Question:
We often hear about:
- Normal itching.
- Normal post-operative hair loss, sometimes lasting for months.
- Normal worsening of overall
baldness/looks, also lasting for months after surgery.
What I rarely
hear is a discussion of when (for most patients) hair should definitely
look thicker with an informal “mirror check”, and more importantly, at
what point in the post-operative timeline, continued hair loss and/or
failure for implants to grow should be considered at least a partial
failure of the procedure.
Can someone qualified please discuss this?
Waiting patiently is a virtue, but waiting with an informed timeline in
hand is a virtue with an end.
Answer:
Excellent question! To begin with, the general rule regarding hair
growth after
hair transplant surgery is that it takes one full year
before final results are seen. Of course, there is also some degree of
variation among individual patients.
The reason for this is that, after surgery, the hair follicles
remaining in the transplanted follicular unit grafts will shed and, as
you referenced in your question, some patients will experience shock
loss of native hairs leaving them looking even balder than they did
prior to surgery. After falling dormant, the majority of these hairs
will begin a new growth cycle but not all at the same time. They will
start to grow in a little at a time starting between three and four
months post-op.
Initial hair growth after surgery is normally finer and lighter in
color than native hair but will eventually become darker and more robust.
Also, hair typically grows only 1/2 inch per month. Thus, it can take a
minimum of eight months to see any significant improvement in density
after hair restoration surgery.
Again, the best advice you will get is to avoid trying to assess your
results until 12 months after surgery. Then, if you are still not
happy, bear in mind that you may see subtle improvements up to 18
months. Beyond that, you should not expect any more changes.
David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator
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