Did My Hair Transplant Surgeon Over-Harvest My Donor Hair?

I recently had my second follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair transplant in Istanbul with a total of 9000 hairs on two 1 day sessions. It went smooth except that I am experiencing extreme thinning in my donor area. I am wondering whether it’s shock loss or maybe they just extracted too much from my donor.

Is it possible that shock loss happened during the procedure? Especially that I found myself in this situation immediately after the procedure and I can’t see any falling hairs since then.

Shock loss or “telogen effluvium” is a very real possibility in both the donor and recipient areas several days to several months after hair transplant surgery. This condition where the surrounding hair temporarily falls out occurs as a result of trauma to the scalp during surgery. That said, I know you expressed concern as to whether or not you are experiencing shock loss or just a general thinning appearance as a result of too many follicles being harvested. Typically, physicians will not harvest too many follicular units in order to preserve the thicker appearance of the donor area. However, 9000 hairs is a lot.

Ultimately, I think you have to determine whether or not your donor area looked as thin as it does now immediately after surgery or not. That said, the best thing you can do is be patient at this point and wait it out. Any “shocked” hairs will grow back 4 to 12 months after the procedure. Plus, as the hair grows in, it will become thicker looking and show less scalp. Buzzed hair always makes an area appear thinner than it really is.

Best of luck,

Bill

Managing Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog and the Hair Loss Forum and Social Community

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