73 Year Old Male with History of Hair Loss with a Major Surgery

Wonderful forum! I’m 73 yrs. old and I will have total knee replacement in a few weeks due to 50+ yrs of Martial Arts training/teaching. I had 3 transplants in 2002, 2003, and 2003 with good results, although experiencing some (senile alopecia). Any suggestions on combating potential hair loss from trauma/blood loss/meds-Percocet, etc? I took Propecia for years and have been taking 0.5 mg Dutasteride 3 times a week for 5 years with good results. Would Iron supplements help? Is hair loss from surgery permanent? Thank you much! I would do Arthroscopic if possible, but they would need to give a series of cortisone injections – a definite no.

Yes, stress such as any major surgery can induce hair loss. In men, it is often not reversible unless the lost hair is from a transplant as in your case. In women, it usually reverses.

For men, the older you get, the less likely that stress will cause hair loss. The hair transplants you had between 2002-2003 should not be impacted; however, if they are (very rare in men), then they always come back. The use of cortisone injections increases the risk of hair loss.