What is Shock Loss After Hair Transplant Surgery?
Thursday, May 15th, 2008Q:
You have mentioned shock loss in some of your articles that may happen after hair transplant surgeries in young men. Does it happen to everyone and if happened, is it reversible.
A:
Shock loss used to be a big problem for many hair transplant patients. Shock loss generally happens in the first 1 to 3 months following the hair transplant procedure and can be reversible in some patients and to some degrees. Remember that shock loss happens mostly to the hair follicles that have some degree of miniaturization are already in the process of falling out and the stress of surgery just accelerates the rate of hair loss. Strong terminal hairs are usually resistant to the shock loss.
There are several ways to minimize shock loss after hair transplant surgeries. Topical medications like minoxidil could prevent shock loss to some degrees. Finasteride (Propecia) would perhaps be the most helpful medication for reducing the shock loss after hair restoration surgeries, if patient starts taking Propecia right before his hair transplant surgery.
My recommendation to most patients is to start finasteride even a few days before the surgery so it is locked in the system by the time of surgery and can protect hair from shock loss phenomenon. The rate of shock loss has significantly dropped in our hair transplant patients in the last few years, and it has to do with us strongly recommending finasteride use before hair transplant surgery to all our male patients.
