Shedding Before and After a Hair Transplant
Dec 22, 2016 | By Dr. Sangay Bhutia (Hair Transplant Specialist in Delhi)
We lose about 50 to 100 hairs in a day as a normal shedding process. Shedding is a natural process that happens during the hair cycle. When the human body sheds more than the normal amount of hairs on regular basis then this stage may lead to baldness.
Hair Transplant is a procedure of transplanting the hairs from donor area to the bald area. The patient may observe hair fall as a part of the normal shedding that happens on daily basis. One can take certain steps to differentiate between the shedding after hair transplant procedure and the normal shedding of non-transplanted hairs.
Regular Shedding of Hairs (Shedding before hair transplant)
There are three stages of hair growth cycle: catagen, telogen and anagen. During the anagen or active phase, the hair grows about 1cm every 28 days. Then the transitional phase (catagen) comes into play which stays for 2-3 weeks. Then the hair comes to the last phase – telogen or resting phase where the shedding occurs.
Shedding of transplanted hairs (Shedding after hair transplant)
Hair shedding after a hair transplant surgery is a universal thing. After the surgery, the transplanted hair sheds and this shedding starts 3-4 weeks after the hair transplant and generally extends till 3-4 months. This is because the hair follicle is temporarily stripped from its regular blood supply. But, shedding won’t make any impact on overall outcome of hair restoration process.
Shedding of natural existing hairs (Shedding after hair transplant)
After the hair transplant surgery the natural shedding of the existing hairs continues as per the normal hair cycle. The hair transplant procedure does not alter the natural hair cycle of the existing hairs.
If the hair loss is excessive as compare to the normal shedding then one may consult with the doctor who can help you find the cause of the hair loss. One should not get panic due to normal hair shedding but should not also avoid the excessive hair loss.
What can you do during the shedding after hair transplant?
Hair shedding after the hair transplant surgery is a general sequaele of the procedure that happens few weeks after the surgery and may goes on till 3 to 4 weeks. If a patient observes excessive hair shedding during this period then he should consult with the doctor for possible reasons and get the required treatment.
One cannot completely control the hair shedding after the surgery but there are certain things one can do during this phase after hair transplant.
- Medication
Finasteride is a FDA approved drug for hair loss. It controls the development of male pattern hair loss and hair miniaturization in men. It can be helpful in decreasing the shedding after the procedure. - Camouflaging Products
One can use camouflaging agents/ products if the shedding after the procedure is bothering. These products can help with covering the shedding areas by adding volume and giving thickness. These are generally hair building fibers and one can stop using these products once the transplanted hair started growing.
All above mentioned tips will help you to minimize the shedding after the hair transplant. Regardless of all above tips, it is very important that the surgeon should take care of the whole procedure by avoiding the damage of the grafts and use sufficient number of grafts during the procedure.
