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when you have an hair transplant do have to take any drugs i.e propecia?
No, medications are not required for you to have a hair transplant. Many patients do not want to take medications. This is why they have a transplant instead. Hair loss is a life long process, however. The rationale for taking medications in addition to a hair transplant is that they help to slow the progression of hair loss. This can help reduce the need for future hair transplants to replace the hair you loose over time.
In addition, medications can help you have a fuller head of hair than might be possible through hair transplants alone. Like it or not, the donor area supply is limited. There is only so much we can do for any single individual. Medications can help fill the void should your hair loss out tax the amount of donor hair that you have to transplant to the areas of loss or thinning.
I have itching in my recipient area 2 months following my transplant. How long will this last and what is causing it?
Itching is a sign of healing. It means that good things are happening and your hair is in the early stages of growth. You will have very little happening after only 2 months, but it is going to happen. Just be patient. The hair is about to grow and the itching should fade rapidly. I’ve heard of only one chronic case of itching that another doctor had in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In other words, it is quite rare.
My dermatologist just recommended me to take accutane for my acne. I’ve been doing some research and I read somewhere that one should be off of accutane for atleast 6 months before having a cosmetic surgery, because of scarring reasons
No one really knows for sure. Accutane is supposed to affect the sebaceous glands and as such it had an affect on skin resurfacing. It has not been studied in hair transplant surgery, but the general rule of thumb is that you should be off Accutane for 6 months prior to a hair transplant. I’ve done a strip on a patient who did not tell me he was taking Accutane until after his surgery. He healed just fine. Patients on Accutane probably respond well to FUE. Going with the general rule though, you should wait 6 months after stopping Accutane prior to having a hair transplant.
There are also a few reports of hair loss on Accutane.
You can probably have a hair transplant and safely start Accutane a month later, but this has not been studied either.
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Ever since my surgery, I have been losing ALOT of hair. Now, I have
heard about shock-loss, however, I though shock-loss was suppose to
happen further down the road (2-8 weeks after surgery). I have also heard about HAIRS BEING “TRANSECTED”, which will subsequently fall out.
Now, I am really afraid that the large volume of hairs I am losing is from TRANSECTION because the surgeon implanted ALOT of hairs in “crowded” areas and therefore, A high probability for transection. Also, the surgeon did NOT shave my head to minimize the chances of “transection”. Taking this all into consideration, what do you think?
Shock loss generally begins about 2 weeks after a procedure. Since your surgery was 2 weeks ago, I would think that the hair loss you are experiencing is most likely shock loss at this point. However, you also indicate that you experienced increased hair loss immediately following surgery; this is not typical of shock loss. You may simply be experiencing a normal progression of hair loss. Hair loss will often go dormant for a long period and then suddenly resume at any point in time, including right after a surgery.
Skilled and experienced physicians will rarely transect hairs when they make their recipient sites; less gifted and experienced ones may. If a large portion of your hair was transected during surgery, I would expect them to start falling out and shedding very soon after a procedure. Top physicians do not need to shave the recipient area, but it does help any physician do a better job of making the recipient sites and placing the grafts when the head is shaved (due to improved visibility).
During one of Tiger Woods’ recent press appearances, he said that he had received PRP, or platelet rich plasma, treatments:
Posted on NBC news: Tiger Admits to Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy, What’s That?
PRP treatments have grown increasingly common in the sports medicine world in recent years. During a PRP procedure, the patient’s blood is drawn and put in a centrifuge to separate out platelet-containing plasma from the red blood cells. The plasma is then injected back into the patient’s injury. PRP treatment is thought to accelerate and/or maximize the signals an injury site sends to the body in order to continue the healing process.
At The Cole Hair Transplant, Dr. Cole now provides PRP treatment to our hair transplant patients. The PRP is administered in the form of injections into the extraction sites to improve dermal healing. For hair transplant purposes, PRP could potentially help reduce the occurrence of hypopigmentation (“white spotting”) among some of our patients. We are also investigating evidence that PRP treatment may improve graft yield; one study found PRP improved graft growth by as much as 15%. We will continue to explore the possibilities and benefits that PRP may provide for our patients. To learn more about PRP, feel free to call The Cole Hair Transplant group at 1-800-368-4247.
