Colorado Bariatric Surgery Institute

A common fear and complaint of bariatric surgery is postoperative hair loss. Nutrition can have a great impact on hair health because when forced to make a choice, the body will shift nutritional stores to vital organs like the brain and heart and away from the hair.

Hair loss can have many causes. Nutritional issues aside, bariatric surgery patients already have two of the major risk factors for hair loss including major surgery and rapid weight loss. These alone can account for hair loss seen right after surgery. In the absence of nutritional issues, hair loss will stop once the body has healed from surgery and the rapid weight loss slows and stops. Hair will then begin to re-grow. It is because of this that we encourage post bariatric surgery patients to have patience and keep up good nutritional intake and their hair will grow back once weight loss steadies. There is little evidence that early hair loss is preventable because it is most likely caused by the surgery and rapid weight loss. When preparing for surgery just be aware that this is a potential temporary side effect.

If you find that you hair continues to fall out once your weight loss has steadied (usually after a year for bypass and two to three for lap band) then you should consult your nutritionist to determine if there are any nutritional deficiencies occurring. Things that your nutritionist will look at include iron, zinc, protein and biotin. Never hesitate to contact our office if you have questions or issues related to this topic. That is what we are here for.