So,

I know there's not many female patients here, but I just wanted everyone to know that I had a really wonderful experience with Dr. Epstein and his team. Everyone was really kind and understanding and knowledgeable. I do want to say that this is not an easy process for a female. I know I'm only in the second day and this "look" is hopefully temporarily. It is very "ugly duckling" and it seems though I've already had the shock loss. I have a couple of questions, hopefully someone can stop by and help:

1) Is it normal to have the shock loss so soon? why does my hair look balder than before?
2) Also, I lost a graft (I saw the fatty substance on the end of the hair and the area was bleeding). I didn't do anything to my head, it was covered with a bandana from yesterday til today. What could have made me lose this graft

Any way I will keep you all posted on my results.

Thanks

pjt,
Congrats on your HT!
Unfortunately the ugly duckling stage is something we must all endure and something i'm going through now (4.5 weeks) but the forum is great and offers a lot of support.

Check out this post on shock loss.. shock loss post

As for the graft, slight bleeding and oozing is pretty normal at 2 days, even without losing a graft. Not sure what would have made the graft jump ship..but don't think about it too much..there's plenty more that are happily hanging around

Badger,

Thanks for the response. I'm looking forward to seeing the new hairs sprout. I did notice that the lost graft had two hairs in it, but my donor only yielded 1790 grafts, so every single graft is very important. Any suggestions on preventing additional lost.

Also, how long was it before you started to see results?

Thanks

pjt,

Welcome to our discussion forum and congratulations on your recent hair transplant with Dr. Epstein.

Badger is right on in his response. Shock loss (especially in women) is quite common, but in most cases this telogen effluvium is temporary. But it will take a few months to return.

Don't fret about losing one graft. Though it's discouraging, 1 out of thousdands of grafts won't make any negative cosmetic impact.

Best wishes and happy healing and growing,

Falc

Besh wishes, as well; going balded is unfortunate for anyone at any age, but for some, women included, it is certaintly more vicious and afflicting.

Congrats on taking (wise) action!

pjt,

The first few days are fraught with worry. By the end of the first week I was certain that my existing hair had seriously thinned. By the end of week two, after the scabs are gone and you can wash your hair normally, I realized everything was fine. It was very strange, but there was that period where my hair seemed noticeably thinner. Temporary shock loss is still a possibility but each day is an improvement.

You definitely have to suffer the "ugly duckling" phase. Though this is a small price to pay for the end results, and the phase is very temporary.

I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us updated as to your progress.