angel706

Is it possible this is not shock loss at all, but rather a spot of alopecia areata? Did your dermatologist mention this possibility at all? If it's alopecia areata, I think such spots can often be treated pretty successfully with injections of some kind. I want to say cortisone or steroids, but I don't recall. Might be worth discussing again with your dermatologist if you don't see any regrowth within another month or two.

Can someone ban this person? What a tool...

Hi Eloquence, I'm a 36-year-old female who had a HT with Dr. Blaine Lehr (recommended on this site) in early February of this year. I had 1550 FUTs transplanted to the temple areas, which had receded on me at the age of 18 and held stable since then. Mine was more of a "pattern" loss and very treatable with HT. At this point, almost 7 months out, I have seen very good growth of the grafts and am very pleased with my decision. So much for me. About your situation, I would definitely proceed with caution before considering a transplant. It sounds like you haven't really found out the root cause of your hair loss. You say the hair falls out, but does it regrow? Is it diffuse loss all over your head, or more confined to certain areas of your head? Stress CAN contribute to hair loss, but as I understand it, is rarely the only cause at work. With women, hormonal issues are more likely the bigger culprit. For example, after having a baby, about half of women experience a major shed from about 3-6 months postpartum. Lord knows I did after each of my three boys. It has to do with the sudden drop in estrogen. Also, using birth control pills can cause significant hair loss, since they alter the hormonal balance in the body. If I were you, I would get to your OB/GYN and find out if some hormonal issue is at the root of your hair loss. In women, it's one of the most likely causes. Only when you know for sure the cause of your hair loss will you know if a HT is the best course of action for you. I can tell you that while it's not a horrible procedure, it is also not without some discomfort for the first several days, and you will not be able to completely hide it for as much as 2 weeks, perhaps longer. Becuase my work was in the temple areas, I also had some significant forehead swelling for the first 2-3 days. Be careful, be sure you know what you're dealing with, and then proceed with caution using this forum as your guide.

Hey Captain, I'm sure you'd be OK to have a haircut now, but I would call your doc to make sure. Lord knows I bombarded mine for the first few months with questions...that's part of the service, you know? Personally, I waited about 7 weeks out for a cut, mostly because I was a little embarrassed about the shock loss I'd experienced. But I have a great stylist that I've been with for 3 years, and I told her when I went in what was going on. She was very careful with that comb, let me tell you. Short answer, if your doc gives you the OK, I'd go ahead and make the appointment, but I would tell your stylist what you had done and ask her/him to take it very easy on both the donor and recipient areas.

Congratulations, Carol! I certainly hope for good results for you. I had appx. 1500 grafts placed in the temple areas on 2/9, and at 5 1/2 months out am starting to see good results (my regrowth started sprouting at about 3 months, and is becoming more apparent as the weeks pass). One concern I had after reading your post...what did your doc say about wearing the hair piece so soon after the transplant? Did you discuss it with him? I've heard different docs have different opinions about wearing them, particularly before all the scabs have healed. After all, you made a pretty big investment, you certainly want to treat it with care. I hope you have great results and suffer minimal shock loss (you know we ladies have a greater tendency toward that in the first month or two). Best of luck to you as you enter the waiting period.

As an old married woman who is 36, has had three kids and is therefore probably "showing her age," I can tell you that her previous dismissal of you probably had nothing to do with your hair. Before I met my husband 10 years ago, I dated a lot of men, some with a full head of hair and others who were in various stages of hair loss. Hubby's dad is a NW 4 or 5, so I knew he would probably head that direction, too. You know what? The amount of hair these men had (or didn't have) never mattered to me. Yeah, there are some shallow women out there, just like there are some shallow men, but you have no way of knowing what her thought processes were. Maybe she was going through some stuff with her children and really didn't need or want a relationship at the time. I agree with JakeVig...confidence is very attractive. Maybe that's what changed with you. I wouldn't waste time dwelling on it if I were you. Onward and upward, man!

Extensions are frequently damaging to the hair to which they are attached. At least, this is what I have been told by a few very experienced hair stylists. Find one whose opinion you trust, and talk to her/him about this issue.

This stuff is freakin AWESOME! I started using it because I always had fairly coarse hair in my 20s, but once I started having kiddos, the texture of my hair changed a little after each pregnancy, becoming a little smoother and slicker after each one. Made it hard to get much volume in my hair, even though it was still quite thick. The Pantene Full & Thick seems to put more of that texture, the "grab," back into my hair. Makes it much easier to get a style with any volume to stay put. My HT doc said that it basically leaves a slight buildup on the hair (kind of like a wax, I think). I like the way it smells, too...

