Surprisingly, hair loss is one of the reasons female pre-operative patients sit on the fence before deciding to have gastric bypass surgery.
Obese people, particularly obese women, often have lush gorgeous hair.
Of course they do – it’s well fed and nourished! How many of us have been described as the woman with “beautiful hair and a pretty face”?
What person in their right mind would give up one of their beautiful features?
Hair loss usually occurs in the fourth of fifth month following weight loss surgery.
During the phase of rapid weight loss, caloric intake is marginal. This puts the body in a state of panic called starvation.
Think about the pictures of prisoners of war.
Most victims of this atrocity are without hair because they are literally starving to death.
A healthy body normally sheds ten percent of hair follicles at any given time.
When a body is starving roughly thirty to forty percent of hair follicles are sacrificed as the body channels nutrition to more vital areas.
During this phase hair loss is dramatic, often patients find clumps of hair on the shower floor.
Remaining hair becomes drab and lifeless.
I knew hair loss was a potential result of weight loss surgery, but because I’m a “cup-half-full” person, I didn’t believe that hair loss would happen to me!
That just happens to other people, I told myself! Imagine my surprise when my blonde locks were littering the bathroom floor like hair saloon.
The hair loss is a transient effect of your gastric bypass surgery and will be resolved when nutrition and weight stabilize.
When my hair began falling out, my husband, who has been a proponent of vitamin supplements all his life, found a vitamin specifically formulated for building strong healthy hair.
