Shockloss

[JD1957]

Can someone explain exactly what "shockloss" is. Does that mean I'll be losing hair around the transplant area, and/or scar area during/after the procedure? Do you look worse post-op by losing hairs you already have? I keep reading about people wearing hats post op. I have to dress nice for work and can't be wearing a baseball cap or doo rag. Please enlighten me!

[scar5]

All hair grows in cycles of 3 stages. One stage of the cycle is where the hair detaches itself from the bulb under the skin and makes its way out of the scalp. The bulb then regenerates another sprout beneath the surface and eventually this new hair breaks the surface and grows out again. Shockloss is when the trauma of surgery prematurely propells a hair follicle into the stage of the cyle where the hair breaks free of the bulb. Hence, the post-op "doldrums" are not just when transplanted hair waits to regrow, but they are compounded by 'untouched' hair in the reciprent area as well as the donor area falling out too due to shock. Think of some trouble in your street, and the neighbours take a vacation till things settle down. The recipreint is most worrisome, because there is a fair chance that hair is minaturising because of baldness, and if this hair is on its last legs, it may not regenerate again. Clinics play it down naturally, but it can be hard to take as you wait..and wait..and wait.