Hey sandyh, No I did not buy the spray attachment. I just shook it on. I will say that if you need it at the hairline, it might be worth the extra small investment to buy the "hairline" comb I've seen in their catalog. I used my fingers to fluff it through, but I imagine you could use a comb, too. You just need to do something to help it distribute/settle/attach to the hairs. It kind of helps it to "disappear" into your native hair. You're welcome! I've noticed there are lots of threads on Toppik in the "shampoos/sprays/concealers" part of this forum. You might read through those when you have the time. Best of luck to you!

sandyh, I had really good luck using Toppik. I discovered it when I was going through my big postpartum hairsheds, and would use it for 3-4 months until my hair started growing back in. I find if you use it with a fairly light hand, you get really nice results. Shake on a little at a time, then kind of fluff it through so it blends/ahderes to your native hair. It takes a little practice, but it's pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. I went through 3-4 of the medium-sized bottles and considered it money well spent. brianf, female pattern baldness is similar to men's in that it's genetic, but the look of the pattern is usually different. Men get the thinning temples/crown that can eventually lead to full baldness on top, while women usually see more of a diffuse thinning that can either be limited to the top of the scalp or can affect most of the head. However, they usually retain their hairline.

My grafts were all in the temple area (restoring a female hairline that had receded to a NWII), and I'm normally a side/stomach sleeper, so I asked my doc if I should consider sleeping in a recliner for the first 1-2 weeks to avoid pulling out any of the grafts. He agreed that it was probably a good idea. So that's what I did! Taking a sleep aid (like Lunesta or Ambien CR) during that short time helped a lot, too.

Congratulations, sandyh! I also had a hair transplant on Feb. 9 (more than 1500 FUTs) with Dr. Lehr in OKC. It's been a long road from there, but around 3 months I started seeing my first sprouts and now, at almost 4 1/2 months, things are starting to thicken up a bit. It's really exciting to watch the progress! You're right. Hair loss bites especially hard for females, as the culture expects our hair to be our "crowning glory." My loss was a recession at the temples, though I have gobs of hair everywhere else. I wish the best for you during the months of waiting ahead. Happy growing!

I had a lot of hair shedding during the first trimester of my third pregnancy. Didn't like the thinning look, so I bought some Toppik and asked my OB if it was at all harmful for me or the baby. He looked over the ingredients and said, "Well, I wouldn't mix it into water and drink it down or anything, but it won't hurt a thing if you use it like it says." (OK, my doc's a smart-aleck.) In short, it shouldn't be harmful. But if you're really concerned, don't breathe while you're shaking it on.

Didn't your doc recommend you washing them GENTLY? Mine gave me post-op instructions to start washing gently (lathering the shampoo in your hands first, then using a patting motion in the graft areas and rinsing off with water poured from a cup over the head) starting the day after surgery! After a week post-op, it was supposed to be OK to put your head under the shower spray. By two weeks out, you should be able to return to washing hair as normal. I was pretty careful with mine, too. I slept in a recliner for almost 3 weeks, and patted on the shampoo for a full two weeks. Call your doc for post-op instructions.

It might be worth a trip to your doctor, especially if it's been there a while and/or you've noticed changes to it recently. If it itches and/or bleeds, I'd go see a dermatologist pronto. It could be nothing, but better safe than sorry. (God, did I just sound like a mom, or what?)

I got to thinking about some information my doc gave me about shock loss. I'm almost 4 months out from my HT (1,500 FUTs w. Dr. Lehr to restore a feminine hairline because mine had receded to almost a NW 2. I experienced shock loss around the margins of my transplanted area. Am seeing lots of transplanted sprouts, yay! But nothing in the way of return of shock loss yet.) According to the timeline he gives, hair lost to shock actually takes a little longer to start growing again. As in, transplanted hair usually starts growing around 3-4 months post HT, but the hair lost to shock usually doesn't come back until 4-8 months out. For those of you out there who experienced shock loss, was this time frame about right? And any further explanation for why this occurs, other than just the trauma from all the needle sticks to the surrounding tissue? Thanks.

