Where Does Shock Loss Happen?

Doctor,

I’ve recently had a HT on the front of the hair line, the mid-section and crown were untouched. Only thing is, 4weeks after the surgery I’ve noticed more and more hair falling out from the crown and mid areas!

Does shock loss effect every area prone to hair loss?

Thank you

Simple answer — yes.

Longer answer — Shock loss usually impacts miniaturized hairs, and can even occur when only an anesthetic is used on the scalp with no surgery (this is very rare). We know that advanced miniaturization and active ongoing hair loss have vulnerable hairs which can be impacted by any vascular change in the scalp or stressful situation (like a surgery). For this reason, young men (under 29 years old) are wise to take finasteride when they are having a hair transplant. Even if it is not a guarantee, it puts the odds in one’s favor for less shock loss (if any), especially if there is a greater degree of miniaturization present anywhere on the scalp.

The older the patient is, the less likely that they will be impacted by shock hair loss (e.g. a 50 year old man with stable hair loss)… and for these patients I do not insist on their use of finasteride before surgery.