questions - shockloss

[supercool]

Hi-

 

I had a 1500 graft HT 16 weeks ago. About 1200 grafts across the middle and front and another 300 in my crown. I've seen some growth and lately had a surge of ingrowns driving me nuts, but I can still see a lot of recipient sites that have not sprouted - thats not unusual though, right?

 

I've been on propecia for more than a year now as well.

 

My questions are:

 

1. I recently developed some bald patches on the top of my head - shockloss or something else?

 

2. My crown is thinner now than it was prior to the procedure - shockloss or something else?

 

3. My scar is still pretty red/pink - how long before it becomes blanched?

 

4. I have some redness in the recipient area - still within the realm of normal time frames?

 

Thanks a lot - I love the site. I'm going to post some pictures in a day or so.

[supercool]

Hi-

 

I had a 1500 graft HT 16 weeks ago. About 1200 grafts across the middle and front and another 300 in my crown. I've seen some growth and lately had a surge of ingrowns driving me nuts, but I can still see a lot of recipient sites that have not sprouted - thats not unusual though, right?

 

I've been on propecia for more than a year now as well.

 

My questions are:

 

1. I recently developed some bald patches on the top of my head - shockloss or something else?

 

2. My crown is thinner now than it was prior to the procedure - shockloss or something else?

 

3. My scar is still pretty red/pink - how long before it becomes blanched?

 

4. I have some redness in the recipient area - still within the realm of normal time frames?

 

Thanks a lot - I love the site. I'm going to post some pictures in a day or so.

[hairbank]

Growth varies for everyone so I wouldn't be too concerned about some of them not popping up yet. The ingrown hairs can sometimes be painful but are a good sign.

 

As for your other questions..................the bald patches, this is native hair that is gone now? If it's coming out in an identifiable "patch" it doesn't sound like shock loss but it could be. I'd call your Doc about it. The crown thinning sounds like shock loss due to the filling in of HT hair and should start coming back any time now.

 

Scalp tint after the HT varies from person to person so it's hard to say. I had some from my HT 7 weeks ago and it was gone afte the 5 week mark. If you talk to your Doc about the bald patches you may ask him about it. Do you have any irritation on the scalp, or just the tint? If it's not bothering you, I'd give it some time.

 

Hope this helps.

[dhuge67]

I have some shock loss questions as well, but instead of creating a new topic, i'll just post them in here.

 

I am 58 days post op and I do now see some stubble of hairs starting to come, but nothing really substantial yet.

 

However, without Dermmatch in my hair, my hair is a lot thinner behind where the surgery was done.

 

This is obviously due to shock loss.

 

IF it does come back, WHEN will it? I'm hoping this loss isn't permanent.

 

Also, is there sort of a time that is considered like, when you're out of the woods? As far as shock loss is concerned and the overall appearance of your hair, following surgery?

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[Gorpy]

Those are good questions Chris. I would expect shockloss to taper off about the 2 month point. Things start to sprout around the 3 month point and you can expect shock loss hair to re-sprout about 3 months after it was "shocked" out. So maybe at 4 months you'll start seeing some shocked out hair start to come back.

[dhuge67]

Originally posted by Gorpy:

Those are good questions Chris. I would expect shockloss to taper off about the 2 month point. Things start to sprout around the 3 month point and you can expect shock loss hair to re-sprout about 3 months after it was "shocked" out. So maybe at 4 months you'll start seeing some shocked out hair start to come back.

Fantastic, thanks for replying so quickly.

 

Basically, I'll know how it all worked by October...

[supercool]

SO - I'm now 26 weeks out (1500 grafts). Some of the patches I have filled in a bit - though they're still considerably thinner than surrounding areas and totally bald in spots. I've also had new patches of baldness pop up on my head.

 

Any thoughts on what could be causing this? Could it be due to irritation coming from the ingrowns I've been experiencing? Maybe because the act of draining the ingrowns is rubbing away some hairs?

 

It's frustrating. Any thoughts on whether or not I can expect anything to grow back?

 

I'm starting to think the HT may have been a mistake...though I'm trying to remind myself it's still a tiny bit early to tell. When should I be making a final judgement?

 

THANKS

[marino450]

my shockloss is killing me too... i have no clue what to do, i am 35 days post op and i know i have a long way to go. I just dont get why the shock loss happens three weeks later if the hair was "transected" during surgery. Just hope that it comes back

[maki8787]

wow guys

your stories are really scary!

i will have Ht in one month and hope to not have any big shockloss.

If i do it will suck big time.

i wonder why many people stop to post here after 3 months of having surgery?

i would like to hear their stories!

[hairbank]

supercool-

 

If you've got bald patches still developing on your head, call you HT surgeon or a dermatologist. This is definitely outside the "norm" for HT recovery. I don't want to scare you and it may be fine, it's just not average during recovery so I'd check it out with a professional.

 

maki8787-

 

If you are transplanting hair around any native hair you will likely have some shock loss, most of which will return unless it is very weak MPB hair in the final stages of loss.

 

I'm not getting close to 4 months after my 2nd HT and couldn't be more pleased with the results (I'm going to try and post them on my blog in the next week or so). FYI.....my shocked hair started to return at 2 months and 1 week after surgery.