HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

I fully understand your alarm.

Most likely your hair will grow back similar to the way it was prior to the surgery with the exception of any scars made by scalpel incision. It is very unlikely that the hair will not grow back. Some hairs may have been damaged by the incision, but this should not affect more than 1 to 2 mm on either side of the incision. Your PS stated that he made the incision parrallel to the direction of hair growth. This is a very good sign.

You probably have very sensitive skin and your body overreacted to the staples and the incision. many well known and respected hair restoration surgeon use stapels in their procedures without complications such as this. Also, i bet your PS has successfully used them any times without any problems. I do not think he left them in too long and i bet he did not use too many of them.

This over sensitivity of the skin to the surgery is commmonly called "shock loss", but it is actually anagen effluvium and will occur 2 to 3 weeks after surgery. it then stops. The hair resumes growth in 2 to 3 months after it is shocked, but some of it may not resume growth for up to 1 year after surgery. You can expect full re-growth after 1 year.

I would jump start things by applying Rogaine for Women twice a day to the affected areas. Begin this immmediately and continue it for at least 6 months. Rogaine is an anagen stimulator of hair.

if your hair does not resume full growth, consider hair transplantation, but you may experience anagen effluvium from this also, so consider the new FIT procedure or follicular isolation technique becasue it does not require staples or sutures.

Thanks for your question.

Dr. Cole