Frequency of Hair Transplant Shock Loss

Written by Blaine Lehr, MD on January 9, 2008

I am thinking about getting a hair transplant but I would like to know what percentage of people experience shock loss. Is there any data for this? Is there any way to know beforehand what your chances are of having that happen?

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any scientific studies which have sought to determine the exact frequency of post operative shock loss. Even if such a study were performed, the results might not be applicable in the real world because there are so many individual factors that influence its occurrence. Nevertheless, it is clear that it is a real problem, especially for certain subsets of patients. Patients who seem to be at highest risk include: 1. Those who are experiencing rapid hair loss; 2. Women; 3. Those who have miniaturized hair in the recipient area; and 4. Those who are having a transplant densely packed into an area of the scalp with a lot of the existing hair. The incidence of post operative shock loss in each of these cases varies. I would estimate that some shock loss occurs in up to 50% of the high risk cases; whereas, I would estimate some occurs in about 10% of regular cases. I stress the word “some” because it is important to remember that in most cases o shock loss, it is a relatively small amount of hair that comes out, but there are occasional cases were a great deal is lost. The good news is that this lost hair generally returns in about 6 months just as if you had plucked it out. However, it is possible for the hair loss to be permanent in cases where the existing hair has been significantly weakened by male or female pattern balding (especially numbers 1 and 3 above).

The best hope for a patient to reduce the odds of shock loss occurring as with the use of medicines for 6 to 12 months before surgery. Rogaine (minoxidil) is one such medicine, but it is important that the patient use Rogaine right up to the surgery date and resume use as soon as possible after surgery. For men, Propecia (finasteride 1 mg) and Avodart (dutasteride) and for women, Proscar (finasteride 5 mg) and Aldactone (spironolactone) are oral medicines that can be very helpful (please note that Avodart for men and Proscar and Aldactone for women are not FDA approved for hair loss). Both Rogaine and the oral medications would need to be used indefinitely because they tend to control hair loss, not cure it. Other measures which could be helpful include doing smaller sessions and avoiding dense packing to reduce the insult to the scalp.

Sincerely,
Blaine Lehr, M.D
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons

Join the Hair Transplant Forum to connect with hair transplant veterans, ask questions to IAHRS Surgeons, watch videos and see actual hair transplant patient photo galleries. Click To Join
Lean more about your hair transplant surgeon at hairtransplantdocs.com