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. I shed some tears over that.
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. The vitamin I take for healthy hair and nails is
Silica Complex by Puritan's PrideĆ. It contains calcium, magnesium,
zinc, boron, betaine and horsetail extract. Consumption of this
supplement almost immediately retarded my hair loss and renewed my dull
lifeless hair. I will continue taking this supplement throughout my
life. Three years after surgery my hair is long, full and lustrous - one
would never know I had suffered significant hair loss. In hindsight, I
would certainly begin taking this supplement prior to my surgery. In the
very least I would begin taking it soon after surgery before the signs
of hair loss were apparent.