ruhkus,
Shockloss as you stated does vary from patient to patient. What are the variables?
First, it depends on not only how much natural hair that is left in the recipient areas, but also how diffused that hair is. Some patients tell me that they hardly had any shockloss at all, but those patients typically had little natural hair left to begin with, no offense. Obviously the more natural hair present in the recipient area, the more there is subject to shock. The real underlying cause of shock is related to how the scalp responds to the overall trauma from the surgery. It is a culmination of the recipient incisions, excisions, and extractions. So, if the incisions are increased (larger sessions), there is more relative resulting trauma. Some patients experience some shock in the donor area as well. Shock in the donor zone is not as prevalent as the recipient areas.
The closer the incisions are to each other, again the more resulting trauma. That being said, the industry has progressed to the point whereby custom sized blades are being used, the incisions can than be placed closer togethor and also allowing the surgeon to increase the preciseness of the angulations. And I'm referring to both coronal and saggital incisions to create that aesthetic naturalness. The relative degree of angulation to the scalp surface can be hyper-angulated to produce more visual coverage. This is especially helpful to the patient in the higher classes of loss, and also has fine hair caliper. Further, the improvements in the instrumentation also allows docs to do utilize a stick and place approach. So, decreasing the sizes of the incisions can make a big difference. These are good questions to ask the doctors when in consultations, because not all of the hair transplant surgeons out there are up to speed with the most recent technology and methodology. :roll:
With microscopic dissection, those grafts can be cut much leaner and allows the surgeon to custom size his blades to the circumference of each graft. Ask your surgeon how the grafts are dissected and prepared. If he or she does not utilize microscopic dissection, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! :freaked2:
You are correct in that most patients will begin to experience shockloss approximately 3-4 weeks post-op. Even that can vary somewhat. Some docs are of the opinion that those adult male patients already on finasteride (Propecia), tend to have less effects from shock. Minoxidil too, although most docs will pull you off minoxidil before surgery. Or, putting it another way, those male patients "not" already on the hairloss meds tend to have higher levels of shock. :shock:
Would you mind sharing with us what Norwood class you are in, how many grafts you had placed, and how much natural hair was in the recipient area, and is it a diffused thinning pattern? Are you on finasteride now?
Hope this helps and best wishes on your yield! :wink: :hairy:
