle123423 165]

3 hours ago, Neversaynever said:

Before and after, long hair, short hair!

Looks great!

[catama1 2]

Same hair problem here....but now my nails seem to be suffering too!...Sleeved Mar 27.....taking Biotin and all my other supplements....anyone else have splitting, weak nails after was?

[Swanton_Bomb 522]

6 hours ago, Neversaynever said:

Before and after, long hair, short hair!

See, this makes me feel SOOOO much better! You look terrific. First of all, when people say they cut their hair "short", this isn't what I think of, I think of chin length or shorter. I prefer my hair mid-back but I could carry off a cut like this. Thanks for posting.

[Screwballski 540]

I bit the bullet and had mine cut two days ago.
I got my extensions out 4 weeks ago for a neck/face lift.
A week later my hair started coming out in hand fulls (right about the 4 month sleeve post op mark). I’ll try to post a before and after cut. The before will be without extensions or Neck lift! :). The after will be The day of cut and 4 weeks after neck lift. :)

[JessLess 1,163]

I'm wondering if using a Wet Brush might help? My hairdresser turned me on to these. They are only about $15 and are much more gentle on your hair. It's called a Wet Brush because you can use it to apply conditioner in the shower without pulling out hair, but I use one more often because it detangles but is very gentle.

[sillykitty 10,706]

4 minutes ago, JessLess said:

I'm wondering if using a Wet Brush might help? My hairdresser turned me on to these. They are only about $15 and are much more gentle on your hair. It's called a Wet Brush because you can use it to apply conditioner in the shower without pulling out hair, but I use one more often because it detangles but is very gentle.

It's not a matter of hair being pulled out, it literally falls out.

[JessLess 1,163]

2 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

It's not a matter of hair being pulled out, it literally falls out.

Sorry, obviously I have not had my surgery yet!

[sillykitty 10,706]

1 minute ago, JessLess said:

Sorry, obviously I have not had my surgery yet!

No worries. There were several of us going through it at the same time. We tried seemingly everything, and we still lost hair, lots of hair.

As @Matt Z said on another thread:

"Nothing you do at this point is going to stop or help the hair that's falling out. That's because your body decided months ago that it was going to stop feeding that hair that's falling out now. The reason it's falling out now, is because new hair is pushing the old hair out. Google Telogen Effluvium. It's when something shocks your system (stress, surgery, stressful surgery, etc) and your body has Hair growth cycles, the surgery causes a much higher percentage of hair to go dormant than normal. So, when the "Grow" cycle starts up again, all of that "Rest" cycle hair, gets dumped. It's just a temporary change to your normal shedding cycle. Nothing you can do about it now except deal with it until everything grows back in properly."

[JessLess 1,163]

Thanks, @sillykitty.