Clients come in for hair extensions for all sorts of reasons, but one of the most common requests for hair extensions is as a result of recently increased shedding of the clients own hair and the desire to immediately thicken it back up. The following is a quick list of some common temporary hair loss triggers and whether or not they tend to be compatible with the addition of hair extensions.

~~ Certain prescription medicines can increase hair loss and susceptibility to shedding. These include, but are by no means limited to: blood thinners, vitamin A supplements, some arthritis medications, antidepressants, gout medications, medications for certain heart problems, blood pressure medications, and birth control pills. If a medication is causing your hair loss, your doctor may be able to prescribe an alternative medication.

— For hair extensions it is important to know if the medicine causes the loss is a temporary medication or not, so that extensions are not attached while the hair is still shedding. It’s prohibitively expensive to purchase a hair extension service, have them continue to fall out, and have to keep replacing them. If you’re only on it for a little while, wait until you’re off it. If it is a long term medication and it cannot be switched to anything else, wait until you’ve reached a kind of equilibrium level, and pay close attention to maintenance schedules with your hair extension specialist to prevent weakening already sensitive hair.

~~ If you had major surgery and experienced excessive hair loss anywhere from one week to about three months later (depending upon metabolism), the anesthesia combined with the surgery itself may be to blame for your hair falling out. General anesthesia and major surgery are some intense physical stress, which can mess with the growing phases of the hairs on your head, and cause excessive hair shedding that shows up later. Hair loss related to major surgery, however, is temporary, and your hair will grow back over time.

— For hair extensions with this type of loss, all you have to do is wait it out, usually the shedding takes place all in about a two week span, so go in for a consultation as soon as you notice so the hair extension specialist can have everything prepped for you when your hair reaches balance. Usually by the time your set grows out your real hair is thickened up enough to not require extensions. (Of course, you may get used to the look and ease of your new chosen hair.)

— I actually recently experienced this type of hair loss after having my tonsils out. Unfortunately I had gotten my hair extensions put in about a month prior to my unexpected surgery and I shed quite a bit of my hair extensions since they were attached to my real hair. If you are a current hair extensions wearer and have an upcoming surgery, try to plan your maintenance and replacement visits around your surgery to accommodate a waiting period after surgery before replacing extensions.

~~ Diet and exercise! When you dramatically reduce calorie intake, or increase calorie usage via exercise you might not be getting all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that your body needs. This can cause your hair to fall out. Since hair is made of keratin protein, not enough protein in your diet can be detrimental to your hair after only about two to three months of a protein-deficient diet. Very strict weight-loss diets or exercise plans can also cause noticeable hair loss, which commonly occurs about three months after losing 15 pounds or more of body weight.

— When looking to get hair extensions related to this type of hair loss and shedding I typically recommend wearing a clip-in option until the client has reached their goal weight. Otherwise they are just paying for hair that they are going to keep shedding. One they’ve reached their goal weight, or adjusted to a less strict regimen for maintenance, any type of hair extension becomes an option. Over time all their shed hair should come back if they stay balanced so the hair extensions should not need to be a permanent option unless the client maintains fitness competition levels of body fat.