What The Hairloss Looks Like...

[Wheetsin 714]

This is the hair collected after my daily shower/shampoo during my heaviest hairloss week. One week's worth of hair. I've been losing hair for about 6 weeks now. It has started to lessen.

This is ONLY what came out in the shower. There would be about 1/3 - 1/4 of the daily amount over again when I would finger comb/apply hair product. My shower drain caught the shower hair, but I had to have my bathroom sink snaked, just because of what came off my hands after the shower.

And the Hair loss is an all day thing. It doesn't only happen when you shower/wash your hair. That's just when you see it concentrated. And the water/washing/conditioner can "lubricate" hair that has fallen out, but remains stuck in your other hairs.

I know this is kinda gross, but pre- and newly post-ops who have no idea what to expect - here's an idea.

This is not necessarily what you will experience.

What you're seeing is short hair - about 5" long at the longest part, and about 2" at the shortest. Just to give you an idea of the hair volume you're seeing (i.e. it's not a smaller amount of really long hair tangled up).

Hope this helps.

BTW -I'm far from bald. Despite what these pictures show, I don't think I would notice it if I weren't seeing it.

[vdunn87 2]

thank you for posting this its very helpful

[traceyc 89]

Mine looks about the same. my brush is the worst so covered in hair. No one can tell my hair is thinning though. At least that is what they tell me.

[CaliKat 153]

Yup-looks about right.

I've got long hair (6" past shoulders) and it comes out everywhere!!! My hair is medium and slightly wavy.

It started falling out a lot at month 4 and now at month 5 it's still falling like crazy. I expect it will slow down sometime in month 6.... The big change is the volume of my hair- despite product and blow drying upside down.... It's still limp and flat.

Like the OP... It looks like a lot of hair but I am still far from bald!

[Wheetsin 714]

BTW, this is my 2nd WLS and 2nd time going through Hair loss. The first time was about the same, but looked much worse as my hair was about waist length back then.

[Pattyhdz 32]

Thank you for posting and what a great idea. I will collect In one week and see what comes out

[Dooter 1,457]

Oh ya. Hubby just had to dump a truckload of Drain-O into our shower to contend with what looks like a dead cat shoved down drain, but turns out to be half of my head.

[LeahDiarrhea 50]

You can buy hair catchers for your shower drain. They are awesome! I have hair down to my butt so this is essential for me. I got it at bed bath and beyond!

Sent from my iPhone using VST

[lml32937 65]

MIne is the same and I too had 2 WLS- first band and now sleeve topped with thyroid cancer-- tripple doozies ... But having looked at your pics i'd say we are normal.. .. lol

[missjenny 43]

Holy crap that's alot of hair. My hair is just starting to fall out and starting to freak out.

[lilly11781 29]

Wow when does it start falling out? I'm a week post op and not looking forward to this at all. Does it eventually grow back?

[Fallenangel2904 494]

Thanks for this post! As a pre op it's helpful though I admit slightly scary. I have mediumish hair and it's curly so I'm a little scared to see how much I loose. My hair already sheds quite a bit since I've bleached it on and off for a few years and it's damaged as all heck. Hopefully it all doesn't give up on me and I don't have to wind up pulling a Brittney lol

[nalasmom 14]

I bought 7500 mcg Biotin pills and make sure i get in all my Protein and other Vitamins. I havent noticed any hairloss at all. Hopefully it continues this way. I bought the biotin from puritan's pride. Man, they were showing hair remedies for all kinds of hair trauma on Dr. Oz last night. I wish I kept it on that channel. However, Bridesmaids was on too. Haha.

[LindaS 316]

I also take Biotin 7500, and I did have Hair loss about equal to what Wheetsin is showing. I started losing hair about 3 or 4 months after surgery, and it lasted for a couple of months.

I did a few things to help lessen the hair loss -- at least how noticeable the loss was to others. I have thick hair and usually thin it, and I stopped doing that for a while. I started washing my hair every other day instead of daily. I had my hair cut a bit shorter since the loss was most noticeable at the ends.

I also stopped coloring my hair for a while. I was worried that the color might accelerate the hair loss. I waited 10 months after my surgery before I colored again.

I spoke a lot to my hairdresser about my options and how bad my hair loss was. I spoke to her almost immediately, and she helped assure me that it was OK. She had some products I could use as well if my hair loss got worse, but I never had to use them.

[amusgrave 22]

This scares me so much! Already have thin hair does it grow back?