How Fast is Shock Loss… and Could Hair Spray Cause Hair Loss?

Hello Dr.Rassman,

I really enjoy coming to this site and I really appreciate you trying to help us baldies out there.

What i want to know is, If you use hairspray on hair that has a lot of sebum buildup and dandruff in the hair and around the hair follicle can you experience more hair loss and death to hair follices?

My other question is regarding shock loss. How fast do the hairs fall out due to shock loss, is it right away as the surgery is occurring or couple months after?

I know u have mentioned before that you need to be completely bald in a certain area to receive a transplant otherwise there will be shock loss to the existing hairs even if you are taking finasteride. So does that mean when u first get a hair transplant to the balding area where finasteride didn’t save the hair, would u have to come back for a 2nd procedure because the area of the head where finasteride did save the hair would die eventually because of shock loss after the surgery?

I hope you can get a chance to answer these few questions. Thank you for a wonderful site.

Hair spray, dandruff, or sebum do not cause hair loss. Genetic inheritance causes hair loss in men for the majority of cases.

Shock loss happens from the “shock” of the hair transplant surgery on the nearby hairs that are just barely holding on (those are programmed to eventually fall out anyway). It happens within weeks after surgery.

I do not believe I have ever said you need to be “completely” bald to receive surgery. The key point is that there are risks and benefits of surgery that need to be evaluated for each individual. This is where a Master Plan comes into play, as each and every patient is different. Patients should not be having 2nd surgeries just because they had shock loss from a prior hair transplant surgery. It wouldn’t make sense to have a surgery just so the groundwork is laid for follow-up surgeries.