Author: Dr. William Rassman

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No Growth 7 Months After from My Hair Transplant (with Photos)

Thanks for the informative site! I’ve searched for similar questions and answers, you’ve addressed delayed and no growth from transplants before, so hopefully this isn’t repeating too much from others. I’m 29 and had a hair transplant with a reputable IAHRS doctor seven months ago. 2400 grafts total were used, placed in the front 1/3 of my scalp to thicken my front and fill up my hairline.

It’s been seven months and the only growth that has occurred are a couple or so dozen hairs that didn’t shed during the two weeks following surgery. Those started growing further at about 3 months and are still growing, but it looks as though nothing else has even begun to pop through. The only possible explanation I can think of is concerning ridding my transplanted area of scabs post-op. 14 days after surgery, the scabs started to raise up and I went through with the balls of my fingers and gently rubbed them off, in some cases gently picked them a bit to rub them off (a few also peeled like dead sking does). There was no sign of trauma and with the scabs came the small hairs. So I shed about 90% or so of the hairs at 14 days. I discussed this with my doctor and he said there shouldn’t have been graft damage and any grafts coming out would’ve been followed by bleeding.

Is there any explanation(s) for this delayed or potentially little growth from my transplant? I’ve read articles about some transplants having delayed growth for up to a year due to different types of hair cycles. Could the rubbing and slight picking off of scabs after 14 days taken the grafts out or traumatized them to lay dormant longer? I’m sending before and after photos. Thanks!

You sent a lot of photos, but unfortunately most of them were from a distance and poor quality, so they don’t help me see much. The two best photos are shown below (click to enlarge) — the left photo is from 1 day post, the right photo is from 7 months post surgery. There does not appear to be any growth and I would expect that something should have shown by now.

 

Sometimes transplanted hairs can take up to 12 months before it grows, but usually there is some growth by 7 months. You should see some results between 5-6 months post surgery. I would give it up to a few more months, but definitely follow up with your hair transplant surgeon. I really do not like the unusual zig-zag hairline the doctor placed, as evident in the 1 day post-procedure photo.

There are MANY factors that go into a successful hair transplant surgery. Each and every hair graft/follicle can easily dry up and die if not handled and transplanted by a professional medical team. That is why choosing the right doctor and the right medical group is very important. In other words, it is not like buying a car from a dealer who can get you the cheapest out the door price. Despite what the consumers may think, not all hair transplants are equal (even if they advertise the latest techniques).

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No Improvements After 18 Months on Propecia — Should I Continue Taking It?

I noticed hair loss from the age of 17 and am now 23. About 2 years back I started using Minoxidil 2% for 6 months and started Minoxidil 5% for another 6 months. There wasnt any improvement and started using propecia for the last 1 year and 6 months. Over all these years there hasnt been any sort of improvement. I can only see my hair getting thinner and thinner with time. I thought propecia is supposed to arrest hair loss. Do I still continue on propecia?

First, as I have said again and again, you need a good diagnosis with your hair mapped out for miniaturization. If you have genetic hair loss and stop the finasteride, you will almost certainly see the hair loss become worse. Just because you are not seeing benefits, it does not mean that you are not getting benefits. Put some science and medical diagnostic force in what is happening to you.

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“No, You Are Not Losing Your Hair” – Comments From a Patient Who Had Scalp Micropigmentation

Greg Smith (alias) had significant frontal balding and he kept his hair about 1 1/2 inches in length but hated that he had no hairline and that his forehead went back about 2 inches. He had Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) performed to his entire head. I asked him if anyone noticed. He said that many of his friends noticed and thought he had a full head of hair when they looked at him. They were curious as to why he shaved his head. He responded “I was losing my hair”, to which they responded after careful examination of his head: “No you’re not”. One if his close friends even responded “I wish I had your hair” After that conversation, he let the subject ride. Go to: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/bold-shaved-look/

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No New Growth 10 Months After Transplant

Hi Dr. Rassman,

About 3 months ago, I wrote to you concerning my situation at 7 months post-op. I had diffuse thinning in the frontal area and was a norwood 3 prior to surgery, and had 1700 grafts put in. At 7 months I was looking thinner than before my surgery, and could only find a few new hairs that were growing in, all very small (less than 1/2 inch).

Now, at 10 months these hairs (i can find only about 10) all seem to be the exact same size as they were at 7 months, and I have seen no new growth. This is very frustrating for me and I was wondering what your thoughts were. I took your advice and went to see one of your colleagues in San Jose, and he told me that I should wait until a year has passed to judge my results. But why do these hairs seem to be growing in so incredibly slowly if at all? If you could just mention what some of the possibilities may be I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.

