Hair Restoration Blog

Q:

I had gastric bypass about 10 years ago. Not only have I lost a lot of my hair but i have never regained it. Especially after taking a shower i notice that i loose a lot more hair then i should. I have brought this concern up with my doctor but all he tells me is to increase my vitamin intake. I have also been taking Biotin for about three months and vitamin B12 along with a multi-vitamin but have not seen a difference. In addition my eyelashes are thinner and I have lost the thickness of them. I am thinking about rogain for women but if you can please give me any advice I would really appreciate it I am only 38 and fear i will be bald byt the time i turn 40.
Thank You,

A:

As we discussed in the article “Gastric Bypass Surgery and Hair Loss”, it is common to see hair loss or changes in the quality and color of hair after a gastric bypass surgery. The changes are generally seen in the first few months after the gastric bypass surgery. Similar hair loss conditions could also be seen in a variety of other medical conditions, major surgeries or trauma.

The immediate few months following a gastric bypass surgery mimics sever starvation conditions in which body may have difficulty obtaining many essential elements or nutrients through regular diet and supplement of nutrients and vitamins may become necessary.

Hair loss after a gastric bypass may be seen in the patients who don’t have any obvious vitamin or mineral deficiency. Patients need to be evaluated on a regular basis by their surgeon and with regular lab tests. The initial hair loss should return to normal if there is no other underlying condition exists.

In case patient has any other medical condition that can accelerate hair loss or in the case of genetic male patterned or female patterned baldness, patient may never gain their hair back. In those conditions the stress of the surgery acts as a stimulator forcing patient scalp hair to fall on a faster than normal pace.

My recommendation is to see a good hair transplant surgeon and undergo a miniaturization study to rule out any other treatable causes of hair loss.

Q:

I take Errin Tablets for a few months as a contraceptive. I have also been experiencing hair loss recently. I wanted to know if there is a correlation between losing hair and this particular contraceptive. I had a baby 4 months ago. I see thinning everywhere but it is more obvious on the front and top as diffuse thinning.

A:

Your hair loss could be related to your pregnancy and delivery of your baby. Human hair grows in cycles and goes to resting phase (telogen) between the growth cycles. About 95% of your hair is in growth phase (anagen) at anytime and about 5% of them are in resting phase. You may not see any hair growing from the follicles during resting phase. That is the reason we normally lose scalp hair on a regular basis. In fact losing up to 200 hairs every day is normal and part of the cycling of our hair. Some stimulants can put a large number of our hairs into telogen phase. This condition is called Telogen effluvium. Telogen effluvium (TE) can be seen in women after delivery of a baby. Telogen effluvium is especially seen between months one to five following delivery of a baby, when the load of estrogen is removed. It is usually seen in 40 to 50% of women after pregnancy, and like most of the changes in pregnancy, it is temporary. Wait 4 to 6 months and you should grow your hair back. Meanwhile, make sure you are taking sufficient minerals and vitamins on a daily basis.

Any other cause of imbalance in estrogen level may increase hair loss. Scalp hair loss is reported in users of oral birth control pills containing norethindrone and ethinyl esteradiol, like Errin tablets or other brands: Brevicon, Norinyl, Norethindrone. However the association of those contraceptives and hair loss has not been completely confirmed through medical literature. I women think their hair loss may be linked to the use of birth control pills, they need to stop the pill and use another birth control method after discussing that with their doctor.

Q:

Hi Doctor,

My mother is obsessed with my hair loss and gives me a whole bunch of vitamins and mineral tablets everyday to help regrow my hair.
Do you think they work? Or should I stop them.

A:

Although lack of certain vitamins and minerals could cause hair loss in their sever form, living in north America and having a normal and balanced diet; it is unlikely that you are suffering from vitamin or mineral deficiency. On the contrary, if you look at your family pattern of hair loss, you probably can find other male members of the family who has similar male pattern hair loss. As I always say, you need to have the triangle of baldness, which is “Gene, Male gender, and time” to become bald. Vitamins deficiency is not to blame as part of triangle of male patterned hair loss. You can continue taking vitamins to please your mom, but don’t overdo it since vitamins are not going to bring your hair back. Instead you need to see a good hair specialist or dermatologist and undergo a good hair loss evaluation with miniaturization study and start taking one of the effective medications to prevent further hair loss or to use hair transplant to restore your lost hair.