for those wanting to keep their hair after surgery

[princesstia 190]

Many of you may or may not know that i'm a hairfanatic! Not in the usual sense, but a serious, can tell you the chemical breakdown and properties of hair and all type hairfanatic! I had the surgery on Thursday, December 20, 2012, and because I am such the hair fanatic I am, this was the one downfall that almost turned me away from this awesomeness I'm experiencing. With that said, I did tons of research on different supplements and their properties and have figured out how to keep our hair after WLS. I'm almost 5 months post op, have followed the below regimen to a tee, and have about 2 new inches of Hair growth. No thinning and no shedding at all.

Before I begin, please visit my hair blog thehairyfairy.blogspot.com for more in depth info, but here's the skinny on how hair works!

Understanding You Hair

:

Hair grows about 1/2 in per month. In order to keep and maintain hair, one must do things: Increase growth rate and prevent shedding. The hair strands in your head are in 1 of 3 phases at all times: the Anagen phase is the growth phase. Most hairs are in this stage. Short hair usually results from short Anagen phases. The Catogen phase follows this stage and its sort of the transitioning phase that prepares the hair follicle to shrink and allows the hair strand to enter resting phase. Finally you have the telogen phase which is the resting stage where no hair grows at all and the old strand is pushed out and the new strand re-enters the anaogen phase. This is important because the tendency for hair to be in each of these stages influences how long the hair will actually be able to grow before it sheds and starts a new cycle. With pregnancy, many women experience hair growth because all hairs kick into the anagen phase and hair is growing continually for the duration of pregnancy. Protein is what keeps this cycle going. For WLS patients, many experience Hair loss because the reduction in Protein slows this cycle and much of the hair is kicked into the Telogen (shedding) phase. Fortunately for us, the solution awaits...

MSM

First and foremost everyone should add some form of MSM (METHYLSULFONYLMETHANE) into their diets after weight loss surgery. You can google it and find a wealth of health benefits, but in short it's a sulfur compound that our body needs but can only take in from food sources. Unfortunately because of the way food is processed much of the sulfur contained in it is broken down so we don't get the proper amount we need. MSM has been used to treat joint and arthritis pain, alergies, digestive disorders, etc. But it is also the miracle beauty drug as it helps to synthesize Proteins in the hair skin and nails. In hair particularly, it increases the anagen phase of hair allowing hair to grow longer and for a longer period of time. A truly great hair supplement will have some amount of msm in it for this reason. MSM helps us WLS patients to keep our hair strands in that growth phase and out of that dreaded shedding phase.

Collagen

Collagen is also another key item we should all have in our diets. collagen increases skin elasticity, smoothes away scars, and regenerates hair and nails. Collagen makes up 25% of the body's protein and is used particularly for hair loss because it supports the body's hair building protein. It is also one of those beauty drugs that targets many of the problems associated with WLS including hair loss, saggin skin, and protein loss. If your looking for something to help hair growth and keep your skin in snap-back mode, this product will not let you down!

Garlic Oil

I cannot stress enough, garlic oil is the key to our problem! Garlic oil is great for a healthy heart, but unknown to many, is the number one natural product people with alopecia use to combat hair loss. Garlic oil prevents shedding. GARLIC OIL PREVENTS SHEDDING. Every product I own contains garlic - Shampoo, conditioner, and hot oil treatments. The garlic extracts increases the blood flow in the scalp, thus allowing more oxygen to circulate the proper amount of nutrients to the hair follicle. Msm and garlic working together allows for hair to grow longer and stronger without shedding. Use garlic oil as a supplement and topically. There are great odorless garlic supplements and I take about 4000mcg daily and you would never know it! I also give myself garlic hot oil treatments monthly, and wash my hair bi weekly with garlic shampoo and conditioner.

