Having surgery and worried about hair loss

[CremeTron]

I am having surgery on 10th April and I will be under general anasthesia. I am so worried about losing my progress.

Is there any way to lessen the amount of hair I shed?:(

[lapushka]

I think you're asking for the impossible here. Just relax, and see what happens. Good luck for your surgery. :flower:

[Larki]

Is anesthesia supposed to cause hair loss? That's news to me! I've had a dozen+ surgeries with general anesthesia and didn't have any problems at all with hair. I don't see how it could hurt your hair, honestly.

[Nadine <3]

I've had surgeries under general anesthesia and never lost hair because of it. Is this a thing that can happen? I had no idea, I say just relax and worry about your health and not your hair.

[Arctic]

Larki & Nadine - Anything the body considers as a shock or trauma, mental or physical, can cause shedding, often it starts some months after the fact.

CremeTron - I have no real knowledge, but people are seeing great results with caffeine rinses, that it stops and/or reduces shedding. If you would start those and would continue them few months post-surgery, maybe that would help. Other than that, try not to worry about it too much, your health is the most important thing!

[Panth]

It is the 'shock' of the surgery - the body goes into repair mode and scrimps on superfluous things (like hair).

The best you can do is minimise the shock (or, more precisely, not add any other shocks to it) by eating healthily and trying to get enough sleep, not stress too much, etc.

[CremeTron]

Thank you guys. All good advice. I understand health first.. Artic, I will start caffeine rinses. I will go and find the recipe now.

[Islandgrrl]

The best thing you can do is to relax and not stress over the possibility of losing hair.

General anesthesia can contribute to hair loss, but it's thought that it's mostly the shock of major surgery and not necessarily the actual anesthetic agents themselves. The stress/shock to your body that goes along with surgery + the stress over having the surgery and the possibility of having a big shed are cumulative. Reduce stress!

I personally have had major abdominal surgery three times with no associated hair loss. So it's not a guarantee that hair will be lost. I probably lost half my hair, though, in postpartum shedding after my last baby was born (it was wicked bad).

It's hair. It grows back. I know that's oversimplification and I don't mean to diminish the degree of your concern over this. Your health is way, way more important than the length of your hair.

Wishing you a successful surgery and a speedy and complete recovery that does not include hair loss!

[yahirwaO.o]

Your probably anticipating to something that hasn't happened..... It may be a rule that you loss a bit hair after a surgery, but this doesnt mean it necesarily happens to everybody, and dogmatic enunciations dont apply again to all people.

You can always trim back and make those coffe rinses that seam to work nice.

Also, try reading some Emichee posts on her blog, shes has incredibly long and beautiful hair after really difficult health problems. http://longhairedatheart.blogspot.mx/

And finally.... Just relax and smake some positive thinking previous the surgery, its so much better to have a nice attitude than being anxious for smething that is not in the present.

[Anje]

As others have said, trying to be as minimally stressed about it as you can certainly won't hurt.

Put your hair in some good braids before you go in. It might be days before you hair gets combed afterwards, maybe longer if you're the only one who ends up caring for it. Minimizing tangles and mats will also be important to ensuring that you don't lose or break hair unnecessarily.

[MINAKO]

Actually i have been worried about this quite a few times too, but my hair was always alright afterwards. I did expiriece what looked like alot of shedding because my hair was in twin braids and i could not take care of it for a few days, but i did use alot of coney serum in it and detangling and washing wasnt so troublesome that it actually caused damage.
Best of luck CremeTron, you will be fine. :flower:

[Auni]

As others have said, trying to be as minimally stressed about it as you can certainly won't hurt.

Put your hair in some good braids before you go in. It might be days before you hair gets combed afterwards, maybe longer if you're the only one who ends up caring for it. Minimizing tangles and mats will also be important to ensuring that you don't lose or break hair unnecessarily.

I cannot emphasis this enough!! I'm a RN and have seen some horrible things happen to hair that was loose pre surgery, the worse is one HUGE matt at the back of the head. Prolonged immobility can totally really wreck it, and there's no guarantee that someone will take care of it! Make sure you use elastics without metal as those aren't allowed.;)