Everyone is a little different on the timing of their shock loss. My experience was from about 3-5 weeks out, I had some pretty good shedding from shock loss. After that, things calmed down quite a bit. By 7-8 weeks post HT, I was back to my regular shedding pattern, and have stayed there since (I'm almost 4 months out). From what I've read on the forums, most people who experience shock loss feel the worst of it anywhere from about 2 weeks to 2 months out. Again, it varies from person to person. And from what my doctor told me, the hair lost to shock takes a little longer to come back in than the transplanted hair. You should start to see it again somewhere around 4-8 months post surgery. Try not to freak out! It's just part of the process. I've had three kids, and experienced massive hair shedding from about 2-5 months after each pregnancy due to hormone swings. Not fun at all. So I know this time is tough on you, but hang in there. It should all come back in time.

dhuge67, I didn't mean to insult your intelligence, obviously. It wasn't even your comments that stuck under my craw. I totally understand your reasons for going through this process...you were feeling insecure about your appearance, and you hoped having a HT would help you feel better about it. Good for you! I think that's the best reason to go through ANY kind of cosmetic surgery. It was certainly mine...as a woman who previously had a receding hairline, I felt the same way. Like I stuck out somehow, and I hoped this surgery would help. What was creeping me out was the misogynistic vibe about women getting ugly as they age. I didn't read any of that from you. You seem like a decent guy in that respect. So, sorry if I offended you personally. Also, it seems like one or two of the guys on this thread are looking at HT as the ticket that's going to suddenly help them get lucky with young skirts. Which, I'm sorry, but is just creepy and offensive to me as a woman. I think most women would feel the same way. Particularly the young skirts.

Man, some of you guys on this thread (not all of you) have some seriously screwed-up attitudes toward women. Any woman worth having, no matter what she looks like, will judge you not on the basis of looks, but on your character. Everyone's looks decline with age, male or female, at some point. If you're lucky, you realize at a fairly young age that remaining fit and healthy is the best thing you can do for yourself physically, and that cultivating an attractive personality and view on life is what's going to get you through the long haul. "Why do women get so bad-looking as they get older..." "Women only look beautiful when they are young." Are you guys SERIOUS with this stuff? Good grief...

M&M, I'd agree with zerro that a month is long enough to wait. I waited about 7 weeks. My stylist is in on my procedure, so I just told her when I went in that things still felt a little tender and to proceed with a light hand. She did a great job. I think good communication is the key. Good luck!

jagdish, my husband is 42 and has only a handful of white hairs in his very dark brown hair (he's of Hispanic descent). Seriously, I could probably count all his white hairs on one hand. And he only started sprouting those within the past few years. So maybe it's just an oddball hair. You could pluck it if it annoys you. I wouldn't necessarily say you're headed for a head full of white hairs anytime soon. Even if you were, no big deal...just color it! I've been coloring my hair for 14 years, since age 21 (early gray runs in my family). They make good products "just for men" these days (though I personally think the only difference is in the packaging and marketing). Anyway, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the transplant. You may have just had a sneaky little white one back in your donor area, and you never noticed it before because it was on the back of your head.

Dr. Lehr in OKC prices at $3 a graft. His prices are a little lower because of lower cost of living/operating in the Midwest. I had a good experience with him in terms of cost...as far as growth goes, well, I'm still too early to judge (transplant on 2/9). But when I first consulted with Dr. Lehr, in spring of 2004, he estimated I would need 800 grafts to fill in my receded temples. When I returned to see him this winter (almost 2 years later), he said the same estimate would apply. So I was pleasantly surprised when, after my procedure was over, he told me that he and his staff were able to get a little more than 1,500 units from my donor strip. He said nothing about additional cost, but I brought it up. Could I pay the difference? At first he said no, that my original consultation was based on 800 units, but I insisted on making up at least part of the difference. I mean, it was a 2-year-old estimate. He said he wouldn't take more than payment for an additional 200. So basically, I got the other 500 units at no cost. I don't know if other patients have had this type of experience...and maybe some of you will say I'm nuts for offering to pay anything above what was estimated...but this was just the way I was raised. You don't expect something for nothing, and you pay someone for the job they do. Long story short, I believe Dr. Lehr is very ethical, reasonable and fair in his monetary dealings. Professionally, he trained under one of the pioneers in the field. So far I'm seeing some growth. If cost is a factor for you, I know he's one of the most reasonable in the field. I would at least suggest a long-distance consult with him. This is a service he offers. If you like what you hear, go in for a consultation. I think you will find him very honest. In fact, he turns away a lot of patients who have unreasonable expectations. Just some thoughts...

Have there been any updates on this patient? Her procedure is somewhat similar to mine, and I was wondering how her results have turned out, a year later. Anyone know where I can see any images of her progress? Thanks!

Have there been any updates on this patient? Her procedure is somewhat similar to mine, and I was wondering how her results have turned out, a year later. Anyone know where I can see any images of her progress? Thanks!

Thanks, B spot, for the helpful words. Just a little helpful background info, I had a little more than 1500 grafts placed into the temples to restore a more "feminine" hairline. My hairline had been receded since age 18, and had stayed stable since then.