Biotin

For obvious reasons, Biotin should be included. Everyone has a wealth of information on Biotin, but why many people fail using Biotin is because they use it as a standalone. Biotin works well with other supplements as far as growing the hair, but alone, they do little to keep hair from coming out. Hair will grow, but the strands due to shed will shed. Every hair supplement you buy if its worth anything will contain Biotin and MSM. But they are best used as stand alone products together because the dosage of each is so much higher.

I'm not the expert.. don't get me wrong. This is my approach to combatting hair loss during this incredible journey, and thus far, it has worked! If anyone is interested in specific brands for the items above or regimens, PM me. I'd be happy to help. I love hair and would do anything to help my fellow WLS friends keep theirs too!

[Dallas Curvy Girl 70]

Great & informative information about hair. I knew I was going to be quite busy and doing hair was not my top priority. I went ahead and had my hair braided but bought some Biotin pills. Do you think my adding the oil from the garlic pills in Shampoo & conditioners will help? if so I will be doing that to my shampoos. Thanks for such valuable information. You have definitley done your research.

[DonRodolfo 1,416]

Many of you may or may not know that i'm a hairfanatic!

OMG ME TOO!

[NewAshes 232]

What brand of Shampoo and conditioner do you use?

[miss_cee85 160]

Very informative post!!!

[jobyro 9]

Can you tell us about some of the products you use?

[Nichole79 2]

thank you thank you thank you !!! Im not so concerned about my hair post op as I have pretty think hair ....however my young daughter has very fine thin short hair and she is also so upset about it. I am going to start giving her this mixture and see how it helps ....wont hurt to start using it myself as well

[luckysmomma 407]

I take Biotin, Prenatal Vitamins, Organix Biotin & collagen Shampoo/conditioner...buy it all at Walmart.< /p>

[aamandddaaaahunt 7]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

[princesstia 190]

Can you tell us about some of the products you use?

for my Shampoo and conditioner i use of combination of MSM shampoo and Garlic Oil Shampoo.. here are the links to them:

MSM shampoo: http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-19339-trimedica-msm-shampoo-8-oz

Garlic Shampoo: http://www.amazon.com/MBP-Alopecil-Garlic-Shampoo-Vitamin/dp/B000UOG3E8/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1368454232&sr=1-1&keywords=alopecil+garlic+oil+shampoo

for condition I use MSM conditioner: http://www.vitacost.com/TriMedica-MSM-Conditioner

for supplements I take garlic oil, msm, hairfinity hair pills, along with the other perscribed Vitamins my doctor needs me to take. Here are the links to them:

hairfinity: http://www.hairfinity.com/Order.htm

garlic oil: http://www.amazon.com/Odorless-Garlic-1000-Twin-Pack/dp/B001QRZ0LK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368454535&sr=8-2&keywords=garlic+oil+pills

msm: http://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Best-1500-Tablets-120-Count/dp/B000NRXNRC/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368454550&sr=1-1&keywords=msm

biotin: http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Bounty-Potency-5000mcg-60-Count/dp/B001G7QYGU/ref=sr_1_3?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368454571&sr=1-3&keywords=Biotin

i also mix a scoop of collagen in my Protein shakes: http://www.amazon.com/NeoCell-Super-Collagen-Powder-III/dp/B002OGVI0O/ref=sr_1_7?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368454760&sr=1-7&keywords=collagen+powder

I also massage a specially formulated oil into my hair 3 times per week before styling. I wear braids most of the time so i just oil my scalp with it. The ingredients to make an 8ounce applicator bottle full are:

2oz Extra virgin olive oil

2oz jamaican black castor oil

2oz jojoba oil

1oz grapeseed oil

20 drops of peppermint oil

20 drops of tea tree oil

20 drops of rosemary oil

The products i included are the actual products I use. Hope this helps everyone!

[krystalt313 13]

Where do I buy collagen? Is it sold in the form of a pill?

[Tink22-sleeve 528]

Princess, How are things going reducing any Hair loss? thought I'd check in