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Q: I had an FUE hair transplant three weeks ago and some of my existing non-transplanted hair has fallen out. I was a Norwood 3V, but now I look more like a 4 or 5 without the hair that used to help cover up my thinning area. Am I destined to look balder for the next few months? When can I expect to look like before? -- T.M., New Haven, CT A: You are describing shedding that is pretty typical following a hair transplant. The hair which is shed generally grows back together with the transplanted hair beginning at about three months. You should expect hair that is shaved for the FUE procedure to grow back right away at the normal rate of 1/2mm per day. The shedding (also called shock hair loss) doesn’t mean permanent damage to the hair follicles. What it refers to is a physiological, or normal, response to trauma to the scalp which is caused by the hair restoration procedure. In general, only miniaturized hair (the hair that is affected by androgens and that has begun to decrease in diameter) is shed after a transplant. This hair would be lost in the near term anyway. Existing…
Q: Will the shock of a hair transplant make me lose my existing healthy hair and is it permanent? – Westport, C.T. A: In general, only miniaturized hair (the hair that is affected by androgens and that has begun to decrease in diameter) is shed after a transplant. This hair would be lost in the near term anyway.
Q: What is "shock fall out"? – D.B., Chappaqua, N.Y. A: Shedding after a hair transplant is also referred to by the very ominous sounding term "shock fall out." The correct medical term is "effluvium" which literally means shedding. It is usually the miniaturized hair (i.e. the hair that is at the end of its lifespan due to genetic balding) that is most likely to be shed. Less likely, some healthy hair will be shed, but this should re-grow. Interestingly, if transplants are spaced less than one year apart, one often notices some shedding of the hair from the first transplant, but this hair grows back completely. For most patients, effluvium is not a major issue and should not be a cause for concern. Typically, when shedding occurs, a patient looks a little thinner during the several month period following the transplant, before the transplanted hair has started to grow. The thinning is often more noticeable to the patient than to others. Shedding is generally noted as a thinning, rather than of "masses of hair falling out," as the term "shock fall out" erroneously suggests. In general, the more miniaturization one has and the more rapid the hair loss, the…
roducing new hairs in two to three months, although at first, the hair tends to be thin and sometimes wiry. At this time, some patients experience “shock loss,” a normal physiological response to scalp trauma in which existing (non-transplanted) hairs fall out in the vicinity of the transplanted hair. While this can be unnerving for patients, it does not imply damage to transplanted follicles, and the existing hairs generally grow back.
Schedule a Consultation Hair Loss Medications Before and After Photos of Medical Treatment Answers Video Research Consultation Medications serve an important role in both the prevention and treatment of hair loss. They are particularly useful in the early stages of the balding process. There are two medications approved by the FDA for the treatment of […]
Dr. Christine Shaver was recently interviewed by Allure magazine about the future of hair loss. In the published article, Dr. Shaver talked about why female hair loss can often be harder to treat than male hair loss. In men, the hormone DHT is the main culprit behind genetic hair loss. The main way to treat […]

Showing results 1 - 10 of 599 for the search terms: shock loss.




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Hair loss has a variety of causes. Diagnosis and treatment is best determined by a board-certified dermatologist. We offer both in-person and online photo consults.

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