This may be common; it may be rare; I have no idea but my experience was:
After 36 rotations around the Sun, I had developed a receding hairline & crown loss.. I'd say a solid 3.5 on Norwood scale. Very disappointing prospects when transitioning.
After just a few months of HRT and religiously taking biotin, I had quite decent thickening. My endo added Finasteride to my regiment about a year into transition. It kept thickening but still wasn't totally passable. At it's fullest, It was around a 1.5 to 2.0 on Norwood scale. Great improvement though; I was really blown away at how much hair one could grow back!
So I had FFS and had a brow bone reduction/brow lift with an incision going across my entire hairline. Post-op I had no feeling on my scalp from hairline extending to crown. It took a year or so to regain full sensation. During that year of healing, I had thinning and was worried I was losing all my hair growth gains. I've also heard being under general anesthesia can be traumatic to the hair (old wives tale maybe? Idk). Very early this year I had hair transplants (3000 grafts) too which again added numbness to the crown.
So fast forward to today: Nerve sensation has returned and my hair is better than ever! I went from a Norwood type 3.5 to a 1.0 or less. Still thin in affected areas, but getting by without a wig after being a 3.5 is an unreal dream come true.
So... yes, in my experience, increased hair loss for a bit after brow / scalp surgery is a very real thing.
