"Trichoptysis is also seen in patients who have had reconstructive surgery of their larynx following treatment for laryngeal carcinoma. The surgical flaps may bear hair-producing cells leading to hair growth within the reconstructed larynx and expectoration of the mature hairs. This is much less common nowadays due to more careful selection of grafts; often skin grafts are only partial thickness for this reason. Also postoperative irradiation might aid in killing the hair follicles."