Mom is going bald

[Samsays]

Hello, I'm new here and totally bewildered. I have some questions related to hair loss I've been experiencing.

I've had two surgeries this past year (hysterectomy in 12/08, kept ovaries so hormones are fine & I feel good. I also had a breast augmentation & lift just 6 weeks ago). With both surgeries I've noticed a tremendous amount of hair loss on the sides of my head. It's quite irritating as I want to grow my hair out and my hair dresser has to keep cutting it shorter and shorter to make it look okay since it's thinned out. My hair dresser did say I have new baby hairs coming in, but they appear thinner than before.

With the hysterectomy, I did notice the hair loss taper off after a while. Now since this last surgery, I've had a tremendous amount of hair loss. My husband teases me that I'll be bald with a great figure. He doesn't use those exact words, but it's pretty annoying & stressful as I see all those hairs clog up my sink and shower.

I'm in great health, eat, exercise regularly, take my vitamins and biotin. I'm a stay at home mom to four kids, so I have a good amount of stress to deal with, but it's doable.

So, my questions are this, what can I do to stop/lessen the hair loss at this point? Should I stop coloring my hair? The more gray I get, the more blonde I go! Should I switch to semi-permanent hair dye and should I start using products like Nioxin or Rogaine for women? Help.

Thank you for any and all help, Samantha.

[Lain]

Hey Samsays,

Very sadly I am no expert regarding preventing female hair loss, however things like colouring the hair normally do not cause hair loss. It may damage the hair itself especially the bleach but it certainly should not cause any bald patches except if you chemically burn your skin.

Stress may cause temporary hair loss however it should regrow within a 6 month frame. I would doubt that specifically breast augmentation or a hysterectomy would be responsible for permament hair loss.

Rogaine for women certainly is a good option if your hair loss in a certain area. But I have yet to see a man / woman to actually regrow a lot of hair by this medication. It may however maintain what you have. Is your hair loss concentrated on the sides of your head only or is it more a diffuse pattern?

Nioxin certainly is a good shampoo but as Dr Rassman says it has simply no proven value that it REALLY does regrow hair. Sorry.

If you are frustrated at the moment I could only offer you derm match or hair building fibres like toppik. It may sound crazy but they are really working pretty well, considering that the colours offered kinda match the colour of your hair.

Is your hair loss already clearly noticable? Or only when you point to it?

Hair transplantation may of course offer the best solution.

Oh and tell your husband to shut up! :P I curse him with the baldness spell ;)

[Samsays]

Hi Lain, thanks for responding.

My hair loss is not clearly noticeable unless I point it out. My husband and my thirteen year old daughter noticed my hair was thinner. I think it's just my body's reaction to the anesthetic.

I'm trying a scalp serum from Phyto that seems promising. I think it's a French brand and it's all natural and all about 'balancing the scalp'. It may all be pricey marketing, but I'm trying it. I used it a second time this past weekend and my hair loss lessened a bit. In other words I had maybe one or two hairs come out each time I run my hands through it versus five to ten each time.

If this does not prove promising over the long run, then I may try the Rogaine for the sides of my head.

Thanks for the info and the great news on coloring as I don't want to stop that.

Take care, Sam.

P.S. my husband has had a balding patch on the crown of his head since he was 16 and it's getting worse. A rogaine commercial came on TV and I remarked on how his bald spot seems to be getting more noticeable and he asked me to buy him some!

[Mark]

Hi Samsays,

The only real solution we've seen for womens hair loss is minoxidil. I'd try that before trying anything else, as we see the best results with it.

-Mark

[Samsays]

Thanks Mark for the info. The phyto brand seems to still be working pretty good. If it stops and the shedding increases, I'll try the Minoxidil.

Thanks, Sam.