7 Days Left To Surgery- Risk of Shock Loss? (With Pics)

[StillAlive]

Esteemed colleagues, 

I'm a week before my surgery. The excitement is obviously tremendous, but more on that on the extensive review thread to come.

For the time being I wanted to share some pics and ideally, hear from some folk who had my degree of loss. I class myself as a NW4 (possibly NW5), I'm 40, no meds ever. My loss came in two bouts, once at 27 and again at 38 where I thinned out from NW1 to NW2 and from NW3 to NW4 respectively, ultra fast. Both periods were extremely traumatic. 

I've included some pics showing the ugly, shameful truth and full extent of my baldness and a couple with my 'civilized' combover that can even be mistaken for a NW3 in low light conditions or distant photos. 

Am I correct in assuming that I have very little to zero actual hair left in the frontal third of my scalp hence running very low risk of shock loss post surgery?

Thank you all for your time reviewing those!

[Mood Swings]

Hey hey man

 

Very excited to see how your experience goes, I dunno but my gut tells me that you are going to have an awesome result!

Will be following your experience, wish you the best of luck. Keep us updated!

[NARMAK]

OP, as with everybody going for a HT, i wish them well but there's always a chance of shock loss but in the hands of a good doctor, hopefully it will be a risk that's minimised and whether it's permanent is unknown till the road is travelled and you get 6+ months down the line. 

Your frontal hairline island, whilst it is weaker and thinner still provides a visual of some coverage, so it's a good idea to be prepared to have shock loss and how to deal with it of it happens. You're also not on medication and this is hopefully something that will allow you to plan out the long term progression of any potential hair loss to be dealt with via future procedures. 

[StillAlive]

It's true and I'm prepared for that. I've seen cases where people would transplant too close to really thick hair and experience bad shock loss but with my hair in the front being a scattered parade so to speak, I'm confident that any shock loss will be temporary. I've also been mapping out MPB In my family and both my uncle and grandfather (the worst cases in the family whom I take after) retained parts of their forelocks long into old age so I'm feeling good on rolling those dice  

[SeanT1]

Hi, Definitely optimistic for you.  How many grafts are you getting?

Quote

I'm 40, no meds ever.

Make sure to start medication after your surgery.  Finasteride every day or every other day, don't listen to some of the fear mongering you'd find online regarding it.
Between the surgery and starting medicine, you'll have a great result.

Shockloss is only temporary, and it's likely those thinner hairs would've fell out to grow back thicker anyway once you went on medication.

Regardless, rooting for you.

Edited August 29, 2022 by SeanToman

[StillAlive]

I've only been using Nizoral 2% shampoo so far (sparingly, about once a week, just for maintenance as it keeps the dandruff away and leaves my scalp feeling quite healthy) and I have a personal prejudice against both min (it's like a chemical wig, you stop it and any hair it sprouted or kept, will fall -not interested) and fin (will not accept any risk of side effects related to testosterone as it's been the...guiding force in my life so far :D) but will probably go on a happy placebo cocktail of saw palmetto and multivits. 

With a bit of luck, I'll only have to go in once more at about 50 to touch up my crown a bit and we are good

PS I was quoted 3500-4000 grafts online, may be a few higher or lower once the in-person consultation takes place. 

[SeanT1]

1 hour ago, StillAlive said:

I've only been using Nizoral 2% shampoo so far (sparingly, about once a week, just for maintenance as it keeps the dandruff away and leaves my scalp feeling quite healthy) and I have a personal prejudice against both min (it's like a chemical wig, you stop it and any hair it sprouted or kept, will fall -not interested) and fin (will not accept any risk of side effects related to testosterone as it's been the...guiding force in my life so far :D) but will probably go on a happy placebo cocktail of saw palmetto and multivits. 

With a bit of luck, I'll only have to go in once more at about 50 to touch up my crown a bit and we are good

PS I was quoted 3500-4000 grafts online, may be a few higher or lower once the in-person consultation takes place. 

3500-4000 is a solid amount, you should expect good results.

Donor hair is DHT resistant, not DHT immune.  There is a risk of transplanted hair falling out over time if you're not on medication.

I have an allergic reaction to minoxidil personally so just finasteride every other day does the job and spacing it like so prevents side effects.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

StillAlive,

I remember how I felt a week prior to my first hair transplant. I’m sure you’re riddled with both excitement and anxiety.  But as long as you’ve done your research and you selected a surgeon with a proven ability of producing outstanding results, you will be in good hands and the best advice I can give you is point is to follow your doctors preoperative and postoperative instructions and enjoy the ride.

Regarding the potential risk of shock loss however, I wouldn’t say you’re frontal third contains no hair.  It’s not overly thick but it could help aid the parents of thickness and density if you don’t lose it permanently. Are you currently on any medication like finasteride?  If not, I strongly recommend it because the ultimate goal is to keep whatever existing here you have if possible and add hair through surgery.

Hair transplant surgery can grow hair in completely bald areas but it won’t stop the progression of male pattern baldness. And if some of that hair on top of your head is on his way out due to genetic baldness, any shock loss you do experience could be permanent.   On the other hand, finasteride could potentially help to keep your existing hair while adding more hair through surgery.

hopefully whatever doctor you’ve chosen has spoken to you about this already but this is something that you really seriously should consider if you haven’t already.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant