How long for Shock loss hair to return or does it? I am 7 weeks and 3 days post op. Just under the donor scar the hair looks much thiner than eveywhere else on the back of my head. I am assuming this is donor shock loss. Is this correct and if so how long does it take to come back if it does come back ?

[This message was edited by cjking on February 29, 2004 at 09:17 PM.]

The thinning hair below your donor scar is most likely due to post operative shock. The majority of hair loss from shock will return before or at the same time as the transplanted hairs. Shocked hair in the recipient area has a lower regrowth percentage because some of the shocked follicles are weak dying hairs that were likely to fall out soon on their own. Shock in the donor area is generally completely temporary.

cjking,
I am also 7 weeks post op and have experienced a fair bit of shock loss below my strip scar. I checked with my doc and he said exactly what Dr Charles said.
I suppose we just have to sit back and wait.
I have actually grown a bit of a mullet to hide my scar work.
The scary thing is, I'm actually quite taken with my new 'do'

Rocky:

Shock loss is a strange situation. It’s so hard to say if that is what is happening. What I can say is you are probley fine. Shock loss happens for so many different reasons and in most cases it grows back. I had some sort of shock loss after my scar fix. I think it was a combo of the major stress I was dealing with for months and then the surgery. We did do a small HT during the scar fix so who knows what caused it. All I know is something very strange happened in Dec. It was like instant hair. Everyone noticed. It was so weird. Hang in there bud!