New York Recommendations

[salami]

Thanks. This will be my second procedure. I had my first one in 1997 (not by one of these doctors).

Well, if you shave down, it may take a few months for you to be comfortable at an event such as a wedding, but this really depends on how much loss you have, and how you typically wear your hair.

If you go with a doctor that doesn't shave the recipient area, you may be comfortable at family events within a couple of weeks or so. This will also depend on a few factors such as the length of your hair (to conceal the donor scar and recipient area), and how fast you heal. I'm not sure if you have used concealers such as Toppik, Nanogen, and DermMatch, but you may want to look into those.

Frankly, I'd probably want to do it as far in advance as possible before an event like a wedding (but, that's just me).

Either way, your hair will typically look a bit thinner than before the HT for the first couple of months after surgery.

See these 2 links for info regarding shock loss after a transplant.
What are the odds of having shock loss from a hair transplant?
Shock loss or Reactive loss or Post surgery effluvium