Has anyone experienced hair loss after an ostomy?

@kasandphyl1
So, Kathy, I have taken heart from all the comments I have seen here. My colostomy was late March, so we are close to the same timetable. I have been using biotin shampoo and am taking a biotin vitamin. I think (hope) they have been working, but in any event, when I now comb my hair it has stopped coming out. As I noted, my hairdresser said that it was the trauma I had been though and that it would get better. And she was right. At my age(82), I had a very thick head of hair with lots of body. Not that way any more. But it is better and a bet yours will be, too. Keep the faith😇. Bette

My name is Kathy and I had a colostomy bag in April 18th 2025 for Diverticulitis and perforated bowel. I have had curly hair all of my life and since my hair is falling out and very kinky at the ends. I fear that I am going bald. I thought it was from the Predisone that I take for PMR, but I have been taking it fir a year and had no problems till April. So..........what do we do about it?

We all have bad days. But it beats the alternative. I get counseling. Can you do that? It is a life saver.

@bettes
Hi! And mine hit at 82. I was a fully functioning human, although admittedly somewhat slowed down, and then suddenly I was not and soon I became almost bedridden, watching my energy and abilities to function become depleted. Sorry. It sounds so whiny when I write/say it. Perhaps today is just a bad day.

Hi! Yes, I agree. I don’t think anyone can give completely effective advice until they have walked the walk. I was extremely blessed to have been very healthy and strong until I was 80, and then it all hit the fan. I am lucky to have long term care insurance, so while I am paying something out of pocket, the insurance is covering a lot. I am going to keep help as long as it is practical, and until I can manage my husband’s care myself. I am hanging in, though, and it sounds like you are, too! Bette

@bettes
Hello Senior Lady, I had no idea that ‘elderly’ was now a pejorative term. I certainly don’t fancy it. And glad to read that your hair is back and your pain levels are down It might be expected that your hairdresser knew about hair loss, but strange (and somewhat disheartening) that an anesthesiologist did not. On the other hand, it’s the patients who end up learning how to wean off a vast variety of drugs and most doctors and pharmacists don’t seem to.

Thanks so much for replying. The stress of what we have been through has played havoc with our whole bodies and our poor hair has taken a beating too. Mine is starting to come back. Hope your’s fully recovers.

I do some grant writing for the local Area Agency on Aging, and since I am 82, I have asked that the staff fro the CEO on down do not refer to us as elderly. Call us seniors, or older people, whatever. But not the elderly, please. It is pejorative.
Back to hair. Mine was coming out by the could after my colostomy in March, and it went from straight as a pin to curly and was fragile. I stopped coloring it for a few months because I didn’t want to damage it, and I started using a biotin shampoo and taking a biotin tablet every day. I had my hip replaced a week ago and I was concerned that I might have some hair loss again. I even spoke with the anesthesiologist about it, and she said she had never heard of anesthesia being a cause of the problem. My hairdresser said she had seen this before many times in patients experiencing major surgery, and that it is definitely caused by stress on the body and mind. Makes sense to me.
Anyway, so far so good with the hip surgery, although the pain this past week was greater than I had been led to believe by everyone I had talked to. My surgeon said that mine was an extreme case of bone on bone—one of the worse he had ever seen, so that was probably why the pain was so awful. And my hair seems to be okay—and it is definitely growing back enough so that I will need a haircut in a couple of weeks
My ostomy has been cooking along throughout this whole thing. I have discovered that I like disposable pouches, so that is what I have been using. The pain meds have made my stools very hard—they are like pebbles you could skip across a pond. But I am weening off the drugs, so should be back to normal soon. So that’s it. Pain is decreasing and the hip surgery was a success ( saw the X-ray of the “after”, my hair is growing back, and don’t call me elderly🤗

I've been following this topic with some interest because my hair thinned out tremendously due (I have always believed) to an overdosing of sulfa many years ago. I'm old (84) now and my hair is very thin... however I couldn't say whether it thinned out more because of the colostomy .

However I would say that my skin has changed after I had the colostomy becoming quite granular, especially on my face and neck. I wonder if the ostomy had anything do with it. I've also undergone general anesthesia a few times since the ostomy for a variety of causes. From what I've read recently that this is particularly problematic for the elderly (which apparently is what I now am). Any thoughts?

I lost a lot of hair after my colostomy. It didn’t start growing back until after my reversal 6 months later. I think the shock to my body, all the antibiotic, and 40 pound weight loss contributed to the loss. It was if my body was using all its energy to heal me and hair and skin suffered. It was almost a year before all my hair grew back and my skin returned to normal. Biotin and a multi vitamin helped with the recovery.