To keep the blog readers up to speed, your original question (and my answer) can be found here: Transplant Failure To Grow.

You should see growth by this time. I would suggest that you make an appointment to see me personally. I will try to judge what has happened. Please try to get the preoperative pictures from your doctor so that I can make a judgment as to how much original hair was there at the time of the transplant. That will help a great deal because sometimes when people report these complaints, they lost much of their natural hair and the loss may cancel out the gain. Alternatively, the growth of the transplants can be estimated by someone experienced in this field.

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No More Morning Erections After Taking Propecia for a Month

I’ve been on Propecia for just over a month, and I realized I don’t get morning erections anymore. (I know for a fact I got them before) Is this something to worry about?

I’m only 21 and any change in sexual function for me is something I want to pay close attention to. Do you think this is just my body trying to adjust to the drug?

Sexual function has a very complicated mechanism and several factors are involved. The most important factor is usually stress that often could be seen with acceleration of hair loss. One way that you can see if your sexual function changes are due to the new medication is to stop it and monitor the changes. Are you having difficulty maintaining and getting an erection?


2007-03-27 10:36:07No More Morning Erections After Taking Propecia for a Month

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No Sign of Hair Loss in Family Line

Hi. I am 20 years old and I have a very high hairline that I have had since I was a child. I did not have hair on my head until I was 3 years old. My hair is very thin and over the past few years I have had long, unhealthy hair that I was able to pull out of my head by merely running my my hand through it, especially when I was showering. I just recently got it cut short, but just long enough so that it actually appears to be thicker because it is much healthier. There is no sign of male pattern hairloss in my family so I am wondering if the hair that fell off of my head could actually grow back over time, and if hair can naturally and gradually thicken on its own if it is healthy. Thank you

You need to get a firm diagnosis to determine if you really do or do not have genetic balding. If the thinning you are talking about is traumatic, it will grow back. If it is secondary to genetic causes, then it probably will not. Just because there is no genetic balding in the family, it does not mean that you do not have it, because it can skip generations. I see this fairly often. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization (see also: Hair Mapping for Miniaturization) and then with a diagnosis in hand, you can look at your problem more objectively.


2006-02-13 10:44:18No Sign of Hair Loss in Family Line

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No Visible Hair Loss, But I Can See My Scalp When My Hair Is Wet

Dear Doctor Rassman,

I am a 25 year old male. I have a Norwood 1, so no thinning at the crown or at the temples. My hairline is about the same as when i was 17. My hairdresser always tells me I have very thick hair (she even thins it out sometimes) I lose about ten hairs a day when brushing and in the shower. My father and grandfather mothers side are not bald and neither are my other male family members.

You might wonder, why is he writing?

I’m really curious. When my long (well medium length) brown hair gets wet, I can see some skin. No bald spots, but dependent on the way the hair falls, I can see my scalp. Well, not eveywhere, but small lines.

How is this posible? (couldn’t find the answer anywhere on the internet)

(I have light skin btw)

Thanks in advance for your answer.

P.S.Great site, interesting and helpfull 🙂

This type of question has been addressed here before. Thinning differs in people. Those with coarse hair can lose more hair than those with fine hair and not show thinning. Those who have miniaturized hairs will show thinner and thinner as the miniaturization increases. The loss of 10 hairs per day only reflects about 10% of what a typical person loses throughout the day. Most people see more hair loss in the shower, because they can not see what blows away on a windy day — but just because they do not see it, does not mean that it does not happen. We lose some of the 100 or so hairs on a 24 hour basis. Everyone can see their scalp, unless the skin is dark and the hair is dark as well, has a high density, or it mats together with a good, tight afro.

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Non-Hair-Loss News – Stem Cell “Enhanced” Facelift Caused Bones to Grow in Woman’s Eyelids

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

Her eyelid drooped stubbornly, and the area around her eye was somewhat swollen. Six and a half hours of surgery later, he and his colleagues had dug out small chunks of bone from the woman’s eyelid and tissue surrounding her eye, which was scratched but largely intact. The clicks she heard were the bone fragments grinding against one another.

About three months earlier the woman had opted for a relatively new kind of cosmetic procedure at a different clinic in Beverly Hills—a face-lift that made use of her own adult stem cells. First, cosmetic surgeons had removed some the woman’s abdominal fat with liposuction and isolated the adult stem cells within—a family of cells that can make many copies of themselves in an immature state and can develop into several different kinds of mature tissue.

Read the full article — In the Flesh: The Embedded Dangers of Untested Stem Cell Cosmetics

Yikes. The article goes on to discuss possible dangers of unapproved stem cell treatments and how we should temper our excitement for these types of treatments so that serious illness research isn’t put in jeopardy.