Female Hair Transplant Shock Loss - Will My Hair Grow Back?

Written by Robert J. Reese, DO on November 12, 2008

I have been suffering from AGA-female pattern baldness since I was 17. The hair at the back of my head was comparatively thicker compared to that on the crown. I’m 26 now and 3 months into my hair transplant (1697 grafts). I’m already regretting it since I have undergone severe shock loss these 3 months. After reading your article on shock loss I’m really concerned as to what should I expect since my shock loss is still continuing. Also, I’m wondering, will the hair on the donor site grow back?- Susan
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Susan:

Thank you for your questions.

First of all do not be alarmed or overly concerned with the “transplant induced shedding”, (also known as shock loss) of your natural non-transplanted hair that has occurred with your procedure. Although this is not a common problem, it can and does occur when transplanting into hair bearing scalp. If the transplant patient has “bald” scalp to begin with, there is no hair to “shock out” with the transplant procedure.

The “shocked” hair will start to reestablish itself and grow along with the hairs from the transplanted follicles. This process typically BEGINS about two months post transplant. So at three months post transplant, you are STARTING to grow the hairs from both the transplanted as well as your native non-transplanted follicles. I recommend that you take monthly photos of you scalp to monitor the progress. This proves to be very reassuring for the patients when they start to see their result develop over time. And it will take about 12 months to realize the “final result” of your procedure. I commonly inform the patients that the most difficult part of having the transplant procedure is waiting for the final result, not having it performed!

It is possible that the hair that was “shocked” will not grow back, but this is not a likely scenario. If this is the case for you, then the hairs that were naturally growing pre-transplant were likely severely injured and/or miniaturized by the androgenetic alopecia process, and were barely “holding on” anyway. In other words, you would have likely lost these hairs in the near future without your transplant anyway.

I would recommend that you utilize 2% minoxidil twice daily, and/or low level laser therapy three times per week on non-successive days, (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday) to assist you with the reestablishment of the hair growing from your natural non-transplanted follicles.

With time, and assessment of your photography, you will likely realize the excellent result with your transplant that you had hoped to achieve prior to the procedure.

As far as the donor hair “growing back” question, the donor hair that was harvested to perform your transplant procedure does not “grow back”. It has been transplanted, (relocated) into the recipient zone of the scalp. The natural laxity, (looseness) of your scalp will reestablish itself over time. If in the future you require a second procedure to “add density”, additional donor follicles, (from the back of the scalp) can be harvested without incident or ongoing concerns.

I hope that this discussion has been helpful. If you have additional questions or concerns please contact the IAHRS at www.iahrs.org and we will get answers for you.

Best Regards,
Robert J. Reese, DO
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
Member, American Hair Loss Association

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